[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 4 (Monday, January 26, 2004)]
[Pages 131-133]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
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]
    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?
    Mrs. 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?
    Mr. Jack McKeon. That was nice, and for that compliment, here you 
go. [Laughter]

[At this point, Mr. McKeon 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

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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.
    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

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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 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; Jack McKeon, manager, 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.