George W. Bush: Wrong. About. EVERYTHING.

OK, I have to admit.  I am catching a little baseball fever now that the Rockies are in the playoffs.  I haven't been a big baseball fan since moving from Southern California and watching the Dodgers growing up.  But, hey, the Rockies were founded one year after I arrived in the Rockey Mountains, so in a sense, they are more 'my team' than the Broncos.  I liked Don Baylor way more than I like Clint Hurdle - so I really haven't been following them.  I also abandoned the Dodgers during they time they were owned by Murdoc.

However, today I decided to click on espn.com and bring up the cool little 'gamecast' so I can keep track of the game while working on the computer.  The front-page article was about the success of wildcard teams in the playoffs.  Please join me after the break for a key graf, right at the top of the article.

"I made my arguments and went down in flames. History will prove me right." -- Texas Rangers owner George W. Bush after voting against realignment and a new wild-card system during a Major League Baseball owners meeting in September 1993. Bush was the lone dissenter in a 27-1 vote.

There you have it. Dubya was the only owner to vote against re-alignment and the wildcard system.  Financially speaking, the article states that the wildcard has been a huge boon for the teams.  The 4 teams in the wildcard hunt on the NL side put another 1.25 million fans in the seats at the end of the season.  The fans get a chance to root for teams that would not otherwise have a chance.  It is the one fan-friendly thing that MLB has done in the last 20 years in a league that is normally hostile to its fans.  And our Dear Leader voted against it.

[Update] Rockies win 10-5 over Cheesesteaks.  They now lead the series 2-0 coming home to Denver.

•  Tips...

  For drinking Fat Tire while watching baseball at high altitude.

  by RichM on Thu Oct 04, 2007 at 03:19:40 PM PDT

•  The Boy Wonder

  Also traded Sammy Sosa for Harold Baines.

  Sammy went on to hit 608 of 609 career home runs after the trade.

  Businessman indeed

  by DoubleBarrellBunnyAnger on Thu Oct 04, 2007 at 03:33:59 PM PDT

  •  Yeah...

    That one cracks me up.  Seriously, Gore should have used that in a campaign ad.  It was indicative of what was to come.

    by RichM on Thu Oct 04, 2007 at 03:36:19 PM PDT

  •  I wonder if this . . .

    might have anything to do with Dear Leader's utter inability to succeed at anything:

    Chimps don't mind being chumps in raisin game

    Unlike humans, chimpanzees will gladly accept a rotten deal from one another, suggesting they have a very different concept of fairness, a new study shows.

    Experiments reveal that chimps are more focused on the immediate outcome of a transaction than the overall fairness of the deal.

    .
    .
    .

    Source

    by abw on Thu Oct 04, 2007 at 03:38:06 PM PDT

    •  Sounds like a great explanation

      of George Chimpy Bush.

      by Owllwoman on Thu Oct 04, 2007 at 03:40:43 PM PDT

    •  Nailed it

      more focused on the immediate outcome

      The boy never had to become a man... never had to grow up.

      by DoubleBarrellBunnyAnger on Thu Oct 04, 2007 at 03:55:28 PM PDT

•  I'm with Bush on this one..

  If you cannot win your division, you do not belong in the playoffs.

  by bluestateLIBertarian on Thu Oct 04, 2007 at 03:41:45 PM PDT

  •  Purity troll... :) n/t

    by RichM on Thu Oct 04, 2007 at 03:44:22 PM PDT

  •  I guess I'm a purity troll too

    Though the wildcard is the least odious of Bud Lite's "innovations".

    Dubya was also correct about (the vastly worse) interleague play.

    by N in Seattle on Thu Oct 04, 2007 at 03:59:31 PM PDT