Die hard Knicks and Yankee fan, Hillary.
WASHINGTON -- Hillary Rodham Clinton, who grew up rooting for the Chicago Cubs, donned a New York Yankees cap at a White House ceremony Thursday to congratulate the Bronx Bombers on their World Series win.
President Bill Clinton smiles as he holds up a Yankees jersey presented to him by Cuban defector Orlando Hernandez, a pitcher for the World Series champions.
"This just puts the cherry on top for the '98 season," Yankees manager Joe Torre said as rain drizzled down on the team, gathered on the White House lawn with the first lady and the president.
Hillary Rodham Clinton is in the midst of making herself over as "New York enough" to be a Senate candidate there. And a day after a trip upstate where she was greeted with signs reading "Carpetbagger Go Home!" she has taken a sudden, keen interest in the state's sports.
She revealed on Thursday that she is a Yankees fan and has jumped on the New York Knicks' bandwagon. She introduced Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who after the ceremony said her likely GOP rival, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, clearly is the superior Yankees fan.
"The mayor's been in New York all these years, he's a great Yankees' fan; they don't come any better," said Steinbrenner, who has been a frequent ally of the mayor's.
Yankee pitcher David Cone agreed.
"I think Mayor Giuliani probably has the edge right now. He's a lifelong Yankees fan," Cone said.
Giuliani on Thursday called the first lady's comments "funny" because he hadn't seen her at any games.
"I am not disputing that she's a Yankee fan but I've been to Yankee Stadium maybe a thousand times in my life and I've yet to see Hillary Clinton there," said Giuliani, who was to take to the airwaves Thursday night on WABC's Yankee Talk.
Nonetheless, the first lady was all smiles as Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter presented her with a team pendant.
Her appearance at the White House Yankees festivities cast the feel-good event in a decidedly political light against the backdrop of her Senate ambitions.
White House officials insisted it was just a coincidence that the event to honor the Yankees -- who won the Series almost eight months ago -- had come just as the first lady prepared to form an exploratory committee for the Senate.
The Republican National Committee noted the first lady had shunned similar White House sports fetes in the past. RNC chairman Jim Nicholson called the World Series festivities "a cynical use of the Yankees and a tacky insult to the intelligence of every true Yankees fan."
In an appearance on NBC's "Today" show on Thursday, the first lady pledged her allegiance to the Yankees.
"The fact is I've always been a Yankees fan," she said. "As a young girl I became very interested and enamored of the Yankees."
When the first lady, who lived for years in Arkansas and hails from Illinois, was asked about the Chicago Cubs, she said she still roots for them as well.
"I am a Cubs fan. But I needed an American League team because when you're from Chicago you cannot root for both the Cubs and the (White) Sox," she said.
She is such a big enough Cubs fan to be listed as a member of the Emil Verban Society, a Chicago Cubs fan club based in Washington.
As for her NBA allegiance, she is firmly behind New York.
"Now I'm a Knicks fan, absolutely," she told reporters outside an East Harlem school early Thursday, the day after the Knicks upset the Indiana Pacers to take a 3-2 lead in their best-of-7 Eastern Conference final.
This article can be found at:
http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/1999/990610/01300852.html
WASHINGTON -- Hillary Rodham Clinton, who grew up rooting for the Chicago Cubs, donned a New York Yankees cap at a White House ceremony Thursday to congratulate the Bronx Bombers on their World Series win.
President Bill Clinton smiles as he holds up a Yankees jersey presented to him by Cuban defector Orlando Hernandez, a pitcher for the World Series champions.
"This just puts the cherry on top for the '98 season," Yankees manager Joe Torre said as rain drizzled down on the team, gathered on the White House lawn with the first lady and the president.
Hillary Rodham Clinton is in the midst of making herself over as "New York enough" to be a Senate candidate there. And a day after a trip upstate where she was greeted with signs reading "Carpetbagger Go Home!" she has taken a sudden, keen interest in the state's sports.
She revealed on Thursday that she is a Yankees fan and has jumped on the New York Knicks' bandwagon. She introduced Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who after the ceremony said her likely GOP rival, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, clearly is the superior Yankees fan.
"The mayor's been in New York all these years, he's a great Yankees' fan; they don't come any better," said Steinbrenner, who has been a frequent ally of the mayor's.
Yankee pitcher David Cone agreed.
"I think Mayor Giuliani probably has the edge right now. He's a lifelong Yankees fan," Cone said.
Giuliani on Thursday called the first lady's comments "funny" because he hadn't seen her at any games.
"I am not disputing that she's a Yankee fan but I've been to Yankee Stadium maybe a thousand times in my life and I've yet to see Hillary Clinton there," said Giuliani, who was to take to the airwaves Thursday night on WABC's Yankee Talk.
Nonetheless, the first lady was all smiles as Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter presented her with a team pendant.
Her appearance at the White House Yankees festivities cast the feel-good event in a decidedly political light against the backdrop of her Senate ambitions.
White House officials insisted it was just a coincidence that the event to honor the Yankees -- who won the Series almost eight months ago -- had come just as the first lady prepared to form an exploratory committee for the Senate.
The Republican National Committee noted the first lady had shunned similar White House sports fetes in the past. RNC chairman Jim Nicholson called the World Series festivities "a cynical use of the Yankees and a tacky insult to the intelligence of every true Yankees fan."
In an appearance on NBC's "Today" show on Thursday, the first lady pledged her allegiance to the Yankees.
"The fact is I've always been a Yankees fan," she said. "As a young girl I became very interested and enamored of the Yankees."
When the first lady, who lived for years in Arkansas and hails from Illinois, was asked about the Chicago Cubs, she said she still roots for them as well.
"I am a Cubs fan. But I needed an American League team because when you're from Chicago you cannot root for both the Cubs and the (White) Sox," she said.
She is such a big enough Cubs fan to be listed as a member of the Emil Verban Society, a Chicago Cubs fan club based in Washington.
As for her NBA allegiance, she is firmly behind New York.
"Now I'm a Knicks fan, absolutely," she told reporters outside an East Harlem school early Thursday, the day after the Knicks upset the Indiana Pacers to take a 3-2 lead in their best-of-7 Eastern Conference final.
This article can be found at:
http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/1999/990610/01300852.html
