Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts announced Friday he will accompany the team for their visit to the White House next week, when President Trump will recognize the club’s 2024 World Series title.
There had been uncertainty over Betts’ decision, given he declined to go to the White House with the Boston Red Sox in 2019, during Trump’s first term as president. He did go to the White House with the Dodgers in 2021, when President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris welcomed the club after their 2020 championship.
When the Dodgers announced this year’s visit last month — they will go to the White House on Monday before their series opener against the Washington Nationals — Betts had initially said he was undecided about whether he would participate.
Talking with reporters on Friday, Betts emphasized that his choice to go was not political, but rather because of his desire to be there for the rest of his team.
Read more:Hernández: Dodgers visiting Trump's White House goes against everything they represent
“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 2019 White House, an event that was also skipped by Boston manager Alex Cora and pitcher David Price. He felt like his absence then distracted from that team’s accomplishment, and made the news cycle about him.
“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.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
