    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book I)]
    [January 23, 2004]
    [Pages 123-126]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Honoring the 2003 World Series Champion Florida Marlins
    January 23, 2004

        The President. Thank you for coming. Please be seated. Bienvenidos a
    la Casa Blanca. [Laughter] Thanks for coming to the White House. I'm
    honored to be here to welcome the world champs, the Florida Marlins.
    Maybe this will cause one of your biggest fans to stop bragging, the
    Governor of Florida--[laughter]--my brother. I
    appreciate you being here, Jeb. Thanks for coming. It's good to see you.
    [Laughter]

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        I don't know if you know this or not, but I've had the fortune of
    being a part of baseball, and I've never been so impressed by a club
    that came together and played together as the Marlins. It speaks a lot
    to the ownership and the manager and the support personnel and the
    players, that they were willing to play together to win. And they won
    when a lot of people said they weren't supposed to win, which is the way
    we kind of like it here in Washington, DC. [Laughter]
        I remember when my friend Pudge Rodriguez stood up to the world and said, ``2003 is going to
    be the year of the Marlin.'' And a lot of people said, ``I'm not so sure
    he knows what he's talking about.'' Turns out he did know what he's
    talking about, and I want to congratulate Pudge. I've known him--I'll
    never forget when he first came up. I think it's true that he got
    married on the same day that he got a hit--is that right, Isabel? The
    same day he got his first big league hit?
        Maribel Rodriguez. Yes.
        The President. Yes, that's right; yes. [Laughter] The same day he
    got his first big-league hit--I think it was against the Chicago White
    Sox----
        Audience member. It was.
        The President. ----he got
    married. And here he sits as a member of the great world champs. Pudge,
    congratulations for being a good friend and a great player.
        You're so good about predicting victories, you got any suggestions
    for, like, '04? [Laughter]
        Audience member. [Inaudible]
        The President. I hope so.
        I do want to thank Porter Goss and Tom
    Feeney, Congressmen from the great State of
    Florida, great supporters of the Marlins, for coming. I appreciate you
    boys being here. They left--they let an interloper in here, Howard
    Coble, he's the Congressman from North
    Carolina. You're wondering why a guy from North Carolina is here. It's
    because he and the manager are members of the Old Geezers Club--
    [laughter]--and they're friends. Howard is a good one, isn't he?
        Jack McKeon. That was nice, and for that
    compliment, here you go. [Laughter]

    [At this point, Mr. McKeon, Florida Marlins manager, presented the
    President with a cigar.]

        The President. Thank you, sir. But Howard
    is a good one. Howard is a good one. Appreciate you coming.
        Mayor, I'm glad you're here. Manny--Mayor Diaz is here. Congratulations for being the mayor of a
    great city. Jeffrey Loria and Sivia have been friends of mine for a long time. And one of
    the most joyous phone calls I have made since I was the President was to
    call Jeffrey and congratulate him on being the owner of the world
    champs. And gosh, the joy in his voice was just worth the phone call.
        See, what you don't know is when I was fortunate enough to be with
    the Rangers, he was the owner of the AAA Oklahoma City club, our AAA
    affiliate. So we got to know each other, and every time we'd call up a
    good player, he'd call and get madder than
    heck about it, and say, ``You're running me out of talent.'' And I'd
    say, ``Well, that's what happens when you're in the minor leagues.'' And
    here he is in the major leagues, the world championship, and I never
    even came close. [Laughter] But I want to congratulate you, Jeff, for
    being a solid owner.
        David Samson came through one of these
    endless receiving lines that politicians stand in. And he said, ``I'm
    David Samson.'' I said, ``I know who you are.'' He said--I said, ``How's
    the club look?'' He said, ``We're going to win it all this year.'' And I
    kind of dismissed him like another crank and moved him on. [Laughter]
        Team member. Just like everybody else. [Laughter]
        The President. Yes. And lo and behold, he was right. David, congratulations. And I appreciate you bringing
    Cindi.

    [[Page 125]]

        Larry Beinfest is the general manager.
    It's hard to be the general manager of any ball club. It's hard to
    figure the right ingredients and to put it all together, but he has. And
    Larry, I want to congratulate you--and congratulate you and Jeff for
    figuring--David for figuring out that Jack
    McKeon was the right catalyst to serve as the
    manager of the club. He's what I call the Donald Rumsfeld of baseball--[laughter]--kind of crusty but knows
    what he's doing, you know? [Laughter] And I want to congratulate you.
        You've started a trend, recycling old guys to bring championships.
    [Laughter] But you know what you're doing. You're a great baseball man,
    which is a high compliment. And you're standing up here as a world
    champ, and it must be a thrill.
        I appreciate Ozzie Guillen being here.
    First, I want to congratulate Ozzie for going over to the White Sox to
    be a--to be the manager. I remember when Ozzie was a shortstop for the
    White Sox and he always had such a wonderful smile on his face. It was a
    joy to watch a guy participate in obviously an activity he loves so
    much. And Ozzie, I want to congratulate you for not only being a world
    champ but for now being in a position where you can bring a world
    championship perhaps to the Chicago--the south side of Chicago.
        The Hawk, Dawson is with us, Andre Dawson
    as well. He's another great champ. One reason why this organization
    obviously did well is it found excellence and incorporated excellence
    throughout the organization. Tony Perez as well,
    a hall-of-famer. I mean, Jack and Jeffrey were not afraid to find the very best people they
    could and say, ``Help us fashion a team,'' and you did. And I welcome
    you all here.
        I do have to take some credit for the success. [Laughter] You know
    how politicians are. You got Doug Davis, former
    Ranger--[laughter]--a guy we used to call Rosie, Wayne
    Rosenthal is the pitching coach, former
    Ranger, Perry Hill, former Ranger. [Laughter]
    Somehow, the Rangers deserve a little bit of credit, you know? We
    never--[laughter].
        I want to congratulate the three folks I just named. I got to know
    them there in Arlington. Really fine people as well. I know it's a
    thrill for them to be here as well. I do want to help the team a lot.
        You know, champs are people that play hard, play smart, and play as
    a team, and that's exactly what the Marlins did. The kind of a lineup
    that was pesky at the top, tough in the middle, and reliable at the
    bottom. And you could field your positions, and it was a true team
    effort to win.
        I'll never forget watching the classic Series game against the
    Yankees in Australia. The time thing was a little awkward, so we taped
    it. But it was a dramatic victory, and it spoke to the character of the
    team. And this team does have character, and it's character not only on
    the field but off the field.
        And the other night in the State of the Union, I said something I
    think is vital, that professional sports has got an obligation to send
    the right message to our children. And there's ways you do that. One is
    you play hard and play fair, and when you win, you're good sports.
    Another way to do it is you keep your bodies clean. And I hope the
    Florida Marlins and the players and players all around America join me
    in getting rid of steroids out of sports right now, so as to send the
    right signal to our kids and help parents raise healthy children.
    Character matters. And these performance-enhancing drugs say, ``What
    matters more is achievement over character,'' and that's just not the
    way we think. And championship teams are teams made of character.
        I also appreciate so very much the fact that the players and the
    organization understands that when you've got the spotlight, you have an
    obligation to serve your community. And I'm very aware that the Marlins
    management contributes to Florida's Adopt-a-Classroom program. I
    appreciate that, Jeffrey, and I appreciate
    you using

    [[Page 126]]

    your position to not only provide entertainment for the people of South
    Florida but to help lives, improve lives one person at a time.
        I appreciate the fact that Josh Beckett--a
    big, old Texan I might add--[laughter]--is involved with youth baseball.
    I hope that youth baseball reaches into places where a lot of kids may
    have lost hope. There's nothing more hopeful than for a person to be
    able to play on a team and realize their God-given talents on the
    athletic field. It's essential that baseball brings us joy, to not only
    suburbia but inner-city America as well. And Josh, I appreciate you
    understanding the vitality of youth baseball in America.
        I appreciate A.J. Burnett working with the
    Florida division of the Center of Missing and Exploited Children, being
    willing to be involved, to use his position as somebody who South
    Florida looks up to, to help children. And what I found interesting is
    that more than 30 children featured in his ``Play It Safe'' days at
    Marlins games have been rescued. You know, winning baseball games is one
    thing; rescuing children has got to be a fantastic accomplishment. And
    A.J., I appreciate so very much your heart.
        And then there's Juan Pierre. Every team in
    baseball wants him leading off, feisty little guy that he is and a great
    ballplayer. [Laughter] Yes, don't worry about putting weight on, you did
    all right. [Laughter] Whatever you did last year, do it again this year.
    [Laughter] And keep doing what you're doing--it's called ``Pierre's
    Pack.'' It brings underprivileged kids to the ballpark. See, he makes a
    good living, and he's willing to share those hard-earned dollars with
    the underprivileged kids.
        To me, this is what being leaders are all about and champs are
    about. It's one thing to win on the field, and that's what we're here to
    herald, and it's a fantastic--fantastic moment for the ballplayers and
    the fans and everybody involved with the organization. But winners also
    do things off the field too. Winners understand they have obligations.
    They've got obligations to be a good mom or a dad. They've got
    obligations to give something back to the community and to the country
    that has made this opportunity for them possible. And the Marlins are
    fulfilling it all. They won on the field, and they're winning off the
    field. And I'm grateful.
        Congratulations to the world champs.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:50 p.m. in the East Room at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida; Mayor
    Manuel Diaz of Miami, FL; Ivan ``Pudge'' Rodriguez, catcher, Florida
    Marlins, and his wife, Maribel; Jeffrey H. Loria, chairman, chief
    executive officer, and managing general partner, Florida Marlins, and
    his wife, Sivia; David Samson, president, Florida Marlins, and his wife,
    Cindi; Larry Beinfest, senior vice president/general manager, Ozzie
    Guillen, former third base coach, Andre Dawson and Tony Perez, special
    assistants to the president, Doug Davis, bench coach, Wayne Rosenthal,
    pitching coach, Perry Hill, first base/infield coach, Josh Beckett and
    A.J. Burnett, pitchers, and Juan Pierre, outfielder, Florida Marlins.