Remarks Prior to a Redbirds Baseball Game in Louisville, Kentucky

Thank you all. What a wonderful holiday welcome. We've got to see a ball game now. Thank you very much. May I just first say what a privilege and thrill it is for Barbara and me to be here. I want to thank Stan for the introduction. I've just been in one of the dugouts talking to the Redbirds, and I also salute the Indianapolis ball club here today. We've going to treat them very kindly. Aren't we, you guys?

But may I also say as an old baseball fan, to be here with Pee Wee Reese, that's a great treat for me, an old fan of his. Also Paul Hornung, I've watched him day-in and day-out, not only in college ball but when he was up there at Green Bay, a superb athlete, a great citizen of Kentucky.

And single out two coaches, Coach Crum and Coach Schnellenberger. Somebody once told me that playing a tie ball game is like kissing your sister. Well, I want to tell you this: The coach did the right thing yesterday. He did it the American way. He took a real shot at it, and we are proud of him and proud of that ball club of his, the Cardinals.

Let me end it by just simply saying I'm here to salute Harvest U.S.A. and Kentucky Harvest. Stan is right, the heartbeat in Louisville and Lexington, Indianapolis, is far louder and far clearer than the heartbeat up in Washington. When one American pitches in to help another, as you're doing now for the victims of this terribly devastating hurricane in south Florida and then again in Louisiana, we salute you. One neighbor helping another, that is the American spirit, the American way. That is what we mean when we talk about Points of Light.

May God bless you all, and may God bless this wonderful American spirit. Thank you so much.