Miers(ed) in Last Place

Now I know why the Texas Rangers have never made it to the World Series!

In fact, the Rangers currently have the longest World Series appearance drought of any expansion team. Started in 1961, that makes it 44 years without every making it to the Fall Classic. By contrast, the Florida Marlins were started in 1993 and have already made two World Series appearances (winning both).

I only mention the Rangers' plight (as a Cubs fan, our World Series drought runs from 1945, 1908 since we won it) because President George W. Bush was Managing General Partner of the Rangers in the late 80' and into the 90's. I believe, this detail helps provide me with some insight into the President’s pick of Harriet Miers as an Associate Justice to the Supreme Court.

I have to equate the Miers pick, with President Bush having Kevin Elster as the Rangers shortstop in 1996. Elster seems like a nice enough guy, no one has every accused him of using sterioids, he was born in San Pedro, Calif, and he even has that “All American look.” In 1996, his .252 batting average and only 14 errors made him a solid, dependable, and loyal player. But he is never to be confused as a Hall of Famer.

By contrast, Cal Ripken Jr. whom was a contemporary of Elster, and was the type of impact player who gets your team to a World Series. For the record, Ripken led his team to a 1983 World Series victory 4 games to 1, he had a .336 average in Post Season, and played in every All Star game from 1983 through 2001.

But George Bush’s Rangers never had a Hall of Fame shortstop. In fact, the only Rangers ever elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame made their names with other teams (Ferguson Jenkins as a Cub; Gaylord Perry only played 4 of his 22 seasons in Texas and wears a San Francisco Giants cap on his Hall of Fame plaque, while Nolan Ryan played 5 of his 27 years as a Ranger, although in fairness he is wearing a Rangers hat on his plaque).

What Conservatives had hoped for was that President Bush would act more like George Steinbrenner when making his Supreme Court picks. Steinbrenner needed a Third Basemen, he goes and gets future Hall of Famer Alex Rodriguez; he needs a left hander pitcher, he gets Future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson.

While Steinbrenner is generally reviled outside of New York, he seems to have come to terms with the idea that he is not beholden to anyone but the Yankee loyalist who have supported his team financially and with their loyal “fanatic” devotion. He has made a commitment to them to win, and has delivered a Division championship every year since 1995, and 4 World Series victories during that span.

President Bush had several Hall of Famers to choose from, (Edith Jones Clement, Michael Luttig, and Samuel Alito to name a few) but instead he chose a solid loyal utility player. The reason for the decision is perplexing seemingly to everyone except the President. But since there is no chance that 7 Republican Senators will join with all 44 Democrats to say “We deserve an All Star,” this leaves the President’s constituency to take solace in the fact that President Kerry would have probably nominated ACLU National Legal Director Steven Shapiro given his chance.

What conservatives now have to understand is the Republican party still does not have a standard banner willing to risk being ridiculed (like Steinbrenner) for delivering on their commitment to win. I wish Harriet Miers well, since she undoubtedly will be confirmed, and at this point there is no reason to believe she will not vote in along side Scalia and Thomas (which was the promise the President gave to his devoted fans during the campaign).

But (with apologies to Mr. Elster who is most likely a nice individual), every fan is disappointed when they end up with Kevin Elster, if they thought they could have had Cal Ripken Jr.