The Dodgers were right to go to the White House

On Thursday, the Los Angeles Dodgers went to the White House to be honored by President Donald Trump for winning their second consecutive World Series championship.

Good.

It was good for the Dodgers. It was good for Major League Baseball. And at a time when Americans seem increasingly determined to sort themselves into opposing political camps, it was good for the country.

For the first time, the longstanding tradition played out in the newly revamped Rose Garden. 

Trump shook hands with Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, Miguel Rojas, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Will Klein and others, giving a special call-out to Clayton Kershaw.

Trump singled out a play where Smith’s foot came off home plate for a split second, and instead of bluffing that he still had contact, he pulled it back and touched the plate before it would have cost the Dodgers the play.

The Dodgers, in turn, presented Trump with his own World Series championship ring and a Dodgers jersey bearing No. 47.

Trump clearly did his homework.

He spent a good part of his remarks walking through the Dodgers’ postseason, praising players and recounting some of its biggest moments. He recalled Ohtani’s extraordinary performance to clinch the National League pennant, when he pitched six scoreless innings while hitting three home runs.

Trump also talked about staying up until nearly 3 a.m. watching Game 3 of the World Series, the 18-inning marathon against Toronto that Freddie Freeman finally ended with a walk-off home run.

“This is a special moment, and I think especially because it’s the Dodgers,” Trump said, praising the team as “unbelievable talents and leaders” before concluding, “A job well done.”

Manager Dave Roberts spoke for the Dodgers.

Roberts talked about the players, coaches and staff who made consecutive championships possible, and how they “come together unselfishly.”

“I hope when you watch our guys play, you can be proud and say, ‘These guys do things the right way.’”

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

There wasn’t much politics to any of it. Trump talked about baseball. Roberts talked about his players and winning.

That’s exactly what it should have been.

We just got another reminder during the World Cup of what sports can do. Millions of Americans who disagree about nearly everything found something they could enjoy together.

Republicans and Democrats don’t have separate sections at Dodger Stadium. Nobody asks the guy sitting next to him how he voted before celebrating a home run.

For a few hours, politics can just go away.

Which is why the Dodgers were right to accept the invitation.

After winning the 2020 World Series, the Dodgers went to President Joe Biden’s White House. After winning in 2024, they went to President Trump’s. Yesterday, after winning it all again in 2025, they returned.

Different president. Same tradition.

Yet activists pressured the Dodgers to decline this invitation, arguing that visiting Trump, particularly amid the bitter fight over immigration enforcement in Los Angeles, amounted to taking his side.

They have it backwards.

Going to the White House wasn’t a political statement. Boycotting it would have been.

A championship team accepting recognition from the president isn’t endorsing him or his policies. It is participating in an American civic tradition.

That’s why there is no contradiction between what I wrote about the Dodgers last month and what I’m writing today.

I criticized the Dodgers then for allowing themselves to be pulled into the political fight over immigration enforcement. My argument was simple: Dodgers fans didn’t buy a ticket for politics.

The same principle applies here. Accepting recognition from the president after winning the World Series is something else entirely.

The White House doesn’t belong to one political party, and the president doesn’t represent only the Americans who voted for him.

Dodgers players and fans span every political and cultural divide in Southern California.

But they all bleed Dodger blue.

I have been one of them for most of my life. My parents took me and my brothers to games in the 1970s. Today, I’m a season ticket holder who regularly makes the drive from Orange County to Chavez Ravine.

That’s one of the things I’ve always loved about baseball.

We don’t have to agree about everything to share something.

Americans have become far too willing to politicize everything. Baseball doesn’t need to be another casualty.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, Trump invited the Dodgers into the Oval Office, where he said he would present them with presidential coins.

But Roberts made clear that this team isn’t satisfied with two championships.

“We are going for a three-peat,” he said.

If they pull that off, here’s hoping President Trump will be welcoming the Dodgers back to the White House again next year.

Jon Fleischman, a longtime strategist in California politics and a lifelong baseball fan, writes at SoDoesItMatter.com.