During his confirmation hearings, Chief Justice John Roberts offered this analogy:

"Judges are like umpires," Roberts said. "Umpires don't make rules; they apply them."

That said, who better to apply those rules than Sonia Sotomayor, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals judge whose ruling ended the 1995 Major League Baseball strike?

Sotomayor's career has been chronicled by every major media outlet since her nomination was announced Tuesday by President Barack Obama.

Born of Puerto Rican parents, her personal story embodies the American dream. She grew up in the projects of the Bronx, N.Y., graduated summa cum laude from Princeton and was editor of the Yale Law Review.

She has been a prosecutor, a partner in a litigation firm and federal judge — named to the post by President George H.W. Bush. She was later elevated to the Second Circuit. No sitting justice has such a complete a package of experience.

As a member of the Court of Appeals, Sotomayor has acquired a reputation for her dogged questioning and her preparedness.

She also is known for issuing opinions that run counter to the way most expect her to rule.

Although she lacks a paper trail on the abortion issue, Sotomayor did uphold the Bush administration policy requiring nongovernmental organizations that receive federal funding to refrain from performing or promoting abortion services.

That has led Naral Pro-Choice President Nancy Keenan to urge U.S. Senators to press her on Roe v. Wade.

But abortion is not likely to be the issue that dogs her. Rather, it is her reference to a comment by former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor that "a wise old man and wise old woman will reach the same conclusion in deciding cases."

Said Sotomayor, "I am not so sure that I agree with the statement.

"First, … there can never be a universal definition of wise. Second, I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

Opponents argue her words predispose her to a judicial bias.

Her judicial record, however, suggests otherwise. Her rulings and philosophy appear to mirror those of Justice David Souter, whose seat she has been nominated to fill.

Obama could have used this nomination to tilt the court. He could have selected a justice whose rulings are clearly to the left of the current justices. And, given the Democratic majority in the Senate, it is likely that choice would have been confirmed.

Instead, he chose a justice whose rulings are moderate and whose experience is broad.

Despite the fact that Sotomayor would become the first Hispanic member of the court if confirmed, this is no sop to "diversity."

If she is confirmed, it will be based on her record and experience. That's as it should be.