THE WHITE HOUSE
       
                     Office of the Press Secretary
       
       _____________________________________________________________
                                                   April 6, 1994
       
                       REMARKS OF THE FIRST LADY
             AT THE ERNIE BANKS POSITIVISM AWARDS LUNCHEON
         HOSTED BY THE CHICAGO CUBS FAN CLUB OS WASHINGTON, DC
       
          MRS. CLINTON:  Thank you so much.  Boy, oh, boy.  Or as
       they say, "Holy Cow, Holy Mackerel."  It's a -- it's really
       exciting for me to be here, especially after being able to go
       to the game on Monday and throw out that first ball although
       I didn't have the arm that I used to have.  You know, that
       does happen.  Even to those of us who had dreams and played
       softball and, when the boys would let us, play hardball, as
       we used to call it.  
       
          I'm glad I learned to play hardball when I was a little
       girl.  (Applause.)  And I'm glad I was a Cubs fan because
       being a Cubs fan prepares you for life.  It also really
       prepares you for Washington and politics, which is part of,
       but not totally synonymous with, life.  And so, for both of
       those reasons I'm particularly honored to be here and to be a
       member of this society.
       
          In fact, it was not too long after I got to Washington -
       - and Cubs fans have the greatest interpersonal network.  We
       can recognize each other.  There's a look of undaunted
       optimism.  Some might call it foolishness and naivete, but we
       know that it's positivism because that's what Ernie Banks has
       told us all these years.  
       
          So it wasn't long before I got an invitation.  And I met
       today the gentleman who nominated me for membership in this
       esteemed society.  And I want to thank him on behalf of
       myself and my two younger brothers and my father, because it
       was really a family affair when we followed the Cubs, day in
       and day out and really did not only follow these players,
       many of whom I did ask -- all of whom are here and others who
       couldn't come -- that I asked to join us because of my
       memories.  
       
          But everybody else who played for all of those years,
       who, for whatever reason, connected with us in an emotional
       and very personal way.  And every one of us has Cubs stories
       to tell and Wrigley Field stories to tell.  I've spent a lot
       of time last year, when I thought I was going to get to go to
       Wrigley Field, talking to my dad about the games.  
       
          And, you know, my father would talk about Cubs games and
       Wrigley Field 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 to do it if he can only get his act
       together and we've go to stand behind him and -- you know.
       
          And we would watch those games on summer afternoons and
       yell and scream and listen to Jack Brickhouse and, you know,
       all of us would imitate him.  And then we'd all go out into
       the back yard, or more likely, out into the street, and we'd
       play the game over again.  
       
          And on rainy days we'd sit in front of the TV set and
       we'd watch the games because we couldn't go swimming or
       anything else.  In those days -- you know a lot of things
       have changed -- but, you know, when you had lunch and you
       wanted to go swimming in the summertime, you had to wait an
       hour because your mother told you you would drown if you went
       swimming.  So we'd all wait an hour and we'd watch at least
       the first, you know, couple of innings.  
       
          And on rainy days we'd sit there, and we'd play card
       games, and we'd watch the games, my brothers and our friends,
       we'd act out the plays that had just happened.  And, you
       know, hit our heads a lot of times for what was going on.  
       
          And it was that kind of atmosphere of love and support
       and optimism 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 or a teenager or an
       adult watching these guys play and feeling as good as we did
       then.   But it is something that we carry around with us
       and we can kind of dig deep and find every so often.  
       
          And going to the game on Monday was a treat for me.  The
       last time I had been there was in '87.  I did make the play-
       offs in '84.  I took my father and mother to the play-offs. 
       I got tickets -- don't ask me, I'm sure the press will try to
       find out, and I'm sure there's a story there, I don't know.
       (Applause) And so I took my father to the game.  
       
          And, you know, by that time, you know my husband had
       been a governor and we'd gone some great places and taken my
       parents with me.  And, you know, I had done OKay and we were,
       you know, doing all right.  But I picked him up to go to the
       game that day and he looked at me and he said, "You know," he
       said, "you've turned out all right."  (Laughter.) 
       
          And I remember being there and feeling all that you feel
       and that we can remember from that typical but still
       unfortunate outcome.  But on Monday it was a little bit of a
       shock because one of the first things I did, I met the new
       manager, whom I really like.  And he's really optimistic and
       positive, he has a big smile on his face and wishes he had
       some pitchers but was going to keep smiling until maybe can
       find one or two.
       
          And we walk into the locker room.  And, you know, in
       Washington I keep -- people keep referring 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 a humbling experience.  I mean most
       of the guys whom I met there in the locker room were maybe
       born in the year of the amazing Mets and what happened to us,
       but more likely not.  It was after that.  
       
       And they were so young and just, you know, so geared up.  I
       was so glad to see Billy Williams.  I mean, I felt like I was
       finally with somebody I could recognize.  And he was so nice
       to me.  So he and I talked a little bit and then we left. 
       And I go out and I sit in the stands and -- after I threw the
       ball out.  
       
          And I don't know, Ernie, if I did any good.  Because
       Ernie would call to the players as they were waiting on deck. 
       You know, he would call them and they would all turn around
       and he would give them a, you know, this or that or he would
       say something to them.  You know, and they all got geared up. 
       
       
          But if I did have any positive effect, it quickly
       diminished to the point of nonexistence when I had to go up
       and meet Harry Caray.  I probably should have stayed in the
       box if I had any small role in some of what went on.  I can't
       take any credit for Rhodes -- I think that was Gene's
       ambition and determination.  
       
          But so there I am with Harry Carey and we're up in the
       box and he is just as you would expect, in person.  I mean he
       is so full of life and energy and -- what's the word? 
       Malaprops, that's the word.  And just, you know, going 90 to
       nothing.  
       
          So we sit down and Ron Santo is there and we're doing
       some radio and 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 been asked in a very long time -- why not?  You
       know.
       
          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 mean,
       I don't even think the listeners knew.  I mean it was just
       sort of this sweet little kiss, right? 
       
          Well, there is such a difference between radio and
       television.  And, as somebody who grew up with radio and
       loves radio, I forget about television all the time.  That
       should be obvious to many of you who watch frequently.  So we
       do the radio thing and then Harry says, "We've got to go next
       door and do the TV."  So we go next door to do the TV and,
       you know, he says, "Put your hat back on."  So I put my hat
       back on.  He says, "Yeah, I like that." 
       
          So then we start doing the TV and he's saying, "Do you
       want to do play by play?"  Well, you know, Ronald Reagan
       could make it up because he was on radio.  But, I mean, this
       is TV.  I mean, people 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." 
       
          So we're going along and then we've finally finished and
       Harry says to me again, he says, "Well, can I kiss you?" 
       "Sure."  So he grabs me, knocks my hat off, you know, does
       this routine.  So here, I -- I'm so excited because I get to
       throw the ball out.  All across America the next day is this
       face-smushed picture of Harry Carey, you know, kissing me. 
       Where else would that happen but Wrigley Field?  I mean, that
       is such a Wrigley Field event.  
       
          And I guess then, the final -- (Applause.) the final
       thing that I 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 friends who were there to
       see me and we, you know, were kind of reminiscing.  So I sat
       with Ernie and, you know, the owners and the dignitaries.  
       
          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.  
       
          Then I went across the field to see these friends of
       mine, about 100 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 at the school in the yard that we had there. 
       And we were so excited 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 school friends.  And a friend of one of my friends, a
       young man 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 was really tempting but he didn't give in.  And now, he's
       going to be on Letterman tonight.  
       
          So if you do the right thing, things work out.  And the
       Cubs -- eventually things will work out.  Thank you all very
       much.  (Applause.)
       
          A PARTICIPANT:  Thank you very much, Mrs. Clinton.  I
       have a much better understanding after today's lunch of why
       Bill Clinton was elected President. (Applause.) 
       
           Not only did the First Lady host our special guests at
       breakfast this morning in a wonderful tour of the White
       House, but she also arranged for the President and the Vice
       President to delay, momentarily, a helicopter trip right off
       the South Lawn so that our players could go and visit with
       them.  And I've never seen more graciousness in my life at
       the White House.  (Applause.)
       
          And so, recognizing, Mrs. Clinton, that certainly you
       cannot accept any gift that's worth more than $1.95, we've
       gone to no expense whatsoever to find two motley T-shirts. 
       One for you, one for your husband.  And they are emblazoned
       across the front with "AMOL (phonetic) Loves Hillary."
       (Applause.) 
       
          All within the rules.  I would like to refer you to page
       two of the program for today.  
       
                            (End of tape.)