Hardball

A major league job for Baker?

In the Reagan White House it is customary to diffuse controversy with a snappy one-liner that lightens the mood. When rumors began circulating last week that Chief of Staff James Baker might leave his post to become commissioner of baseball, Baker made full use of the jocular material at hand. In response to reporters' shouts of "Play ball!," Baker pantomimed a pitch, and grinned at every fatuous request for tickets to the World Series. Even his colleagues got in a few cuts. At a staff meeting, Baker found an official major league baseball next to his...

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