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9 replies
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...but, good golly, we can't attribute quotes to her that she didn't originate.
There is prior art, reporting about Eddie Vedder in Sept. 2004 - from Who first said Born on third, thinks he got a triple;
It’s no secret that Eddie’s “Bu$hleaguer” is a scathing take on the current American president, George “Dubya” Bush. If you didn’t pick that up from the double entendre of the title – which name checks the prez and is a word meaning “inferior, minor league,” – you probably got the point last year when Ed often performed the song wearing a Dubya mask. The quasi spoken-word lyrics, a style Ed tried out before in “I’m Open” and “Push Me Pull Me,” are full of quotable lines. But if that one bit about Dubya being “born on third, thinks he got a triple,” sounds familiar, you aren’t crazy. It turns out that this paraphrased lyric has some history, history it’s likely Ed was somewhat aware of.
Barry Switzer, the successful head football coach at the University of Oklahoma and for the Dallas Cowboys in the 70s, 80s, and 90?s, was practically a sound byte machine. Relevance? A December 1986 Chicago Tribune article opens with a quote from Switzer: “Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple.” The article profiled the rags-to-riches Coach who related better to scrappy players who grew up poor, like him, than to the rich. The quote pre-dates “Bushleaguer” by roughly 17 years. Remember that Switzer would become famous for coaching Texas football, and in this story, Texas comes up a lot.
Fast forward to the 1988 Democratic National Convention. Dubya’s father, George Bush Sr. was the Republican candidate running for president. Among the Dem convention’s high points was then Texas Agricultural Commissioner Jim Hightower’s fiery speech which included him saying that George Bush Sr. was a person who was “born on third base [who] thought he had hit a triple.” Just as people often say Dubya only got ahead through nepotism, remember that even George Sr.’s had a head start in life. His father — Dubya’s grandfather — Prescott Bush was a U.S. Senator from Connecticut from 1952 – 1963.
Barry Switzer, the successful head football coach at the University of Oklahoma and for the Dallas Cowboys in the 70s, 80s, and 90?s, was practically a sound byte machine. Relevance? A December 1986 Chicago Tribune article opens with a quote from Switzer: “Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple.” The article profiled the rags-to-riches Coach who related better to scrappy players who grew up poor, like him, than to the rich. The quote pre-dates “Bushleaguer” by roughly 17 years. Remember that Switzer would become famous for coaching Texas football, and in this story, Texas comes up a lot.
Fast forward to the 1988 Democratic National Convention. Dubya’s father, George Bush Sr. was the Republican candidate running for president. Among the Dem convention’s high points was then Texas Agricultural Commissioner Jim Hightower’s fiery speech which included him saying that George Bush Sr. was a person who was “born on third base [who] thought he had hit a triple.” Just as people often say Dubya only got ahead through nepotism, remember that even George Sr.’s had a head start in life. His father — Dubya’s grandfather — Prescott Bush was a U.S. Senator from Connecticut from 1952 – 1963.
The Fish line from LOLGOP is great! Thanks for the post, Scuba.
