[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book I)]
[May 27, 2003]
[Pages 539-541]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 539]]

Remarks Honoring the 2002 World Series Champion Anaheim Angels
May 27, 2003

    The President. Thank you all. Please be seated, except for the 
players. [Laughter] It's my honor to welcome the world champion Anaheim 
Angels to the White House. Congratulations.
    I understand some of the players were so excited that, well, like 
David Eckstein, who actually went out and 
purchased a suit. [Laughter] Fine looking. [Laughter] I don't know if 
David shared with the players here that I actually invited David for 
dinner. George Will and I hosted a baseball 
dinner here a while ago, and David came, and he didn't take any 
silverware. [Laughter]
    I really want to congratulate the team owners. First, I want to 
congratulate you, Arte, for being an owner of 
the team. It's pretty quick how things happen here in America. You buy 
the team; now you're at the White House. [Laughter] But I think you and 
Carole will love baseball. I know Laura and I really enjoyed our time with the mighty Texas 
Rangers, although somewhat disappointed by the fact that we never 
actually got to come to the White House. But at least we're all in the 
American League West. How about that? So congratulations on becoming a 
new owner.
    I also want to pay homage to Gene Autry. Gene was the owner of the 
team when I was fortunate enough to be in baseball, and he's an amazing 
guy. I know that he's smiling down now here on the--looking at the Rose 
Garden and realizing his beloved Angels have finally won the world 
championship. So I want to thank the players and the manager and the 
coaches for working hard to see to it that Gene Autry's dream came true.
    I also want to give Jackie Autry my best, a 
person I got to know during baseball as well. She's a woman of strong 
opinions, but one of the things she did love most of all was the Angels.
    And I'm glad my friend Sandy Alderson is 
here. It's good to see you, Sandy. He used to be the general manager of 
the Oakland A's, which was an unpleasant experience for not only the 
Angels but the Texas Rangers, playing the A's. But you're doing a great 
job as--running baseball operations. Sandy served our country in the 
Marine Corps. He's a guy that when the country called, he served. And I 
know you're as proud of the Marine Corps as I am, as how they handled 
their business in Iraq and freed the Iraqi people from the clutches of a 
barbaric regime. So, welcome.
    I do want to congratulate Bill Stoneman, 
who's a fine executive. He's a good, steady fellow who did a great job. 
I called him after you all won, to pass on my congratulations. I know 
you're proud of the job he did, as well as all the business folks here, 
to make sure the operation runs well.
    I want to congratulate Mike Scioscia. He's 
turned out to be a pretty good fellow, it looks like, you know--
[laughter]--Manager of the Year, a good, steady guy. It's hard to bring 
a team from being 41 games down the year before to become the world 
champs. It says something about focus and desire and willingness to win. 
It speaks a lot about hope, and that always happens because you've got 
good management. Mike Scioscia is a--obviously, a good manager. I want 
to congratulate Mike.
    I also want to say hello to my friend Mickey Hatcher. Obviously, we didn't do a very good job about 
checking the security of every person that came. [Laughter] I got to 
know Mickey when he was working for the Rangers. He was a breath of 
fresh air. I suspect you're still a breath of fresh air--[laughter]--
occasionally a bad breath of fresh air. [Laughter] It's good to see you, 
Mick. Thanks for coming.
    I want to thank all you all for being here. I particularly want to 
thank members

[[Page 540]]

of my Cabinet, California fans Ann Veneman and 
Tony Principi, who are here to celebrate 
with you. I didn't realize we had this many Anaheim Angel fans in the 
White House. I see Ari Fleischer somewhere 
around here. He's not exactly an Anaheim Angel fan, but--as a matter of 
fact, he's a Yankee fan, and I appreciate the message you delivered him. 
[Laughter]
    I want to congratulate the Texans who are on the team. [Laughter] 
You've got a boy from west Texas--no wonder you're the world champs--
from Abilene, I believe Lackey is from. Good to 
see you, John. And Weber--Weber is not from----
    Manager Mike Scioscia. We don't know where 
Weber is from.
    The President. That's right. [Laughter]
    Manager Scioscia. Web, where you from in 
Texas?
    Ben Weber. Beaumont.
    The President. Yes, that's good.
    Where's Benji Gil? Oh, there he is. Benji Gil, 
I remember when he was fresh-faced rookie. [Laughter] He came up with 
the Rangers. It's amazing what facial hair does. [Laughter] But it's 
good to see you, Benji. Congratulations.
    Where is the rally monkey? [Laughter]
    Audience member. Woo-hoo!
    The President. Oh, there he is. [Laughter] Keep your remarks short, 
please. [Laughter] I want to--first of all, I hope the players here 
forgive me for being the one owner who voted against the wild card 
system in baseball, if you know what I mean. [Laughter] There have been 
two teams in the history of Major League Baseball that have gone from 
the wild card to the world champs, and Anaheim is one.
    I mentioned what that said to me. It was something about character 
that can overcome odds. The players here showed a lot of character. 
Baseball really is a team sport. The capacity for people to work 
together for 162 games, a long and grueling season, is an important part 
of being successful, which means players have to be willing to put aside 
their selfish interests, that you have to be willing to work for 
something really greater than yourself.
    And so one of the reasons why we like to host world champs here in 
the White House is to be able to remind our fellow citizens that there 
are certain ingredients necessary to become a champion. One of the key 
ingredients is to serve the team and not the individual statistic, and 
that's precisely what the members of the California Angels did.
    It also gives me a chance to remind people who come to the White 
House that when you're a champ, you have a responsibility to the 
communities in which you live. There are a lot of kids who look at the 
world champs and wonder about the example you set. They look at you and 
say, ``Is it okay to curse or drink or carouse?'' And I hope the answer 
you give them, loud and clear, is, in order to be a champ, you've got to 
make right choices in life.
    A champion is somebody who sets high standards and lives to those 
standards. A champion is somebody who assumes responsibility of a 
champion, which is to not only set a good example but, when you're in 
your community, use the spotlight that you've achieved to encourage our 
fellow citizens to love a neighbor just like you'd like to be loved 
yourself. I know many of you do that, because you're not only champions 
on the field, you're champions off the field as well.
    Welcome to the White House. God bless your talents, and may God 
continue to bless America.
    Manager Scioscia. Mr. President, it took 
us 42 years to say this, but we'd like to present you with a World 
Champion Anaheim Angel jersey that I know you'll wear proudly, and we 
apologize for going through your beloved Texas Rangers in the American 
League West. [Laughter] But thank you very much.
    The President. Thank you, Mike. Good to see you all.
    Manager Scioscia. Thanks for inviting us.
    The President. Congratulations.

[[Page 541]]

Note: The President spoke at 10:53 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to columnist George Will; Anaheim 
Angels owner Arturo Moreno and his wife, Carole; Jackie Autry, widow of 
former Angels owner Gene Autry; Sandy Alderson, executive vice president 
of baseball operations, Major League Baseball; and vice president and 
general manager Bill Stoneman, manager Mike Scioscia, shortstop David 
Eckstein, starting pitcher John Lackey, relief pitcher Ben Weber, and 
second baseman Benji Gil, Anaheim Angels.