Biden to Welcome Dodgers, World Series Winners, to White House

(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden will host the Los Angeles Dodgers at the White House on Friday for a ceremony celebrating their 2020 World Series victory, as the administration does more large, in-person events now that coronavirus vaccination rates have increased.

The president will greet members of the team in a morning ceremony in the East Room, the White House said. Vice President Kamala Harris - who previously represented California in the Senate, and whose husband, Doug Emhoff, is a Dodgers fan -- will also be there.

The tradition of professional championship teams visiting the White House withered during the Trump administration, after a series of high-profile episodes in which players who objected to some of President Donald Trump’s remarks and stances refused to attend.

Trump never hosted a National Basketball Association championship team, and rescinded an invitation to the National Football League’s Philadelphia Eagles after a number of athletes said they would boycott over his scathing criticism of players who knelt during the National Anthem to protest racial injustice.

Trump did host a number of college championship teams, and would occasionally purchase large spreads of fast food for the athletes. He also presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to a series of sports luminaries, including Tiger Woods, former Yankees closer Mariano Rivera and Lou Holtz, the longtime Notre Dame football coach.

The Biden White House has previously announced plans to invite the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers to the White House once coronavirus protocols were relaxed.

The visit of the Dodgers comes days after a restraining order was issued against Trevor Bauer, the team’s star pitcher, after a 27-year old woman accused him of physical and sexual assault. Bauer was not a member of the World Series winning squad, so he is unlikely to join his teammates at the White House.

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