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�THE WHITE HOUSE
O~fice of the Press Sec~etary,
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For Immediate Release
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( 'Api-il ,6, 1994
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jREMARKSOF THE FIRST LADY
AT THE ERNIE BANKS POSITIVISM AWARD LUNCH .
. Th~~kl you somuch~' Boy,oh~: boy.', Or as,:they
say, "Holy Cow, Holy,Mac::kerel." It's a -- it's really .
excit:.ing for me tpbe here,' especially afterb~~ng able to go
to the game on Monday and throw out that first. ball although
·I didri't hav.e"thetarmthcit I used to have. You kn?w, that
does happen. ,Ever to., those of, us who had dre<:lms ah~ played
sof.tball and, when ·the bOYS would let us, play hardball, as
we used to call. iit.,
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, I'm .91.ap I learned to play hardball 'when I was',a
little girl.
(Applause.) , And I'm glad I was a Cub$ fan
because being a Cubs fan prepares you .for ,life., It 'also'
really prepares you for Washington and politics, 'which is
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part of, butnot~otally synonymouswl.th, ' 1 1. fe ,., " And so, ,: for
both of those reasons I'm particularly honored to ,be ,here and
to be a member ofIthis 'society.
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In fact, .it was not too long. 'after I go,tto
washingt<:>n'-- .and Cubs'f~nshave. the greatest interpersonal
,'network.. We, can :recognize each other~' 'There's a ).ook of '
'undaunt,ed optimism., Some might call it 'foolishness ,and
naivete, but we kbow thatit'~ positivism because that's 'what
,Ernie Banks has' tiold Us; alt these year.s.
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So it,Wjasn't~ong befor 7 I got an invitation .. And
. I~et today th'e gl7ntlema~ who nOIDl.nated me fo::' membershl.p in
thl.s esteemed socl.ety." And I want to thankhl.m,on behalf of
myself ,and my twd younger brothers and myfatherj' because it:.
was really a farnilIy affair 'when " "
we followed the Cubs, day in',
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'and day out and ~jeallY dl.d not ,only follow these players"
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many of whom I'dl.,d ask -- all ,of whom 'ar:ehere and others who
couldn't come :"-jthat'I asked to join,us because of my' '
memories.
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',But
else who played
all of tllos.ei'
year~, "who~ for ~hatever' reason, connected with us' ~nan
emotl.onal and ve:tjy personal way. ,And every one·of us has
Cubs stories to tell andwrigley'Field stories' to tell.
I've
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spent a ,lot of tiIfle last year, when I thought I was going to
get to go t'oWrigley Field, talking to my ,dad about the
games. '
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And, . you know, my father would talk about Cubs.
games' and wrigleylField the'same way that you talk about an
errant but still loved child. (Laughter.) You know, I mean
it was like --oh) 'he's going t.o do it if he can oniy get his
act together and we've go to stand behind him and -- you
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know. .
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And we would watch those'games on 'summer afternoons
and yell and screcim and listen to Jack Brickhouse and, you"
know, all ,of us·wquld imitate' h.im. 'An<i then we'd all go out
into the back yarq,' or more likely, out into the street, and
we'd play the game over again . .
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And on ~ainYdays we'd' sit'infront of the TV set
and we'd watch ,th'1 games becaus.e we couldn't go swimming or
anything else. 1'1 those days -- Y9u know a lot· of things
have changed -- • but,- you know, when. you had lunch and you
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wanted to go sW1mm1ng 1n the summert1me, you had towa1t an
hour because your Imother.,told youyou'would drown if you. went
swimming. So we'd all wait an hour 'and we'd watch at least
the first, you kndw, couple of innings.
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And on ra1ny days we'd s1t there, and we'd play
card games, and wg'd watch the games, my brothers and our ,
friends, we'd. act,lout the plays that. had just happened. And,
you know, hit our readS a lot of times for "hat was going on.
And it was that kind of atmosphere of love and
support and optimiism and continuing hopefulness that I think
bring us' all, here ],today •. Not many Of. us can re-create" on a
daily.basis~ what it felt like to, be a kid ora teenager or
an adult.watchingtheseguys play and feeling as good as we
did then., But It .is somethingthat'we carry around with us
and we can k'ind of dig deep and '~ind every so often •
. And going to the game ,Ott ,Monday was . a treat ·for me.
The last time I ha~been there was in '87.1 did make the
play-offs· in '~4. I I took my f~ther and mother to theplay:
offs. I. got t1ckets-:-- -don't ask:me, I 'msure the press w111
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try to f1nd 'out, ard I'm sure ,there's a story there, I don't
know. (Applause)· And so 1;' took my father to' the game!.
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And,youj know, by' thattime,.you know my husband '
had been a governo:t and we'd gone some great ,places and taken
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my parents with me. A~d, you know, I had done OKay and we.
were, you know, dbing all right. 'But I picked him up to go
to the game that :day and he looked at me am:! he sa~d, "You,
know," he said, "Iyou've turned out' all right." ,(Laughter.),
And I riemember being there and feeling all that you
, feel and .,that we ,:can 'remember 'from t~att,ypi.ca~ but, s~ill '
unfortunate outcome .. But on Monday lt was a 11ttle blt of a
shock because onel of the fir~t'things I did,' I met the new
manager i whom I rf=ally like. " And he's really optimistic and
positive, he has a big smile ori his face ~nd wishes he had
some pitchers butl was'going:to keep smiling tintil maybe can'
find one or two., I,,' "
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, ,And we walk into the; locker room. And, you know,
in Washington I k1eep -- people' keep refer:-ring to, 'my husband"
and me as young. You know, it's always young this and young
that. Well, walk into a locker room of currently playing'
players sometime. It is ah~m.bling experience. I, mean, most
of the guys whom II met there in' the locker' room. were maybe
born in the year pfthe amazing Mets and what happened'to,us,
but more likely no~. It was after that. ,
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And they w~re so, ¥oung and just, you know, so geared,up. I
was so gladtose~ Billy Williams. I mean, I felt:like I was
finally with somebody I could recognize. ' And he was so nice
to me. sO he an<;ll I ~al~ed a little bit and' theriweleft. '
And I go out and II Slt ln the stands and -- after I threw tp,e
baIlout. ,
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And I dpn't'know, Ern'ie,if I did any good.
Because Ernie wOUild call to the players as they were waiting
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on deck. You know, he would call, them and they would ~ll
turn around and hb would give them a', you know, this or that
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or he would say something to them •. You know, and ,they all
got geared up., I,
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But if~ did 'have any positive effect, it quickly
diminished tothel point of nonexistence when I had to go up
and meet Harry Car:-ay. I probably shou,ldhave stayed in the
box if I had any ~mall role in some of what went on. I can't
take any,credit fbr Rhodes --: I think' that was Gene's
ambition'and dete~mination.
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· ' B u t so there I am with Harry Carey and we're up in
the box and he isl just.,as you would expect, in person. I
mean he is so fulQ of life and energy and ~- what's the word?
Malaprops, that,s1. the 'word. And just, you kno'w, going 90 to
nothing."
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. So 'we sit down and Ron Santo is there and we're
doing some ,radio land we're having, a great time. And all' of a
sudden, you know, Harry looks at me and says, "Can I kiss
you?" (Laughter)
I said, well, gosh, that's the nicest
question I've be~n asked in a yery long time ~- why not? You
know. ' \
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So we did a little 'kiss in the radio booth and it
was like no big deal because, you know, it's radio. And I
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mean" I don't even thl.nk the l:l.steners knew., I mean' it was
'ust sort of thi~ sweet little kiss, right?
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Well, there is such a difference between radio and
television. And,\ as somebody who, grew .up wit:.h radio and
loves radio, I forget about television all the time. That
should be obviou~ to many of you who watch frequently. So we'
do the radio thi~g and then Harry says, "~e've g6t to ,go next
door and do the '!lV." So we go next door·to do the TV and,
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you know, he say~, "Put your hat back on.," Sol put my hat
back on. He 'says, "Yeah, I like that."
So theJ we start doing the' TV:<;lrid he's saying, "Do
you want to do pl1ay by play?1I Well, you know, Ronald Reagan
could make it ,up ibecause he was on radio •. But, I m~an, this
is TV. I mean, ~eople get to see what it is you say. And I
say, "Well, you know, ,I might be able to say a few things but
not very' much." [
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. So we'.,r!e goi l1 g 'alOng
then we've f'inallY
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fl.nl.shed and Harr¥ says to me agal.n, he says, "Well, can I
kiss you?" "surel." So 'he grabs me, knocks my hat off, you
know, does this routine. 'So here, I -- I'm so excited
because I get to ~hrow the ball out •. All across America the"
next day is this·face-smushed picture of Harry' Carey, you
know, kissing me.1 Where else would that happen but Wrigley
Field? I mean, that is ~uch a Wrigley Field event.
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And I guess then, the final -- (Applause.) the
final thing that [ would say is that history, I guess; was
also made, as it, frequently is .at Wrigley Field. I had
about, oh, I don't know, 100 of my high school frienc;1s who
were there to see\ me and we, you know ,we're kind of' '.
reminiscing. So [ sat with Ernie and, you know, the owners
and the dignitari~s.
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And then I went up and saw Harry and Ron Santo and
talked to a lot of the ,guys in the press box and went back
and forth about what was going to happen this season. Had a
just great time. I
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Then I went across the field to see these friends
of mine, about'l~O of them. You know, boys I~d gone to high
school with. Kids I'd gone to kindergarten with, that' we
stay in touch with. You know, kids that I played out in the
street'with, or ~t the school in the yard that we had there.
And we were sqe~cited to be kind of re-living all of these
games together.
,And it was right in' that spot where, if you watched'
the game or saw 'the re-runs, two Met homers were, hit,right
to my' high schoo~ friends. And a friend 'of one of my, '
friends, a young Iman who'd been brought there caught both of
them. And being' a true Cubs fan in Wrigley Field, ·threw them,
both back because they were Met homers.
(Applause.) So that
second one wasr~ally tempting but he didn't give in. And
now, he's going 10 be on, Letterman tonight.
So if Y10u do the right thing, things work out. And
the Cubs -- event\uall Y things will work out. Thank you all
very ,much.
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Lissa Muscatine - Press Office
Creator
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First Lady's Office
Press Office
Lissa Muscatine
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1993 - 1997
Is Part Of
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<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36239" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="http://catalog.archives.gov/id/7431941" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Identifier
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2011-0415-S
Description
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<p>Lissa Muscatine first served in the Clinton Administration as a speechwriter. Within the First Lady’s Office, she served as Communications Director to the First Lady.</p>
<p>Lissa Muscatine’s records consist of materials from First Lady Hillary Clinton’s Press Office, highlighting topics such as health care, women’s rights, the Millennium Council, Hillary Clinton’s 2000 Senate campaign, and deal extensively with press interviews given by the First Lady; her domestic and foreign travel; and speeches and remarks, on a wide variety of topics, given by her before and during her time as First Lady. The records include interview transcripts, press releases, speeches and speech transcripts.</p>
Provenance
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Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
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Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Format
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Adobe Acrobat Document
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1,324 folders in 27 boxes
Text
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Original Format
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Paper
Dublin Core
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Title
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FLOTUS Statements and Speeches 12/2/93 - 4/26/94 [Binder]: [4/6/94 Ernie Banks Positivism]
Is Part Of
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Box 14
<a href="http://clintonlibrary.gov/assets/Documents/Finding-Aids/Systematic/2011-0415-S-Muscatine.pdf" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="http://catalog.archives.gov/id/7431941" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Creator
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First Lady's Office
Press Office
Lissa Muscatine
Identifier
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2011-0415-S
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
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Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
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Adobe Acrobat Document
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11/26/2012
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2011-0415-S-flotus-statements-and-speeches-12-2-93-4-26-94-binder-4-6-94-ernie-banks-positivism
7431941