When George W. Bush took the mound for the World Series opener, viewers saw a former president performing a familiar ritual—but few noticed the stiffness in his stride or the careful way he moved, testing the limits of a surgically repaired back. Months earlier, he had undergone spinal fusion surgery, a procedure that changes everything from standing to throwing. Jenna Bush Hager framed it not as an excuse, but as context: courage in the face of recovery. One awkward pitch became proof that even pain can’t erase the will to show up.
