CINCINNATI -- Former President Bush will fill in for his son and throw a ceremonial first pitch Monday before the Cincinnati Reds' season opener.

The Reds invited the current president to officially open Great American Ball Park by throwing a pitch before the opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Chief operating officer John Allen said Saturday that the White House gave no reason for the switch.

Bush was invited before the invasion of Iraq, and the White House had delayed making a commitment to the game.

The elder Bush also declined a chance to throw a first pitch in Cincinnati just before the first Gulf War. He was invited for Game 2 of the World Series against Oakland in 1990, but Barbara Bush took his place and made a toss to catcher Joe Oliver.

The White House's explanation for the 1990 switch was that the president wanted to stay in Washington to monitor negotiations over the federal budget deficit. There was tight security for Barbara Bush's visit, which coincided with the troop buildup in the Persian Gulf.

Both teams wore American flags on their uniforms during the 1990 Series, which the Reds won in four games. Before Game 2, former Reds owner Marge Schott went onto the field and asked for a moment of silence "for our troops in the Far East.''

The elder Bush threw a ceremonial pitch before the opener at Arlington Stadium in Texas the next April, bouncing the ball to Rangers catcher Geno Petralli.

Bush, a first baseman on Yale's baseball team, threw eight ceremonial pitches at major league games while he was in office. The last was in 1992, when he and Ted Williams made tosses at the All Star game in San Diego.