    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
    [September 15, 1995]
    [Pages 1360-1361]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Honoring the 1995 NCAA Champion California State University at
    Fullerton Baseball Team
    September 15, 1995

        Thank you very much. Thank you. Please be seated. Dr. Gordon, Coach
    Garrido, Assistant Coach George Horton, Congressman Royce, to my friend
    Roger Johnson and to all the members of this championship team: Now, I
    knew that Cal State-Fullerton had won the national baseball championship
    because I keep up with it. But some of the less schooled people here in
    the White House, when they heard that Cal State was coming today and it
    was about baseball, they thought that someone had given Cal Ripken a
    whole State. [Laughter] And when they said that, I said, ``Well, I hope
    he'll share it with me next year.'' [Laughter] Think about that.

    [[Page 1361]]

        Coach Garrido, Coach Horton, to all the student athletes who are
    here, I want to congratulate you on a remarkable baseball season and on
    your national championship.
        Baseball is both a team sport and a collection of individual
    players. Most important of all, it's a team sport, but I think it's
    worth noting that four of these players were selected to the College
    World Series All Tournament Team: Brian Loyd, the catcher; the third-
    baseman, Tony Martinez; Ted Silva, the pitcher; and the series MVP and
    the college player of the year, the outfielder, Mark Kotsay.
        I also want to compliment the coach and the players on complete
    honesty and full disclosure. They told me when I was in there that one
    of their pitchers, Tim Dixon, who had a perfect season, 13 and 0, played
    last year at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. I'm glad we can
    make some contribution to some national champion this year, since we
    didn't quite make it in basketball.
        You have been called college baseball's dream team: an 18-game
    season ending winning streak, the world series sweep, the best-ever
    season record for the school of 57 wins and 9 losses. You know, a lot of
    your success, I'm sure, has the same roots as the remarkable success
    that we celebrated just a few days ago when I joined a lot of other
    Americans in Camden Yards, and others watching all across America, when
    we saw Cal Ripken break Lou Gehrig's record.
        It really takes a commitment to hard work and dedication and
    teamwork and basically doing it every day. One of the things that I like
    about baseball is that there are a lot of games in the season.
    Sometimes, being in politics, I wish we had more than one game every 4
    years. But it's very important in baseball to have that daily
    discipline, that daily awareness, that daily readiness, that steadiness
    that so many Americans bring to other aspects of their lives.
        And I think that America has kind of fallen back in love with
    baseball again the last few weeks, and I hope it gets a lot more
    attention. And I hope the qualities required for real success and
    excellence in baseball will become more and more appreciated by all of
    our people, because they're qualities that we can all use in our
    everyday lives, no matter what else we do.
        So I want to join your Congressman and the entire State of
    California in expressing to all you young men my pride in you and your
    achievement. Congratulations for a job well-done. And I hope you will
    take the spirit and the values that brought you to the national
    championship with you throughout the rest of your lives, no matter what
    you do.
        Good luck, and God bless you.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:04 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Milton A. Gordon, president, and
    Augie Garrido, baseball coach, California State University at Fullerton;
    and Roger Johnson, Administrator of General Services.