Something I'll bet you didn't know about Jeff Merkley

Posted by Carla Axtman on January 30, 2008

Last week when the local news was talking about the rollover crash heard 'round the state, I noticed an interesting little Merkley tidbit hidden down in the text:

Merkley said he didn't panic when the car went into a skid because he knew what to expect. In his youth, he said, he raced quarter-midget cars at the Alpenrose track, "and we were sliding around every corner."

Jeff Merkley raced quarter-midget cars at Alpenrose?? I had no idea. That's pretty cool.

And then just yesterday, my friend Pete Forsyth sent me the following Washington Post story asking if the man cited in the piece is "our" Jeff Merkley:

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGETEERS TAKE TITLE Washington Post - June 28, 1988 Author: BOB LEVEY

The spectator sidled up to me with two innings left in the championship game. "Levey," he said, "do you mean to tell me that a government agency is going to win this thing?" Not "is going to," my friend.

Did.

The Congressional Budget Office marched off with the Third Annual Think Tank Softball Championship of Washington on Saturday afternoon -- and CBO did it convincingly.

To reach the finals, CBO defeated two law firms (Hogan & Hartson and Docter, Docter & Salus), a former champion (Environmental Policy Institute) and the Democratic National Committee (which has been murmuring for months that 1988 is a Democratic year).

Then, in the championship game against the Brookings Institution, CBO fell behind, 5-2, after three innings. It looked as if Brookings, which had lost to the Republican National Committee in the finals last year, was about to turn things around.

The scene on the CBO bench at the end of the game was hardly one of studious propriety. CBO pitcher and captain Jim Hearn was squirted with the obligatory can of Coors Light. CBO catcher Carmela Dyer whooped as she clutched the coveted Think Tank Trophy, a replica of Rodin's famous statue, "The Thinker." Left center fielder Pete Fontaine accepted high-fives for socking the go-ahead hit. The only thing missing was a call from President Reagan.

What wasn't missing was a sense of who this event is really for.

The Think Tank Tournament is sponsored by Mrs. Levey's oldest son each summer to raise funds for his annual Send a Kid to Camp campaign. This year's participants raised more than $3,000 for the cause.

That sum will send 10 kids to camp over the next eight weeks. As one victorious CBOer put it, "Perhaps they'll turn out to be a softball team and a coach."

No perhaps about one thing, though: The 1988 Think Tank Tournament was the most evenly balanced yet, and it produced the most exciting games yet.

The Government Accountability Project scored three runs with two out in the final inning to beat the Center for Defense Information, 8-7. The Heritage Foundation needed a last-inning home run to squeak by the World Resources Institute, 4-3. And the red-shirted crew from Docter, Docter & Salus needed extra innings to defeat the blue-shirted gang from the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, 7-5.

The weather showed distinct improvement over previous years, too. The mercury nestled nicely in the upper 80s, making sweat a reality but not a burden. And St. John's College High School could not have been a better host, as always.

The environmentalists from EPI looked strong as the afternoon wore on. But CBO beat them, 12-9, on a clutch three-run homer, to advance into the final round. The Heritage squad also looked star-kissed -- at least for a while. Heritage won two games in a row by a single run. But then the conservative crew met the liberals from Brookings in the semifinals, and down went the Heritageurs, 6-1.

The Brookings squad was understandably disappointed to be a bridesmaid once again. Will they be back in 1989? "Count on it," said the determined Brookings third baseman, Joe White.

Count on this, too: The Think Tank Trophy will be on prominent display at CBO headquarters. Usually, the CBO staff spends its time analyzing the cost consequences of proposed legislation, and responding to requests from the Hill leadership and the budget committees. This week, the conversation around CBO just may turn to hits, runs and errors.

Congratulations to the Bad Assets, who were (beside those named above) Mark Weatherley, Andy Morton, Steve Bergantino, Jean Kayser, Richard Curley, Rod Rasmussen, Holly Harvey, Michael Berger, Gene Bryton, Michael Pogue, Jeff Merkley and Michael Sieverts. And thanks again to all who took part in Think Tank III. You've helped to make it a better summer for 1,200 underprivileged Washington area kids.

That's our Jeff Merkley: Wonky softball champion whose team won the Think Tank Trophy. For the "Badassets", no less.