Sox' Danks has presidential seal of approval

WASHINGTON - The President of the United States had just concluded an early-morning briefing with his top advisers in a foreign capital when he turned from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

As the participants began to exit the room, President Bush motioned to White House director of communications Kevin Sullivan, a former Chicagoan and devout White Sox fan.

"Well, Sully, he did it again last night,'' the president nodded to Sullivan. "Danks pitched a beauty.''

Danks, as in, the White Sox' John Danks.

Seems the president follows closely the career of one John William Danks, a native of Austin, Texas, and a very talented left-handed starter traded by the team Bush once owned - the Rangers - to the Sox in December 2006.

Now, nearly every time Danks throws well, which has been all but a couple of outings this season, the president is aware of it.

You'd recognize the shaking of the head and knowing grin as that of any fan who believes his team got taken.

"In the middle of doing something else - we'll be walking from one part of the White House to another, or walking to Marine One - he'll just surprise me,'' Sullivan laughed. "He'll spin around and say something about Danks, like, 'He pitched another gem.'

"He laments that the Rangers gave him up, and he knows I'm a White Sox fan. He was an owner and he knows how difficult it is to find pitching.''

When informed of the president's fascination with Danks, the 23-year-old having an all-star quality season was staggered.

"I don't even know how to describe that feeling,'' Danks said in a recent conversation. "With all he has to worry about, it's amazing he can even get caught up on last night's games or notice how someone pitched or anything like that.

"Just the fact that my name has been mentioned in the Oval Office, or was mentioned in one of those meetings, it's just not something you'd ever expect to hear.

"It's pretty awesome.''

Danks is fairly certain he met Texas Governor Bush many years ago, though he doubts the president would remember.

"My dad knew him a bit in Austin,'' said Danks of his father, John, who played four years of hoops at Texas (1977-80). "We also had season tickets to the UT hoops games, and the governor would sometimes come to the games and sit in the press row right in front of us.

"But that was a long time ago. It's an amazing thing to think he's talking about me. I'm honored.''

When Sullivan shared the Danks story a few weeks back, I figured we had to give Danks a chance to offer the president a playful reminder that his Rangers really butchered that deal - though it sounds like the president's well aware of Kenny Williams' thievery.

So with an assist from Sox vice president Scott Reifert, we secured an autographed ball from Danks inscribed to the president, which I turned over to Sullivan.

Bush received the ball Wednesday morning, and the president accepted the gift in the sportive spirit in which it was intended.

He was very pleased and immediately wrote Danks a personal note thanking him for the ball. The president encouraged Danks to continue his winning ways and was glad his career was off to a fine start.

But, I wondered, how in the world does a president manage to keep tabs on the Rangers' 2003 No. 1 pick (ninth overall) with everything else that occurs during his day?

"He gets up every morning at 5:30 and reads the paper,'' Sullivan said. "He likes the box scores.

"He's had a lifelong love of the game, and he still follows it as best he can, even if it's only a few minutes a day.''

We are a dying breed, those of us who comb the newspaper box scores each morning, searching for nuggets. It's nice to know that the page of newsprint is not lost on everyone.

The president still enjoys it, and that goes back to his childhood, his dad encouraging him to participate in Little League and taking him to big-league games in Houston.

Only the president's fondness for baseball explains the ruckus on the South Lawn here Wednesday, when he hosted the 19th White House Tee Ball Game since they began in 2001.

"I don't know what the chances are of the next president continuing this, but I sure hope so,'' Sullivan said. "It's like the Turkey Pardon, the Easter Egg Roll, and the fireworks on the South Lawn on the Fourth of July.

"Someone starts these traditions and some last more than a century. This has become a great family event, and it's something I hope continues for a long time.''

Country music star Kenny Chesney sang the national anthem, and ESPN Radio's Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic did the play-by-play.

Oh, yeah, the honorary commissioner of the game was supposed to be Nolan Ryan, current president of the Rangers, who wasn't on board when Danks was sent to Chicago.

I considered asking Ryan if he also was an astute follower of Danks' career, especially since Danks stuck it to Texas last weekend. But Ryan still looks ornery enough to throw inside at 95 mph, so I thought better of it.

At the White House you feel pretty secure with the Secret Service around. But not secure enough to taunt Nolan Ryan - even if John Danks is a White House-hold name.

brozner@dailyherald.com

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