Mark Mallory is a mayor who believes in cultural exchange, and he enjoys hanging out with new people. A topic that comes up among the strangers he is meeting here in Munich is his now infamous "first pitch" at the Reds game last year.
"It was my birthday and my brother had arranged for the Reds to sing Happy Birthday to me right after I threw the first pitch," he said. "Well after that throw of mine I saw him give the sign to cut the song he was so embarrassed. I went home and went to sleep but that didn't help. So later I went out to eat with my family and had a whole bunch of crab legs, but I still didn't feel any better, so I just went to bed again, feeling like crap."#
He woke up at 5:30 am to Pete Scalia calling him from Channel 5 asking him to come on the morning show to talk about the pitch, and help him do traffic. Mallory says he thought what the heck. He did the show and had fun making up excuses as to why he sucked so bad throwing that ball. On the way out the door, he called his press guy and told him to make up a top ten list of reasons Mayor Mallory flubbed the pitch and send it out as a press release. Before you know it, his most embarrassing moment was the hit of UTube, morphing into a kind of media frenzy that resulted in appearances on ESPN, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and abuse from Jay Leno.
"At least when people google Cincinnati they get that instead of the riots," says Mallory.
And now, in the presence of mayors from around the world, also invited to Munich's 850th Birthday party because they too are sister cities, Mallory does not hesitate to recount the story of "the worst day of my life."
Now this is a mayor who knows how to please a crowd of strangers. Ice broken, the sister city mayors are now willing to listen as he touts the wonders of Cincinnati.
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