Boooosh Has Two Balls On Him...You Can't Beat Fun At The Ole Ballpark

[KharmaTrain]

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/04/03/bush-and-dusty/

This afternoon, President Bush was on hand to throw out the first pitch in Cincinnati as the hometown Reds took on the visiting Chicago Cubs. Before the game, President Bush had an encounter with Cubs manager Dusty Baker that was described by Michael Fletcher of the Washington Post in the White House pool report:

He greeted Cubs manager Dusty Baker with a handshake. “This is the year, right?” Bush said, in what some in the pool thought as sarcasm directed at the team’s perennial pennant futility.

“Dusty Baker, good to know you,” POTUS continued, turning to the cameras. He held the grip and grinned as the cameras snapped away. “Smile,” POTUS encouraged, and Baker complied, saying: “I’ll do what I got to do.”

And with a little cajoling, Bush got the photo-op he wanted:

And this little goody

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-060403cubsbrite,1,3029833.story?coll=cs-home-headlines&ctrack=1&cset=true

President Bush greeted every player and tried to personalize every greeting. It didn't always work, as with Todd Walker.

"I said, 'Hey, how ya doing, my name's Todd Walker,'" he said. "He said, 'Hey, Tom, how are ya?' So I don't guess I made too good of an impression. But it was a neat thing."

Bush asked Cubs first-base coach Gary Matthews about his son, Gary Matthews Jr., who plays for the Rangers, who Bush once owned. The president briefly discussed his faith with left fielder Matt Murton, who is a born-again Christian.

<snip>

The only snafu from the presidential visit occurred beforehand. Manager Dusty Baker and relief pitcher Bob Howry had knives taken from their bags at Great American Ball Park as security tightened for the visit from the president.

This stuff just writes itself...

Discuss...

:hi:

[Chi-Town Exile]

1. I can assure you that Dusty Baker is not a big fan of *

He wasn't lying when he said, "I'll do what I got to do."

Dusty gets lots of points for that! LOL :evilgrin:

(edited for spelling error) ... what do you expect? I'm a Cub fan.

[NoPasaran]

2. The Reds shouldn't have lifted Bush after the first pitch

They went on to get clobbered. I just don't understand how managers think these days.

[Chi-Town Exile]

3. The weird thing is the Cubs scored 16 runs in their first game

of the year last season. Maybe it is our year! (Yeah right ... LOL)

[tanyev]

4. The president briefly discussed his faith with left fielder Matt Murton.

Boy, I'll bet that was a stirring theological discourse. He could emphasize his strongly held beliefs with well-timed spits of chewing tobacco.

[Chi-Town Exile]

5. Matt Murton is a good guy. He's a youngster.

He compared meeting Bush to when he met Vince Vaughn last season at Wrigley Field.