PHILADELPHIA — 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 to the White House 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.
When the Dodgers announced this visit last month — they will go to the White House Monday before their series opener against the Washington Nationals — Betts said he was undecided about whether he would participate.
Talking with reporters Friday, Betts emphasized 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 2019 White House visit, which also was skipped by Boston manager Alex Cora and pitcher David Price. Betts felt like his absence 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.”
Betts was referring to 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.
Betts was visibly frustrated. He credited his teammates’ support for aiding his eventual turnaround. The rest of the playoffs he hit .321 with four home runs and 16 RBIs to help the Dodgers to their eighth title, and second in his five years with the team.
“For me to be able to look in the mirror at night and to be happy with the person that I’m looking at, I need to be there with my boys to celebrate this accomplishment,” Betts said. “All the fight, all everything we did last year, man, that was hard. I wouldn’t be able to look at myself in the mirror if I wasn’t there.”
While other Dodgers were asked about whether they would go to the White House — including Kiké Hernández and Shohei Ohtani, both of whom said they planned to attend — Betts’ decision had been a bigger question.
“It is what it is,” Betts said of the attention around his choice. “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.”