The Los Angeles Dodgers are the reigning World Series champions, meaning they have an opportunity to visit President Donald Trump in the White House.
However, a recent story in the Los Angeles Times told their readers, “Don’t bet on it.’
The Times mentioned how Mookie Betts skipped out on a visit in 2019 with the Boston Red Sox and remains outspoken about social justice issues, and other former Dodgers, as well as co-owners Magic Johnson and Billie Jean King, have been critical of the president in the past.
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Los Angeles will be in D.C. early in the season, with a three-game series from April 7 through 9. That is likely to be the time the Dodgers would pay their visit. (They will also visit the nearby Baltimore Orioles in early September.)
But the Times said that “it’s hard to imagine” the team visiting 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
“All in all, it’s hard to imagine the Dodgers agreeing to a celebratory photo op with the president right now. Los Angeles is not just Dodger blue, but Democrat blue,” the story read. “The president lost L.A. County by 33 percentage points. In his feuds with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Trump has threatened to withhold fire disaster funds without concessions. He seems to never miss an opportunity to take a swipe at the Golden State.
“The World Champion Dodgers should stand up to, not next to, the president. If an overture from the White House comes, they can send a friendly note: Thanks, but no.”
The Dodgers visited former president Joe Biden in July 2021 to celebrate their 2020 World Series title.
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The Philadelphia Eagles will visit the White House on April 28 amid their Super Bowl LIX victory, despite prior rumors that they would skip, as they did in 2018. The Florida Panthers recently visited the president to celebrate their Stanley Cup victory last summer.
The last championship team from the pros to visit Trump in office during his first presidency were the 2019 Washington Nationals, five days after their World Series victory over the Houston Astros (despite Sean Doolittle’s criticisms of the president). The pandemic made visits tougher in 2020, and by the time restrictions started to be lifted, Biden had taken office.
The UConn men’s and LSU women’s teams visited Biden last year. The former president was criticized for originally not inviting the University of Georgia football team last year, and after they received an invitation, the Bulldogs did not go. They also did not make the trip the year before, due to COVID-19 safety precautions.
Both the Las Vegas Aces and Boston Celtics, the reigning WNBA and NBA champs, respectively, visited Biden before he left office. The prior NBA champions, the Denver Nuggets, notably canceled their visit last year, citing their quest to earn the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. (They got the No. 2 seed after a tiebreaker.)
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