Posted on 04/29/2024 9:36:29 AM PDT by ChicagoConservative27
President George W. Bush took Queen Elizabeth to her first ever baseball game in 1991 - and the excursion only lasted two innings.
A new book, penned by the late Bush's longtime chief of staff Jean Becker, sheds light on the exact moment the then-president realized the Queen wasn't enthralled by the game.
But her reaction was full of grace.
In Becker's book, Character Matters: And Other Life Lessons from George H. W. Bush, she features a number of political heavy hitters including President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Vice President Dan Quayle, as well as family members and White House staff.
Dorrance Smith, a member of Bush 41's White House staff, recalled the president telling her he had an idea.
'We should take the Queen to an Orioles baseball game! It's our national pastime, and I want to take her to Camden Yards,' she remembered Bush telling her.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Well if Her Majesty had taken GHWB to a cricket game, it would have been the same.
Son who has lived in Nova Scotia for four years says he is just beginning to get a sense of what is happening in cricket, but he will never stop watching baseball and is still a Rays fan. (This has not been their year, but that’s a separate issue.)
I mean, when you invite someone to attend a game that they are not familiar with and have no stated interest in, you should expect to leave early.
Not a Brit, but I believe they view baseball as a children’s version (rounders) of cricket. Both games are way too nuanced for the uninformed viewer to enjoy.
For those of you who have never watched cricket, imagine every pitch bouncing in the dirt for you to try and hit. And the pitcher getting to run towards you as he delivers the pitch.
oh yeah??..well, Crystal Palace v.s. Aston Villa on a chilly 45 degree day is no thrill a minute either.
sort of like we view soccer as “kick ball”...loved kick ball in kindergarten.
” ‘Ello, Mr. Jackson! Pardon me, but, did you happen to have a distant ancestor who was a professional Jockey?
I’ve seen numerous lawn statues dedicated to him outside of private American homes throughout the country. He looked so sporty in his short red jacket. Must have been very popular in his day. I see the resemblance, was he an Uncle?
The Premier League and the Bundesliga are spectacular. Baseball is a good cure for insomnia.
Cricket games, the sport of English (and South Asian) elites, can take days to play-out.
I'm sure she's attended those in the UK, and by comparison, baseball is absolutely "fast-paced."
Truth be known, I have always found baseball, and most spectator sports to be rather dull. I don’t put anyone down who feels differently about it. To each his own diversion.
I went to many ball games as a kid, mostly, just to spend time with my Dad, who worked several jobs.
The more time passes from Bush’s presidency, the more I realize what a shitty president he really was. Architect of the modern domestic surveillance state.
oh..just spectacular..dont ya just love 1-0 games. Run and run...then walk and walk...and then run and run..and then walk and walk...as for faking a injury, NBA and British soccer are neck and neck.
And you're swinging at the ball with a wide paddle, and the hit ball can go in any direction at all without being "foul".
The queen must have considered it her duty to put up with a lot of boring stuff. Good for GHWB to catch on fairly soon that she was bored.
Baseball is boring.
Cricket is boring.
Most boring sport is soccer, even as it is the most played game in the world. People running up and down, back and forth, trying to score 1 goal higher than the opposition, and most games ending in very low scores and sometimes no score. The most excitement is when somebody trips another player and we get an acting job from the supposedly hurt player. That’s a lot f fun. ;)
In order to make anything exciting, people need to choose sides and then, you root for your side, otherwise, it’s all very boring. Even chess and checkers can become exciting when you choose a side. ;)
She sounds kind of rude. Not exactly clear why everyone falls all over their self to placate the vanity of a queen, when she is somewhat below the level of any elected American president. But even as a guest, she should’ve been polite. And then we can discuss three and four day long cricket games and the next installment…
The sport the late Queen loved was horse racing. Take her to a day at the races and she would have loved it. I understand Bush’s idea to take her to something novel but yeah about 2 innings was pretty much what could have been expected.
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