The 2009 Starting Pitcher for Your Texas Rangers: Dubya
This is not the time to talk politics. It's the time to talk baseball.
I'll put my liberal left leaning on hold today because the Texas Rangers have announced - no surprise - that former Prez and former co-owner George W. Bush will throw out the first pitch before next Monday's season opener against the Cleveland Indians at Rangers Ballpark.
Now, this would really be a coup if Ron Washington could coax a quality six innings out of Dallas' newest resident. Instead, he'll probably leave the bulk of that work to Kevin Millwood.
To me, Dubya's shining, defining moment in The White House came in 2001 when - with Ground Zero still smoldering from the 9/11 attacks just up the way - he confidently strode to the rubber at Yankee Stadium before a playoff game and delivered an authoritative strike that instantly injected weary Americans with a shot of goosebumpitis.
It will mark Bush's first trip to Rangers Ballpark since 2000, when he was Governor of Texas. It's also the fourth time a President has tossed the Rangers' first pitch.
Honestly, I didn't remember the other three ...
1. Gerald Ford April 9, 1976
2. George H. Bush April 8, 1991
3. George H. Bush April 3, 2000
For the record, the Rangers are 2-1 with the leader of the free world in the house.
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