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

DATE: FRIDAY, June 18, 1993                   TAG: 9306180206
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BROTHERS BO MAKING A PITCH FOR THE BASEBALL CURE-ALL

If he can create plum jobs during bleak economic times for the people whose votes he covets, he'll enjoy a long career in politics.

Bo Trumbo has zeroed in on the plummest job on the planet: major-league baseball player.

Dozens of baseball hopefuls will trot onto Casey Field in Covington - Trumbo's hometown - this morning to bat and throw and run for Trumbo's watchful eye.

If they perform well for the scout, they may be signed by the Cincinnati Reds.

What the heck, a good left fielder earns in an inning what a factory worker earns in a year. They open restaurants and underwrite sports camps. They set their ne'er-do-well relatives up in business and buy fancy cars. One pro ballplayer per community could rip this country out of recession in the time it takes a good fastball to reach home plate.

Bo Trumbo is to be commended for his liberal interpretation of economic development.

If only the Bo Trumbo hosting the tryout camp this morning was the Bo Trumbo we have come to know and love.

It is not. Believe it or not, there isn't just one Bo Trumbo. In fact, there aren't just two Bo Trumbos.

There are, count 'em, three Bo Trumbos.

Brothers, they. To alleviate confusion as they grew up in Covington, they refined their nicknames.

The oldest Bo became Big Bo. Middle Bo became Little Bo. The smallest of the Bos became Itty-Bitty Bo. Linda, the lone sister, remained Linda.

Old Bo (Big Bo), who is 40 now and called by his family "Marion" - because that is his name - lives near Winchester and is a full-time scout for the Reds.

"I'm the real McCoy - the real Bo," says Big Bo.

"He's my brother," admits Not-so-old Bo (Little Bo), "Malfourd," who is a 38-year-old Democratic state senator and attorney, practicing in Fincastle.

Youngest Bo (Itty-Bitty Bo) "Robert" is now the tallest of the bunch. He lives in Florida and does government work.

It is a sorry shame we couldn't all have witnessed growing up a Covington Trumbo. Must have been some interesting circumstances with the zany Bo-sters Three.

"It's kind of peculiar," admits Little Bo.

When the baseball tryouts were announced in the newspaper, along with Bo Trumbo's name as the scout-in-charge, Senator Bo got a phone call.

"A lady in Craig County called me today," he said Thursday. "She was looking for information about the tryout. I had to say, `Wait a minute, that's my brother.'"

If, though, there are political points to be scored, if someone wants to credit the politician Bo for luring this Reds tryout to Covington, Senator Bo is willing to accept full credit.

"You've got to try every angle you can," he says drily of this economic development effort which has nothing at all to do with him.

"A lot of people have confused Malfourd and me," says Big Old Marion Bo. "I'm not him."