Meredith Bailey, 7,

Gets To Be A Part

Of Annual Game

As Bush Cheers

For Youngsters

From Staff, Wire Reports

WASHINGTON -- It was hard to tell who enjoyed Meredith Bailey's day at the White House more: Meredith or her parents, Ken and Sandy.

Meredith Bailey of Greeneville, seven-year-old daughter of Judge Ken and Sandy Bailey, represented the state of Tennessee on Wednesday at the annual "Tee Ball on the South Lawn" baseball game, presided over by President and Mrs. Bush with a host of Major League Baseball players in attendance.

Meredith, a member of the Greeneville Recreation Department's John Rogers' Dodgers Pee Wee baseball team, was nominated by the local department's Little League to be Tennessee's representative to the game, and she was chosen by Little League International.

Meredith joined youngsters from all 50 states and the District of Columbia in Washington for the "Tee Ball on the South Lawn."

"It was just an awesome experience for all of us," Sandy Bailey said this morning as the family was preparing to leave Washington for home. "They treated the kids so well. I think each of them really had a good time and it was something they'll never forget."

Each player was decked out in a Little League uniform, with a different color for the teams, which were split into four squads: North, South, East and West.

Meredith was a member of the South team, and their uniforms were white, trimmed in red. The front of the jersey had an emblem of the Tennessee state flag, and "Tennessee" was scripted on the back. The players were allowed to keep their jersey, hat, socks and sweat bands.

"That thrilled Meredith because she can wear it (the jersey) to school and nobody else will have one like it," Sandy laughed.

Each player batted once and played the field during the game.

"Meredith actually got a hit," her mother said. "But all the kids got to stay on base and run the bases. Catcher is her favorite position on defense and she got to catch when her team played in the field."

While Meredith was enjoying the ball game, her parents were seated in the bleachers along with other parents.

"We sat on the front row of the bleachers, and President and Mrs. Bush were right behind us in the third row," Sandy said. "They sat there with the parents and cheered on all the kids."

Several Major League players were in attendance. Baltimore Orioles first baseman Kevin Millar was first base coach during Meredith's game, and former Major Leaguer Rick Monday was third base coach. John Smoltz and Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg were also on hand as coaches, and Hall of Famer Frank Robinson filled in as honorary commissioner to replace Nolan Ryan, who was reportedly ill and unable to attend.

"They had a public address system set up and each player was introduced with some information about them," Sandy said. "The ESPN radio crew of 'Mike (Golic) and Mike (Greenberg)' did the play-by-play of the game for the crowd."

Country music star Kenny Chesney sang the National Anthem.

Following the contest, each player was called up to meet President Bush, and he presented each of them with an autographed baseball.

Another thrill for the players was that each received baseball cards with their photo and information printed on them. Meredith enjoyed trading cards with other team members.

Sandy said that the team enjoyed a picnic afterward, but it was rather comical that Meredith's picnic was interrupted by media requests.

"The White House media people looked us up. Meredith was interviewed by the Washington Times, Scripps Howard and a Nashville television station," Sandy said. "She made the rounds with the media."

Earlier in the day, Meredith and her family met with U.S. Senator Bob Corker, R-Tenn., in his office.

The afternoon ball games were the 19th of Bush's presidency. Bush, who was the managing partner of the Texas Rangers before leaving that job to run for Texas governor in 1994, began the Tee-Ball tradition at the White House to honor the teamwork and spirit of the game he loves, baseball.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this historic occasion," Bush said as he got the festivities started under a hot sun. After declaring, "Play ball!" President Bush sat in the bleachers, smiling and chatting with Hall of Famer Robinson.