The Dodgers will make the customary visit to the White House as World Series champions Monday morning.
Shortstop Mookie Betts told reporters Friday he would join the team on the visit, after declining to join the Boston Red Sox on a visit in 2018 during President Donald Trump’s first term.
Betts emphasized to reporters in Philadelphia on Friday that his choice to go was not political, but rather because of his desire to be there for the team.
“No matter what I say or what I do, people are gonna take it as political,” Betts said. “But that’s definitely not what it is. This is about what the Dodgers were able to accomplish last year.”
Betts called it a “regret” that he didn’t join the Red Sox for their visit, which also was skipped by Boston manager Alex Cora, who was born in Puerto Rico, and pitcher David Price, who like Betts is Black, among others, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Betts said he felt like his absence distracted from that team’s accomplishment and made the news cycle about him, something he felt in hindsight was “selfish,” The Times reported.
“This is not about me; I don’t want anything to be about me,” Betts said. “This is about the Dodgers. Because these boys were there for me,” going on to refer to support from his teammates after going hitless in his first six at-bats of last season’s National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres, extending his postseason hitless streak to 22 at-bats dating back to 2022.
When asked if every player on the 2024 team who is still a Dodger will be going to the White House, a team spokesman told City News Service that first baseman Freddie Freeman did not travel with the team on its six-game East Coast road trip.
The Dodgers placed Freeman on the 10-day injured list on Thursday due to a right ankle sprain.
The team is set to meet Trump in the East Room at 8 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time, according to the White House.
When the Dodgers last visited the White House as World Series champions on July 2, 2021, Joe Biden was president.
The visit coincides with the team’s three-game series against the Washington Nationals, which begins Monday.