This walk in the outfield of the Texas Rangers stadium with Bush Sr [now 41st President of the U.S.] and W and a covey of Secret Service agents didn't happen in real life. It was conceived by the screenwriter for dramatic purposes.

However, the background facts in the scene are true and can be annotated.

W was by this time a managing partner and part-owner of the Texas Rangers.

After working on his father's successful 1988 presidential campaign, Bush learned from fellow Yale alumnus William DeWitt, Jr., that family friend Eddie Chiles wanted to sell the Texas Rangers. Chiles said, "I'd like to sell to you, son, but you don't have any money."

However, W and Bush Sr. did have friends with lots of money -- from Bill Dewitt and Mercer Reynolds in Ohio to W's Yale friend, Roland Betts, Tom Bernstein, and Craig Stapleton in New York -- and the backing of ("A Charge to Keep," George W. Bush, pages 197-203)

(And "opportunity" it certainly proved to be for Bush --In 1998 [after W was already Governor of Texas], Thomas O. Hicks bought the Texas Rangers for $250 million, three times what Bush and his partners had paid 9 years earlier. The new stadium and the real estate around it greatly boosted the final sale price. And, since his partners had upped Bush's stake in the team from 1.8 to 11.8 percent, his cut from the proceeds of the sale was $14.9 million, a 25-fold return on his investment of $606,302. Rainwater, who had put far more money into the team than Bush, made $25 million.) (http://www.angelfire.com/ok5/pearly/htmls/bush-sec5.html)

"George W. Bush claimed in the 2000 presidential campaign that the biggest mistake he ever made was parting with Sosa, when Bush was the owner of the Texas Rangers." (http://www.everything2.org/title/Sammy%2520Sosa)

"Way before Sammy Sosa hit his 66 home runs for the Chicago Cubs in 1998, he was just breaking into the line-up for the Chicago White Sox. After a mid-season trade with the Texas Rangers for Harold Baines, Sosa was brought over as a platoon Outfielder in 1989. History has shown it to be one of George W. Bush's (yes that same Bush) worst moves as general manager of the Texas Rangers. At 175 pounds, and standing only 6 feet tell, the 21 year old from the Dominican Republic looked like he would be more of an outfielder that hit with speed than a home run hitter. In fact, in 1990 his first full year with the White Sox, he finished second in the American League in triples (10), and stole 32 bases..."
(http://www.epinions.com/review/Upper_Deck_Chicago_White_Sox_Sammy_Sosa_1990_Rookie_Trading_Card...)

"SAD-dam" and Iraq

Bush Senior "had become convinced in the early weeks of August 1990 that his great test would be the struggle against Saddam Hussein. For the first time in his life, he made a geopolitical struggle intensely personal. 'I've had it,' he would say. 'Consider me provoked...' He began purposely mispronouncing Saddam's name to emphasize the first rather than the second syllable of his nam. By doing so, George [Sr] was changing the Arab meaning of his name from 'one who confronts' to 'little boy who cleans the shoes of old men.'"

"...Family members say that the father called his son less to talk strategy and more for support, and when it came to Iraq, W. took a hard line" ("The Bushes: Portrait of a Dynasty," Peter and Rochelle Schweizer, page 394)

Bush as Baseball Commissioner

Again, for dramatic purposes, lines about Bush wanting to be Commissioner of Baseball are transposed to this scene -- and given to Bush Sr.

(http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=80787)

A...book by former baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent claims Bud Selig once told George W. Bush, then the owner of the Texas Rangers, that Bush would make a fine baseball commissioner, even though Vincent strongly believed Selig was maneuvering to get the job.

"Fay, what do you think about me becoming commissioner?" Bush asked Vincent several months after Vincent was forced out as commissioner in September 1992.

"I think it's a great idea," Vincent said.

"Do you think I'd make a good commissioner?" Bush asked Vincent.

"Absolutely," Vincent answered. "You're smart. You love baseball. Is it something you want?"

Replied Bush: "Well, I've been thinking about it. Selig tells me that he would love to have me be commissioner and he tells me that he can deliver it."

As Vincent writes in the book, "The Last Commissioner," "All my alarms went ringing at once."...

Vincent continues: "George, my guess is that Selig wants the job himself."

Bush: "He tells me he doesn't want it and that I'm his guy."

"I'm afraid Selig is (kidding) you," Vincent said. "I don't think you or any of the other names being floated are going to get it."

Bush [later] called Vincent back, saying people in Texas were interested in him running for governor. [He was elected in 1994.]

...After Vincent [and Bush] left baseball, Selig served as interim commissioner for six years before being named permanent commissioner in July 1998."

(Don Walker, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, September 18, 2002)

About Jeb

Bush Sr. was undoubtedly happy that W. was doing something rewarding for himself, emotionally and financially -- and that was owning a baseball team. But he wanted him to stick to the Texas Rangers and not to get any fancy, high-faluting ideas about politics.

The father and most of the rest of the Bush family thought that younger brother Jeb was going to be the one to inherit the family's political mantle. He was the one who Bush Sr. and the others thought was most suited for and had the best shot at being Governor and/or President someday.

Jeb had been preparing himself for high political office all of his life and W. had been the "black sheep" of the family for over forty years. He had only recently turned his life around. His father believed that Jeb was his true political heir and not the heretofore ne'er-do-well W.

And Bush Sr. thoughtlessly let W. know his true feelings here. Yet another paternal wound to be suffered by W.