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[SIDE CONVERSATION] SPEAKER 1: Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Pohlad and Mr. Tom Kelly.

[APPLAUSE]

GEORGE BUSH: Good morning.

[APPLAUSE]

Good to see you. Well, we're not going to be that long. Wait a minute. Come on. Hey, Fay. How are you?

SPEAKER 2: Good to see you.

SPEAKER 3: Nice to see you.

GEORGE BUSH: Please be seated, everybody. And may I first salute our cabinet members with us today-- Lynn Martin, Jack Kemp, and Mosbacher was to be here. Maybe he didn't get a good seat. And I want to salute the senators from Minnesota-- Senator Durenberger, Senator Wellstone, of course, Carl Pohlad, Tom Kelly, and the players, the coaches, and the official family of the Minnesota Twins.

Dave Durenberger was so confident that he called after the first game of the series to arrange this marvelous event. And he now takes full credit for the weather. Hey, Tom. But what a day. What a glorious day. Last day of October, and it's Halloween. You got to be careful around here with the Congress still in session.

[CHUCKLES] Sorry. Members of all of Minnesota Congressional Delegation, we're just delighted to have you here, really, members of the House and members of the Senate. And of course, to two dear friends of mine, a commissioner of baseball, Fay Vincent and Dr. Bobbi Brown, the president of the American League.

I also want to single out people that are usually singled out in a different way. And I'm talking about our umpires-- Richie Garcia, Drew Coble, Don Denkinger, Rick Reed, Terry Tata, and Harry Wendelstedt. Can we get them to stand up?

[APPLAUSE]

Thank you guys. Good to see you again. Thank you all for coming. We're just delighted to see you here. I remember how Bill Clem, a famed umpire, put it. He says, I never called one wrong from my heart, and that's how presidents feel, baseball fans, and fellow Americans.

First, let me say, it's a pleasure to see so many great amateur players here with us today. Two Washington DC champions, the Bell Multicultural High School boys, and--

[APPLAUSE]

--the H.D. Woodson High School girls. Where are they? Right there. All right, you guys.

[APPLAUSE]

And America's Little League champions from Danville, California. Where are those guys?

[APPLAUSE]

You got your champions stand up there. Let's get them. Show them off here. All right.

[APPLAUSE]

SPEAKER 4: Let's go. [INAUDIBLE] Check these guys out and see who you are.

GEORGE BUSH: Wonderful. Wonderful. And we're lucky to have four Babe Ruth League Championship teams with us today. They come from Cincinnati and Oakland, last year's World Series teams, and from LaCrescenta, California, and Marietta, Georgia. Our son, George Jr., the Texas Rangers guy, called, and he wants me to scout all of you. So if you'll stick around after this.

Let me welcome the authors of That Championship Season, the 1991 Minnesota Twins, a team that helped deepen America's love affair with baseball. It is absolutely wonderful what this ball club did for sports and for the spirit in our country. You showed why baseball is the most Democratic of sports. It's also the most Republican of sports. But whether in the major leagues or Little League, what counts is the size of your heart and your dreams.

And in 1990, I don't want to remind them of this, they didn't have their best year. They came in last in the American League West. And this year, they rose like Lazarus to win their division, beat Toronto in the playoffs. And then came the 88th World Series. And what a series it was.

Five games decided by a single run, three went extra innings. Five games won in the last inning and four in the last at bat. It was a series of indescribable tension, a fall classic for all time. And let me take a moment incidentally to talk about that other team in the World Series.

What a season it was also for the Braves. What a tribute to human character. They, too, went from worst to first. They, too, captivated this nation. And they made us hope that this series, like the season itself, would never draw to a close.

Sadly, both, now, are over, but what memories you have given us. Of infielders, Chuck Knoblauch and Greg Gagne, who, I gather, is not with us today. Chuck here. I think it was Abe Lincoln who said, "You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but it took Gagne and Knoblauch to fool a base-runner one time."

[LAUGHTER]

[APPLAUSE]

We recall Brian Harper's clutch hits, Kirby Puckett's game 6 winning home run, and that circus catch near the wall. Suddenly, Kirby's glove has become more valuable than Michael Jackson's.

[LAUGHTER]

And Kent Hrbek's brilliance in the field--

[APPLAUSE]

--I refuse to be drawn into that controversy and comment on the play when Kent tagged Ronnie Gant after Gant came off first base. But Barbara asked me to point out to Kent that she could use some help around the house with heavy lifting.

[LAUGHTER]

Finally, we think of other moments that made this series of snapshots of the mind-- Dan Gladden's 10th inning, game 7 hustle, Gene Larkin coming off the bench. We recall Tom Kelly managing furiously against Bobby Cox, one of the greatest bullpens in baseball history, and Jack Morris, winning two games, including a final game shutout and thrilling the game's most eardrum-popping fans.

[APPLAUSE]

Perhaps, Mr. Morris, the series' most valuable player, put it best of all, it's unfortunate that anyone had to lose this series because this was a true classic in every sense of the word. So each of you made this a kaleidoscope of beauty. Each showed why millions of Americans watch baseball, listen to, read about, debate it, and why, for a few golden days each October, each of us becomes a self-anointed expert.

And that wonderful phase friend, and I'm proud to say, mine, the late Bart Giamatti, once wrote that baseball is designed to break your heart. True, but it also lifts as, perhaps, no sport can. So really, thank you, guys, for the memories, for coming to the White House on this spectacular day, for giving our country a wonderful lift. And God bless you and the rest of our country as well. Thank you all very, very much.

[APPLAUSE]

SPEAKER 5: Absolutely. Well done. Good to see you.

[APPLAUSE]

SPEAKER 1: Well, thank you, Mr. President. On behalf of all of baseball and particularly, the world champion, Minnesota Twins, we'd certainly like to express our appreciation to the president for taking time out from his busy schedule. I know he doesn't have very many problems, based upon what I read in the paper, why the Madrid talks were probably decided by some American and National League umpires. They might get further.

But I'd just like to talk a little bit about baseball. Baseball, I don't consider it a sport. I always refer to it as a family culture. It's a family culture because as we all know, it's a sport that all sizes, shapes, and forms can participate in, either as a spectator or as a player on the sand lots. And that's why it's a great, great popular game.

And I'm proud to be a part of it. I'm proud to be a part of the Minnesota Twins. Our Twins operate as a family. There's no bosses. There's no personalities. And I think, I can attribute most of our success to the great family togetherness that we have. And I'd like to, on behalf of all of the Twins, thank you all for coming out here.

And I know that baseball also is a game where families are involved. I speak of families. I think of the Griffiths family. I think of the Bush family. As you know, George own the part of the Texas Rangers. We play them quite often. And I always tell George Jr., we always like to have him finish a close second to us.

[LAUGHTER]

And on the other hand, we've had some great competitive games with George Jr.'s team, and it's just been a great series. President Bush, we would like to officially make you a member of the Minnesota Twins team. So if you'd come up here, we'd like to give you a Twins Jersey.

GEORGE BUSH: That's great. Thank you, sir. [INAUDIBLE].

[APPLAUSE]

[INTERPOSING VOICES]

GEORGE BUSH: They're great. Thank you very much. Thank you so much, sir. You got it.

SPEAKER 1: Now, you can't have a Jersey without a bat. So Mr. Kelly will give him a bat.

TOM KELLY: OK. I'll just hand it to him. Too many guys around. But on behalf of all the players and their families, we'd just like to present this Kirby Puckett genuine C243 Louisville Slugger polarized.

[LAUGHTER]

GEORGE BUSH: That's great.

[APPLAUSE]

SPEAKER 1: And Mr. President, we also have a glove and a ball, but I think one of your assistants has it over here. I tried to get Jack Morris to throw you a pitch, but they said it isn't on your program. Besides that, you might not catch it.

GEORGE BUSH: Wait a minute.

[LAUGHTER]

Hey, come on.

[LAUGHTER]

Good to see you guys.

SPEAKER 1: Who's got the ball? Anybody got the ball and glove?

SPEAKER 6: Oh, Jesus.

SPEAKER 1: Jack.

SPEAKER 6: Yeah.

SPEAKER 1: Hey, Jack. Can you get it up, Jack?

SPEAKER 5: You're playing with fire.

SPEAKER 8: Here, George--

SPEAKER 1: All right. Let's see how good you are.

[CHUCKLES]

GEORGE BUSH: I get around behind the back.

[APPLAUSE]

See what I did, Tom? Let me say hello to these umpires.

SPEAKER 1: I suppose the president will ask us to see his agent.

GEORGE BUSH: Why don't the members of Congress come up and say hello to these guys? And I want to say hello to these umpires. Who knows?

[CHUCKLES]

SPEAKER 9: [INAUDIBLE]

GEORGE BUSH: Hello. Hello.

[SIDE CONVERSATION]

SPEAKER 10: Hi. [CHUCKLES]

[SIDE CONVERSATION]

SPEAKER 1: No, not yet.

SPEAKER 11: Hey, how are you?

[SIDE CONVERSATION]

SPEAKER 12: Very entertaining, though.

[SIDE CONVERSATION]

Yeah, I'm just trying to get home to watch the helicopter take off.

[SIDE CONVERSATION]

GEORGE BUSH: I'll meet you over.

SPEAKER 12: I'll be right there.

SPEAKER 13: You guys have a good day.

SPEAKER 14: Thank you.

[SIDE CONVERSATION]