President Barack Obama struck out in Boston by cracking a joke on a baseball trade that was very unfunny for the home crowd at a fundraiser Monday night, earning him a round of boos.

The president, rarely flustered, was taken off stride for a second but pulled himself together to try joke away his comment in praise of the trade of Boston Red Sox player Kevin Youkilis to Obama’s favorite team, the Chicago White Sox.

Speaking at the Boston Symphony Hall campaign fundraiser, President Obama thanked Youkilis but was met with jeers. He came back with an excuse for his comment, telling the crowd, “I’m just saying, he’s going to have to change the color of his socks.”

“I didn’t think I was going to get any boos out of here,” he said. His audience then responded with even a louder sound of boos, forcing Obama to admit, “I should not have brought up baseball, I understand, my mistake; you got to know your crowd.”

With tickets going for $250 to $2,500, President Obama came away with a fatter campaign chest even if he had to pay the price of a graceless second for his slip-up.

Last Friday, the president jubilantly jogged on to a stage to speak to supporters in the city of Tampa but promptly fell flat on a step, spreading out his hands to keep a short distance between the floor and his face.

Hardly breaking his stride, he jumped on stage to tell everyone he fell because he was so excited to greet everyone.

Meanwhile, the daily presidential polls by Rasmussen and Gallup continue to give Mitt Romney a slight edge, with the margin of error turning the contest into a toss-up. Romney enjoys a two-point lead in the Rasmussen poll and one-point lead in the Gallup poll.