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The 2024 World Series champion, the Los Angeles Dodgers will be recognized by President Trump at the White House on Monday before opening a series with the Washington Nationals.
Shortstop Mookie Betts said he would be present after refusing to attend the previous ceremony during President Donald Trump’s first term.
Betts, then star outfielder for the 2018 champion Boston Red Sox, did not make a trip to the team’s White House the following year. Betts won the World Series in 2020 and was with the Dodgers when he attended a celebration under President Joe Biden the following year.
The 32-year-old Betts is the only black player for the Dodgers to return from last season’s World Series team.
“No one else in this clubhouse has to make this decision, except for me,” Betts said ahead of Friday’s game in Philadelphia. “That’s the hard thing. But that’s what it is. I’m never trying to make this politics by means. I’m just with my team to celebrate something. It’s a privilege to get an invitation like this. I just want to be with them.”
The Dodgers confirmed in a social media post last month that Trump invited them to “align with the years of baseball traditions,” and that they had accepted.
Manager Dave Roberts called the experience of each World Series champion a great honor. Roberts said deciding to go to the White House was not an official conversation he and the players had.
Roberts said Friday that he hopes to be 100% at the ceremony, saying, “It’s good that we have full expression.”
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