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Jimcs50
03-02-2005, 11:23 AM
President to honor fun-loving champs


FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) - Nixon is heading to the White House. Trot Nixon, that is.


Manny Ramirez will be there, too, if the beads on his dreadlocks don't set off security alarms. Kevin Millar hopes to goad a teammate into doing something undiplomatic. And Johnny Damon might stick around for some adult beverages.
The Boston Red Sox will be honored as World Series champions by President Bush on Wednesday in a ceremony unlike the serious ones usually held there.



"I think President Bush would love to grab a beer with us," Damon, who good-naturedly called himself and his teammates "idiots" last year, said Tuesday. "We'd kick back and go hunting for pheasant. You know, that type of stuff. So I think he would mix in well with us."

Baseball is in the Bush blood. His father was a first baseman at Yale before becoming president and he was an owner of the Texas Rangers in 1989 when they traded Sammy Sosa. He also has a lot of supporters on the Red Sox.

Curt Schilling campaigned for him, Mike Timlin backs him and Nixon shares his religious fervor and love of baseball.

"I'm sure he doesn't have the amount of time that we all have to sit there and watch ESPN and see highlights," Nixon said. "He's got other things he needs to worry about."

He doesn't think Bush will have a problem with Damon's long hair, Millar's frosted brown locks and both of their playful natures.

"We're all created in the eyes of God. You don't judge somebody by the way they look," Nixon said. "I'm sure he read the paper and understands what kind of ballclub (we have), how special the season was last year."

Still, Millar will have to keep his sense of humor and mouth in check.

"I'll get some of these guys to do something" unusual, he said.

The Red Sox added another activity to the annual tradition of baseball's champions visiting the White House. After what's expected to be about a 40-minute ceremony, they'll visit wounded veterans at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

"The Red Sox can go there and make a lot of people happy," Damon said.

"That (visit) is probably even a bigger honor in itself, to be able to sit and talk or maybe cheer up someone who's been defending my way of life," reliever Mike Timlin said, "laying his life on the line or her life on the line to be out there in front of an enemy's bullet. Protecting me when I'm just over here enjoying a game."

Like Bush, Timlin is from Midland, Texas. They met behind the batting cage in the early '90s when Bush was with the Rangers and Timlin was pitching for Toronto.

Timlin said he was honored to meet "one of the leaders of the free world."

"Oh man, it's awesome," Millar said. "It'll be a great time. (I'll) get a chance to put a picture up of President Bush on the wall so it'll be a blast."

Damon said he'll be well-behaved and well-dressed when he meets the President.

"I've always been a huge fan of his and also his father," Damon said.

Red Sox principal owner John Henry and general manager Theo Epstein, who both supported Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, will be there. So will team president Larry Lucchino, a friend of the president's.

Henry will also take part in a ceremony earlier in the day, during which Jackie Robinson will be posthumously awarded a Congressional gold medal.

The players' meeting with Bush is scheduled for mid-afternoon.

"His Secret Service guys might tackle some of our guys. Kevin could be in trouble," Nixon said. "He could get a warning shot fired over his head."

Damon wants Bush's autograph for his 5-year-old son.

"He knows every single president," Damon said. "His favorite, of course, is Zachary Taylor because he carried a sword. So I'm going to tell President Bush (to) start carrying a sword. He's going to have a stronger fan base."