Sitting here watching & listening to it raining like hell outside & knowing I won't get to use my tickets to tonight's ball game, I'm wondering if you watched ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball last night, with the Yankees & Red Sox battling at Fenway Park & John Kerry in attendance.

At one point in the broadcast, Kerry was wired up & interviewed by Jon Miller. Here is Kerry on the major issues of the day:

The Designated Hitter
Kerry doesn't like it one bit & would get rid of it. Wouldn't even be in favor of keeping things as they are, with the DH being used in the AL only.

The Pete Rose Reinstatement
A tough call, said Kerry. My take was that he was not playing the fence-straddling politician here, just that he was unfamiliar with the facts & the evidence, perhaps coz he's an AL fan.

Steroids
They're bad for you & bad for the game, Kerry said, & don't belong in the game. (I note that they are banned by MLB, but the players' union won't allow testing.) Kerry also said, however, that the federal goverment has more important things to worry about right now than to get involved in the steroid issue.

Contrast Kerry With Bush
We all know that Bush has spoken out against steroids & as Rangers owner allowed Sammy Sosa to be traded.

My lasting impression of Bush & baseball, however, comes from the 2002 World Series, when Bush arrogantly decided to attend a game at Yankee Stadium. Coz of his presence there, each fan was subjected to a weapons search before being allowed to enter the ball park. These folks paid well into the hundreds of dollars for their tickets, & TV cameras showed that many of 'em were still waiting to get in the ball park in the 4th inning. Anybody else in Bush's position woulda just stayed away & let the fans enjoy their game---anybody, that is, but a spoiled rich kid with a sense of entitlement.

Well Joe, I hope Kerry can win the big one, unlike his Red Sox!

Yeah, Larry, it crossed my mind that there's a Red Sox jinx at work & that Kerry is Red Sox fan, & even that the jinx transcends baseball & sneaks into ordinary life---after all, Stephen King wrote a book that featured a Red Sox player (The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon) & then got hit by a car in front of his house.

Then I remembered that the late Red Sox great Ted Williams was a huge Bush supporter, so hopefully this all evens out.