    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 9 (Monday, March 7, 2005)]
    [Pages 350-351]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks Honoring the 2004 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox

    March 2, 2005

        Please be seated, unless you don't have a chair. [Laughter] So,
    like, what took you so long? [Laughter] Welcome. And welcome to the
    citizens of the Red Sox Nation. I'm proud to be joined by the Vice
    President. He's a Chicago Cubs fan. So, like, he knows what you've been
    through. [Laughter] We're really glad you're here.
        There's been a lot of people in this town waiting for this day to
    come. Some have said it would be a cold day when the Red Sox made it
    here. [Laughter] I am honored to welcome the world champs, the mighty
    Boston Red Sox, to the White House.
        I want to welcome the members of the Massachusetts delegation who
    are here. I know that Senator Kennedy is here. Senator Kerry is on his
    way. We have just finished a ceremony honoring Jackie Robinson. I know
    members of the congressional delegation are here from like
    Massachusetts, and everybody else that claims to be a Red Sox State.
    [Laughter] You all are welcome here.
        I appreciate the commissioner coming. And Bob, it's good to see you.
    I thank the members of my Cabinet who are here. I appreciate the mayor
    being here, the mayor of Boston. You've had a heck of a year, Mayor.
    [Laughter] I want to thank and welcome my friend Tom Werner and Larry
    Lucchino. I'm sorry John Henry is sick. You know, Lucchino, I knew you'd
    amount to something eventually. [Laughter]
        I appreciate the way this team played baseball. You know, it took a
    lot of guts, and it took a lot of hair. [Laughter] It took a great
    manager and coaching staff, and I'll never forget calling Terry Francona
    after the team won the championship, and he--the only thing I remember
    him saying was, ``It's all--it all depended upon the players,'' which is
    why he's a good manager, isn't it?
        I appreciate the fact that Dom DiMaggio and Jimmy Piersall are with
    us. You guys represent a lot of great Boston Red Sox players that a lot
    of us grew up watching play, and you're welcome here in the White House,
    and you're representing a great tradition of wonderful folks.
        You know, the last time the Red Sox were here, Woodrow Wilson lived
    here. [Laughter] There were only 16 teams in baseball then. After the
    World Series victory in 1918, a reporter from Boston said, ``The
    luckiest baseball spot on Earth is Boston, for it has never lost a World
    Series.'' [Laughter] That's one optimistic writer. [Laughter]

    [[Page 351]]

        Senator, welcome. Good to see you. Only time I--I like to see
    Senator Kerry, except when we're fixing to debate--[laughter]--if you
    know what I mean. [Laughter]
        No one really expected the answer to the ``Curse of the Bambino''
    would come from a group of players that call themselves ``idiots,''
    except for maybe idiots who don't understand baseball. This is a heck of
    a team. This is a team that came together from South Korea and Dominican
    Republic, from Anchorage, Alaska, Fort Riley, Kansas, and incredibly
    enough, Midland, Texas. [Applause] Oh, yes. Finally, somebody from
    Midland amounted to something. [Laughter]
        I love the way this team played, and so do baseball fans. I mean,
    this is a team that won eight games in a row when it wasn't supposed to.
    It's kind of courage and a couple of stitches. You answered 86 years of
    prayer. That's an amazing feat, isn't it? I mean, when the Red Sox won,
    people all over the world cheered. They cheered in New England, and they
    cheered in Baghdad, Iraq. One guy said--from Boston--he said, ``Now we
    just have to wait for the other six signs of the apocalypse.''
    [Laughter]
        I really appreciate what Boston does off the field too. The Jimmy
    Fund is a classic example of a sports franchise giving something back to
    the community in which they play. You created the Red Sox Scholars,
    which awards scholarships to disadvantaged fifth graders. I appreciate
    what individual players do. I know firsthand what the Schillings do, the
    SHADE Foundation to work to prevent skin cancer and the--and Shonda and
    Curt's leadership in the battle against Lou Gehrig's disease. I
    appreciate what the Red Sox are doing in the Dominican Republic with
    ``Senor Octubre.''
        But most of all, our purpose here is to welcome champs. We wish you
    all the best in the upcoming season. We know that you've been able to do
    what has been viewed to be the impossible. And just like that
    sportswriter said in 1918, you know, Boston is the place to cover
    champs.
        Welcome to the White House. May God continue to bless you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 3:54 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Allan H. ``Bud'' Selig,
    commissioner, and Robert A. DuPuy, president and chief executive
    officer, Major League Baseball; Thomas C. Werner, chairman, Larry
    Lucchino, president and chief executive officer, John W. Henry,
    principal owner, and Terry Francona, manager, Boston Red Sox; Red Sox
    pitcher Curt Schilling and his wife, Shonda Schilling; former Red Sox
    players Dom DiMaggio and Jimmy Piersall; and Red Sox designated hitter
    David ``Senor Octubre'' Ortiz.