Hello Mr. President

One of the many great experiences of having a career in baseball that I enjoyed was having the opportunity to meet so many different people.

Occasionally a celebrity might come through the clubhouse doors.  Of course, they were there to see the players but nevertheless many times those of us staff members would also get to meet them.

Of all the famous people that I met, I think meeting the President of the United States is by far the most exciting.

Just observing all the security and hoopla that unfolds a Presidential visit is quite interesting.

The Phillies were in Baltimore one afternoon when President Bill Clinton came to announce a reading program with Orioles star Cal Ripken.

He also graciously visited our clubhouse as well as the umpire’s room.  This was the first time I had ever actually met a US President, and it was so exciting.

I had been somewhat near President Jimmy Carter a few times when we played the Braves at Turner Field in Atlanta but never got the opportunity to meet him.

When you are in baseball, one of the things that you dream about is your team winning a World Series, having a parade and being invited to meet the President at the White House.

Our 2008 Phillies team accomplished that and met then President Barack Obama in a ceremony on the south lawn and then a tour of the White House.

That day was so special, and I will never forget it.

However, I have to say the most amazing opportunity to meet a President, happened in 2007 when then President George W. Bush was in office.  He was an avid baseball fan and before he was the Governor of Texas and subsequently President, he was an owner of the Texas Rangers.

One day, David Montgomery, the Phillies President, called to tell me that the White House had reached out to invite a small contingent of our players and Manager Charlie Manuel over to visit with the President in the Oval Office as we were going to be playing in Washington the following week.  He asked me to work with the White House to organize the visit.

Charlie and I sat down and selected a small group of players that would be invited to go.  That group consisted of Cole Hamels, Bret Myers, Pat Burrell, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Phillies owner, John Middleton.  I collected all the necessary identification on each of those guys for the Secret Service.

I assumed that I was merely the organizer and didn’t think I would be included until the day before when the White House contact said “we are all clear for tomorrow’s visit, but we haven’t received any information on you.  Would you like to go”?

Naturally, I was absolutely thrilled at the opportunity to meet the President in the Oval Office!  I immediately got my information over to them!

All along, I kept reminding the players of the time that we would be leaving and making sure that they knew it was a coat & tie affair.  I also told them to make sure that they had their photo ID with them.

So, on the morning of our visit, we all met in the hotel lobby and headed for 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.  When we got there, Jimmy Rollins sheepishly told me that he had accidentally left his ID in his hotel room.  At first, I thought he was kidding but soon realized that he wasn’t.  I told him we would go up to the security gate and see what happened.  He understood and said he’d just take a cab back to the hotel if he wasn’t admitted in.

When we got to the security clearance area, I explained to the officer what had happened.  Initially, he wasn’t going to allow Rollins in but decided to call in his supervisor.  Well, it pays to be famous.  The agent in charge happened to be from Philadelphia and was a big Phillies fan.  He immediately recognized Rollins and escorted him in.

So, all of us were ushered into the Oval Office and spent about an hour with the President and famous Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter and his family.  The President asked each of us about our roles and he knew quite a bit about the players.  You could tell that he loved talking about baseball.

It was an experience that I’ll never forget.

Our entire team got to meet President Obama the spring after the 2008 World Series championship.  Later that summer he was also in the clubhouse in St. Louis,  where he threw out the first ball at the All-Star Game which Charlie Manuel, the coaching staff myself and several Phillies players were a part of.

In 2010, again President Obama visited our clubhouse and even remembered a lot of the guys from his previous visits as he threw out the first pitch for the Washington Nationals home opener, and it marked 100 years since President William Howard Taft had done so for the first time.

I was also walking to our team bus one day in Houston and just in front of me was President George HW Bush.  He even apologized for holding us up.  It was a thrill just to be so close to him.

Lastly, President Joe Biden and his wife attended several Phillies games at Citizens Bank Park, particularly when he was Vice President.  He came to the clubhouse a few times and I gave him a few caps for some of his people.  I have a nice photo of this which he was gracious enough to sign “I promise that I did not steal these caps”!

Amazing experiences that I was very fortunate to have been a part of.