Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, May 21, 1993                   TAG: 9305210224
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Ed Shamy
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

HE DOESN'T HAVE TO PLAY TO LOSE

A Democrat and a lawyer and a man who was popular with voters in his day, Baliles seems a good man to mention every time there's a prominent job opening.

Sure as the obituaries are on the page behind me, and just as often, Baliles' name is publicly aired as a possible this or that.

This week he was mentioned as a possible U.S. Supreme Court justice.

Not long before that, he was mentioned as a possible U.S. attorney general.

This came on the heels of Gerald Baliles being mentioned as a possible U.S. commerce secretary and a possible U.S. trade representative.

Baliles didn't get any of those jobs - or hasn't yet - and doesn't seem to be asking for them. He's just mentioned.

Still, the guy's starting to look like a loser for not getting any of these jobs he doesn't ask for.

Sure, Baliles bagged a biggie when he was named to head the National Commission to Ensure a Strong and Competitive Airline Industry, but let's face it, it's not quite as prestigious as if he'd been tapped to head, say, the National Blue Ribbon Panel to Standardize the Weights and Measures of Overseas Sorghum Shipments.

But the perception will linger even if Baliles is selected, as he is already nominated, to head the Public Broadcasting Service. There's no money in that job.

No, the truth is that though Baliles insists he's happy as an international lawyer with the Richmond law firm of Hunton & Williams, that's not good enough. His name is being chewed aloud by the big boys, and he keeps landing only the tiny crumbs that fall from their table.

Since he never seems to get any of the plum jobs, his stature will undoubtedly start to drop in the public eye as the classic underachiever.

Baliles will be mentioned, but not to asked to serve, as commissioner of major league baseball.

He'll be mentioned, but never interviewed for, the job as the head chair for the NCAA - the job now being vacated by that guy from Charlottesville.

He'll be mentioned as a possible executive director of the Martinsville-Henry County Economic Development Corp. - where there's now an opening - but he won't be hired. He'll say he wasn't interested, anyway, but we'll know he just didn't get the job.

Baliles as head baseball coach at James Madison University? He'll be mentioned, but not hired.

Coach of the Atlanta Hawks? Bob Weiss has been fired, Baliles could be mentioned. He won't get the job and we'll all look at one another knowingly. The guy never could cut the mustard in the bigs.

Roanoke's still looking for a director of its Parks and Recreation Department? Baliles? Worth mention! No offer, though. You know that Baliles character.

What's he waiting for? What's he want? What're we supposed to do, beg?

The pope's not getting any younger. You think Baliles'll get the puff of white smoke from the College of Cardinals?

Nah, no way. That loser!