See the Washington Nationals celebrate first World Series win at White House
The Washington Nationals defeated the Houston Astros in the MLB’s 2019 World Series, earning their first-ever Commissioner’s Trophy and more than $90 million in bonuses.
On Monday, they arrived at the White House to celebrate.
Two of the team’s biggest stars, pitcher Stephen Strasburg and third baseman Anthony Rendon who are likely to be sought-after free agents, were in attendance alongside President Donald Trump, who was booed at Nationals Park during Game 5 of the series.
At least one player from the championship team, pitcher Sean Doolittle, however, did not attend the event.
“There’s a lot of things, policies that I disagree with, but at the end of the day, it has more to do with the divisive rhetoric and the enabling of conspiracy theories and widening the divide in this country," he told the Washington Post last week. "At the end of the day, as much as I wanted to be there with my teammates and share that experience with my teammates, I can’t do it. I just can’t do it.”
A number of professional championship-winning teams and athletes have declined invitations to the White House in protest of the Trump administration’s policies, or have had their invitations rescinded by the president as a result of conflicting political views.
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When the Boston Red Sox won the World Series last year, nearly every nonwhite player and coach was absent. In 2017, the White House withdrew an invitation after key members of the NBA champion Golden State Warriors, namely Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, said they would skip the event and opt to meet with former president Barak Obama instead.
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