Justice Sotomayor is making the rounds, it seems. First, dancing; then, baseball.

The annual gala of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts is known for drawing the stars -- but a D.C. luminary outshone the Hollywood kind Tuesday night. Justice Sonia Sotomayor would have been the belle of the ball even if she had never left her table, so the room exploded when actor Esai Morales pulled the Supreme Court's first Latino member onto the dance floor for an impressively confident salsa. (More story here; meanwhile you can see more video coverage of the Noche Musical gala at Washington Life's site.)

Justice Sonia Sotomayor dancing the mambo with Esai Morales from Washington Life Magazine on Vimeo.

September 26, 2009, 6:05 pm
Justice Sotomayor Throws Out First Pitch
By Jack Curry
The New York Yankees

Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic to be named a Supreme Court justice, performed in a much different capacity at Yankee Stadium on Saturday. Sotomayor was a smiling Yankees fan who got to toss out the first pitch before the Yankees played the Boston Red Sox.
Sonia SotomayorJared Wickerham/Getty Images Sonia Sotomayor, a die-hard Yankees fan, threw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium on Saturday.


After Jorge Posada escorted Sotomayor to a spot about 15 feet in front of the mound, Sotomayor, who was wearing a Yankees jersey, paused and took a deep breath. She then flipped the ball to catcher Jose Molina, who was crouching in front of the plate.

Sotomayor, a native of the Bronx, was briefly considered to throw out the first pitch at the Stadium 14 years ago. In 1995, Sotomayor, who was a federal district court judge in Manhattan at the time, issued a temporary injunction to end the baseball strike. When play resumed, the Yankees thought about inviting Sotomayor to throw out the first pitch. But the idea was tabled after Sotomayor suggested it would be inappropriate.