Bush grandstands with baseball folk

WASHINGTON – Oh, the perks of office. The president who counts autographed baseballs among his most prized possessions delighted in a day jam-packed with baseball notables – from an Oval Office huddle with Tommy Lasorda to a Capitol Hill ceremony honoring the late Jackie Robinson to a South Lawn extravaganza celebrating the Boston Red Sox.

President Bush had duties throughout Wednesday – handing the Congressional Gold Medal to Robinson’s widow, Rachel, and giving the Red Sox the traditional part-joking, part-serious World Series champs speech, for instance.

Bush traveled to the Capitol Rotunda to posthumously give Congress’ highest honor to Robinson, who broke the sport’s color line when he made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.

With 10 long-winded speakers – Bush made jokes about coming ninth in the lineup and thus needing to “keep your swing short” – the Robinson ceremony went into overtime. That forced the Red Sox and hundreds of their fans to wait in the frigid weather for their long-awaited turn at a White House championship celebration.

“Some have said it would be a cold day when the Red Sox made it here,” Bush deadpanned when he finally arrived, referring to Boston’s finally-broken, 86-year championship drought and drawing hoots from the chilled crowd.