[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book II)]
[July 15, 2007]
[Pages 968-970]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at a White House Tee-Ball Game
July 15, 2007

    The President. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome here to tee-ball on the 
South Lawn of the White House. I'm honored to be joined here with the 
commissioner

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for today's game, member of the Hall of Fame, the great Frank 
Robinson. Thanks for being here.
    Frank Robinson. My pleasure.
    The President. Mario, thanks, great 
job on the anthem. I thank the color guard, as well, for being here. 
Today we're going to have an outstanding contest. Laura and I are proud to be able to watch, from Los Angeles, 
California, the Little League Dodgers, and from Brooklyn, New York, the 
Little League Highlanders. And we want to welcome the players. We 
particularly thank the coaches for working with these youngsters. Thanks 
for getting them interested in baseball, America's greatest sport. We 
want to thank the parents who have come. Thank you for supporting the 
kids. And we're looking forward to a good game.
    Today--every day is a special day when we play baseball at the White 
House, but today is particularly special since we're going to pay homage 
to Jackie Robinson. Jackie Robinson, as you know, broke the color 
barrier in baseball, but there were some pioneers ahead of Jackie. And 
today we're proud to welcome Negro League players who are here. Thank 
you all for coming.
    Imagine what baseball would have been like had you been a part of 
the Major Leagues. Jackie Robinson was a pioneer, and Frank and I are going to retire his number, just like they 
did all over Major League parks across our country. But before we do, 
we're proud that members of the Brooklyn Dodger team who had the honor 
of playing with Jackie Robinson have joined us: Tommy Lasorda, Don Newcombe, 
Clyde King, and Ralph Branca.
    We're honored you're here. Thank you all for coming. Thanks for 
being a part of this special ball game. As a matter of fact, two of you 
are going to end up being first and third base coach. Well, I wish you 
all the best out there. Looks like we've got some good players that have 
come to play.
    I do want to thank John Warner, Senator 
John Warner from the great State of Virginia, and his family for joining 
us. Proud you're here, Senator. I see Alphonso Jackson and Dirk Kempthorne, of my 
Cabinet, who have joined us. I'm proud you all are here. Dutch Morial, 
thanks for coming, Dutch; appreciate you coming--I mean, Marc Morial--there he is. Marc, how you doing, brother? 
He's the head of the Urban League. Roslyn Brock, vice chairman of the NAACP, has joined us as 
well. Thank you all for coming.
    We want to thank the Jackie Robinson Foundation for joining us 
today, as well as the YMCA and Boys and Girls Club of America for being 
here. Thank you all for coming.
    I'm so honored that this game is going to be called by Karl 
Ravech, ESPN. Thanks for coming, Karl.
    Karl Ravech. Pleasure, thank you.
    The President. We really appreciate you taking--you know it's a big 
game when Karl Ravech comes over to lend his 
talents. So you players are going to have to play hard, because you've 
got ESPN here.
    Before we--after we put--hang up the number honoring Jackie 
Robinson, after we retire his number here on the South Lawn, we will 
have Matthew Hearon; he'll be coming out; 
he's going to help us get the game kicked off. He's the first ball 
presenter. But before you come out, Matthew, the Hall of Famer and I are 
now going to hang up Jackie Robinson's number. Ready?

Note: The President spoke at 4:02 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to entertainer Mario D. Barrett, who 
performed the national anthem. The transcript was released by the Office 
of the Press Secretary on July 16.

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