President Congratulates World Series Champions Florida Marlins
Remarks by the President in Photo Opportunity with World Series Champion Florida Marlins
East Room
2:50 P.M. EST
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. (Applause.) 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, D.C. (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, Maribel? The same day he got his first big league
hit? Yes, that's right; yes. The same day he got his first big league
hit -- I think it was against the Chicago White Sox -- 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.
(Applause.)
You're so good about predicting victories, do you have any
suggestions for, like, '04? (Laughter.)
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. McKEON: That was nice, and for that compliment, here you go.
(Laughter and applause.)
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.
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 applause.) And I want to congratulate you.
(Applause.)
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 and applause.)
I want to congratulate -- 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 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 ball player.
(Laughter and applause.) 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. (Applause.)