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CNN Live Saturday

President Bush Brings America's Pastime into the White House

Aired April 07, 2001 - 16:25   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: He is in the first inning of his presidency, but would he rather be playing baseball? President Bush says baseball is one of his greatest passions.

CNN's Kelly Wallace explains how he's taking that passion to the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For President Bush, this event last week, a dream come true. More than 40 baseball Hall of Famers gathered at the White House.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One of the great things about living here is you don't have to sign up for a baseball fantasy camp to meet your heroes. It turns out they come here.

WALLACE: Call him the First Fan, who can bat around stats with the best of them, and who often tells kids he dreamt of the major leagues as a little boy, not the presidency.

BUSH: What I wanted to be at the time is I wanted to be a baseball player, just like a guy named Willie Mays. He was my favorite player when I was growing up.

BUSH: He played little league in Midland, Texas. His former coach remembers him, all right. Not a natural, says the coach. Mr. Bush couldn't hit. And his fielding? Well...

FRANK ITTNER, PRESIDENT BUSH'S FRM. COACH: You'd throw a ball at him, he'd step back instead of stepping forward, and I couldn't break him of that.

BUSH: He was a mediocre player on Yale's baseball team. Not quite the star his father was when he played for Yale. The younger Bush, however, made a career of the game, becoming a part-owner of the Texas Rangers. That experience in baseball, the president often says, toughened him for politics.

BUSH: I was in a business where the results were posted every day. It's called baseball. Generally, the results weren't all that good.

WALLACE: After selling his stake in the team, he went on to become the first former major league owner to move into the White House, and now he's bringing baseball to the executive mansion. The president announced he's setting up a children's T-ball field on the South Lawn.

BUSH: In a small way, maybe we can help to preserve the best of baseball right here in the house that Washington built.

WALLACE: It was 30 years ago that Washington lost its major league team, and hopes are high that the man who says one of his biggest passions in life is baseball could help bring it back.

Kelly Wallace, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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