Mookie Betts attended the Dodgers’ last visit to the White House in July 2021 following the team’s World Series championship in 2020. Betts said Friday he plans to go to the White House on Monday for the team’s visit in honor of their 2024 title. (Julio Cortez / Associated Press)
Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts announced Friday he will accompany the team on its visit to the White House next week, when President Trump will recognize the club’s World Series title.
There had been uncertainty over Betts’ decision, given he declined to go with the Boston Red Sox in 2019 during Trump’s first term. He went with the Dodgers in 2021, when President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris welcomed the club after its 2020 championship.
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When the Dodgers announced this visit last month — they will go to the White House on Monday before their series opener against the Washington Nationals — Betts said he was undecided about whether he would participate.
In the end, Betts emphasized to reporters Friday, 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 and pitcher David Price, among others. Betts felt like his absence distracted from that team’s accomplishment and made the news cycle about him, something he felt in hindsight was “selfish.”
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“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.”
That was especially true early last October when he started the National League Division Series 0 for 6, making him 0 for 20 in the playoffs dating to 2022.
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Betts was visibly frustrated and referred to that period Friday as “dark times.” He credited his teammates’ support for aiding his eventual turnaround, as he hit .321 with four home runs and 16 RBIs over the rest of the playoffs.
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“These boys rallied around me, to help me so much through the playoffs last year and just my well-being as a person,” Betts said. “So for me to be able to look in the mirror at night and for me to be happy with the person I’m looking at, I need to be there with my boys to celebrate this accomplishment. All the fight, all that we did last year, that was hard. And I wouldn’t be able to look at myself in the mirror if I wasn’t there with them.”
While other Dodgers were asked whether they would go — including Dave Roberts, Kiké Hernández and Shohei Ohtani, all of whom said they planned to attend — Betts’ decision had been a bigger question.
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“It is what it is,” said Betts, the only Black player on the roster. “It comes with the territory, being Black in America in a situation like this. It’s a tough spot to be in. No matter what I choose, somebody is gonna be pissed. Somebody is gonna have their own opinion. But again, this is not about me. This is not about politics. This is about the Dodgers. It’s about my loyalty to these boys, this clubhouse. And that’s all it is for me.”
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With Betts on board, Roberts said he was expecting 100% attendance, though he reiterated that the team would have been OK with any players who declined to go.
“It wasn’t about putting pressure on any particular person,” Roberts said. “We still feel it’s a baseball thing for us. It’s tradition. And we’re doing it unified. So I’m excited about that.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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