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Obama swings Babe Ruth’s bat at Baseball Hall of Fame

President Obama turned tourist at the Baseball Hall of Fame Thursday, employing a time-tested strategy of embracing sports when the going gets tough in politics.

Obama cradled Babe Ruth’s bat and examined Joe DiMaggio’s glove at the shrine to America’s pastime in upstate Cooperstown — while trying to boost his own batting average with the public.

“How about that!” he marveled at DiMaggio’s mitt.

On Wednesday, the president met with the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks at the White House.

On Tuesday, he stopped by a Little League game in DC, surprising and glad-handing young players even as he snarled rush-hour traffic.

“Sports-related events become wonderful escapes for presidents who have a lot of things going wrong,” Ari Fleischer, a onetime press secretary to George W. Bush, told Bloomberg News.

Obama came to the Hall of Fame to encourage more tourism.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo was delayed getting to the event because of bad weather on his trip from the Democratic state convention on Long Island, aides said.