Posted on 11/24/2005 12:42:30 PM PST by Sub-Driver
N.M. Gov Admits He Wasn't Baseball Pick
13 minutes ago
Gov. Bill Richardson is coming clean on his draft record the baseball draft, that is, admitting that his claim to have been a pick of the Kansas City A's in 1966 was untrue.
For nearly four decades, Richardson, often mentioned as a possible Democratic presidential candidate, has maintained he was drafted by the Kansas City Athletics.
The claim was included in a brief biography released when Richardson successfully ran for Congress in 1982. A White House news release in 1997 mentioned it when he was about to be named U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. And several news organizations, including The Associated Press, have reported it as fact over the years.
But an investigation by the Albuquerque Journal found no record of Richardson being drafted by the A's, who have since moved to Oakland, or any other team.
Informed by the newspaper of its findings, the governor acknowledged the error in a story in Thursday's editions.
"After being notified of the situation and after researching the matter ... I came to the conclusion that I was not drafted by the A's," he said.
Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos declined to comment when reached by the AP on Thursday.
Richardson, a right-handed pitcher who played at Tufts University, said he was actively scouted by several major league teams in the 1960s.
He insisted his name appeared on "a draft list of some kind" created by the Los Angeles Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates. He named team scouts, whom he said told him that he "would or could" be drafted. The scouts have since died.
Richardson later developed arm trouble, eliminating any possible pro career.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
He's from the Clinton administration so it's not a surprise at all. Look at M. Larry Lawrence, the "merchant marine" hero who never was either of those and had to be exhumed from Arlington!
Of course this is out there so if he's a running mate or whatever in 2008 he can say "that's old news" let's "move on" and get away with it.
I expect the spin to evolve into "I was actually scouted by KC" which really only means that a scout once attended one of his games or something.
If Hillary can get away with all the lies from her past, why should this stop Richardson?
It's Albert Arnold Gore, Jr.
Of course, he also used to pitch for the Cubs every Sunday afternoon - at least that's what he told us before he walked into the secret entrance to Wrigley Field which was located behind the door of a tavern at Lawrence and Austin...
I think you are right on target: it will be Bayh, unless he does something before 2008 to alienate the clintoid appartatus. And all she has to do to win is take OH! All the other 2004 Kerry states are automatically in her column. She won't even need IN, just OH. She is seriously on her way. I think that many of her supporters are just long-term admirers of Bill Clinton, thinking that victory for HRC will somehow result in Bill Clinton "taking care" of them again. Of course, he is taking care only of himself, but his supporters, many of most limited education and moral principles, don't understand the dichotomy. Remember the old poll that showed something like only 2 percent of the public said that their own moral principles were lower than those of their idol Bill Clinton. It's hard to admit it, but millions of Americans really do BELIEVE in the Clintons, and I don't think we can do a thing about it. These Clintons have their own pipeline to the American voter.
As in 'etched indelibly' in my memory?
This smacks of Al Gore. What is with these democrats and a pathological desire to invent stories about themselves?
In the middle 1950s, there was a Republican congressman from UT who invented a WWII "hero" story about himself. When the facts were uncovered, he was so disgraced that he may have resigned. I think his name was "Stringfellow."
It was Douglas Stringfellow, R-UT, who withdrew from a 1954 reelection race after his WWII fabrication was uncovered.
There are archival papers including a typed autobiography, newspaper clippings, letters received, typed copies of speeches, and newsletters entitled: Day to Day with Doug. The materials deal with his motivational speeches before he was a congressman and his congressional career. The autobiography is an attempt by Douglas R. Stringfellow to correct his war experiences and his various activities after he realized he had lied.
Papers: 1952, 1 item.
A typescript of a speech taken from the included sound tapes. The speech was given at Brigham Young University on 22 May 1952. Douglas Stringfellow claims to have been captured and tortured by the Germans, that he escaped from the notorious Bergen Belsen prison camp, that he was beaten by a suicide man, and that he was shot at by a machine gun after being wounded by a land mine.
"Big deal! I once hit a home run off a pitcher that was once almost drafted."
Oh. I thought you were talking about draft beer.
It's certainly not his fault that he looks like Lou Costello with a deep tan, or that he's built like Senator Barbara Mikulski, except not as ripped.
Cut this fine border-guarding American some slack. He's certainly popular as hell with the NM voters, alive and dead; present or absent, who vote for him enthusiastically, and often.
"I immediately looked to see if this was a Scrappleface article."
So did I.
I pray that someday, you will get a name.
The real frightening thing about this is the fact that some voters would be influenced by thinking he was drafted by a MLB team.
Heck, some voters would be influenced by knowing whether he wears boxers or briefs (and I apologize for the mental images.)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.