April 18, 2005
ONE MORE REASON TO THANK ABNER:
Measuring the Bush Family History, and the President's Political Career, in Innings (ELISABETH BUMILLER, 4/18/05, NY Times)
President Bush's ceremonial first pitch last week at the home opener of the fledgling Washington Nationals baseball team was high and a little inside. In short, it was no match for the strike Mr. Bush threw to start Game 3 of the World Series in Yankee Stadium when the World Trade Center lay in ruins in the fall of 2001.But the president's 60-foot throw from the top of the mound on a glorious spring evening in the capital was still a reminder that Mr. Bush, a former owner of the Texas Rangers and a self-described mediocre pitcher for a short time at Yale, owes much in his life - if not the presidency itself - to baseball.
When he was a child, the game was an obsession and a link to his father, the captain and first baseman on the Yale team. When he became an adult, the game made Mr. Bush a multimillionaire and helped start his political career, and now serves as an escape from the pressures of the White House. As Mr. Bush told sportswriters from The Washington Post, USA Today and The Washington Times last week, he spends "a fair amount of time" reading the box scores each day because it is "one way to take your mind off your job."
Mr. Bush also told them that he started paying attention to the Nationals lineup during spring training, that he kept close track of Rangers games (and the Houston Astros and others) via his White House satellite dish and that while he did not know if he would have won the presidency without his experience in baseball, it was a "good question."
It is in fact a better question than most people realize, as interviews last week attest. Anyone who knew Mr. Bush as an owner of the Rangers invariably described a man who was not just promoting a team but also building the image and political skills necessary to win the Texas governorship and the White House.
Beats the heck out of being a junior Senator. Posted by Orrin Judd at April 18, 2005 8:04 AM
Red Sox fans might want to note that reliver Mike Timlin came out out the same Midland Little League as the current president, and was the second most supportive Boston pitcher for GWB's re-election last year, behind Mr. Schilling (mainly because Curt got to annuonce his support on The Today Show).
Posted by: John at April 18, 2005 11:28 AMNice three-quarters delivery if a bit too early.
Posted by: Rick T. at April 18, 2005 1:16 PMYeah, he needed to pull his left arm in farther to halt the rotation of his chest and get a little more velocity. Maybe he was self-conscious.
Posted by: pj at April 18, 2005 1:25 PMGive him a break, he's wearing body armor. Look at where the jacket sticks out: that's the chest plate.
Posted by: joe shropshire at April 18, 2005 6:41 PM