Opinion: Washington Nationals have tough call to make on attending White House
The Washington Nationals have some choices to make, ones that could profoundly impact how the team is seen going forward.
This isn't about free agency. That will come soon enough. In the coming days, the Nationals, their coaches and front office staff, even owner Ted Lerner and his family, will have to decide whether to take part in Monday’s visit to the White House. To celebrate with President Donald Trump, whose job approval rating is dropping like Victor Robles' batting average in the World Series and who was booed and jeered by Nationals fans.
Time was, a visit to the White House was one of the more appealing perks of winning a title. You got to meet a president, have your picture taken with him and see parts of the White House that are off-limits to the general public. An athlete here and there might have skipped, but it was seen largely as an innocuous photo op, acceptable to anyone, regardless of their political beliefs.
No longer. While the refusal of NBA teams to meet with Trump brought the dilemma to the forefront, their boycott was hardly a surprise given that the league is made up largely of African-American players and it has taken a leadership role on social justice issues.
The very visible split of Boston Red Sox players, however, has raised the stakes for the Nationals.
When the Red Sox visited the White House in May, manager Alex Cora, AL MVP Mookie Betts and several other players were noticeable for their absence. Most of the players who skipped were, like Cora and Betts, minorities, people who have been disparaged and discriminated against by Trump.
“I’ve used my voice on many occasions so that Puerto Ricans are not forgotten, and my absence is no different,” Cora, who had publicly criticized Trump’s response to Hurricane Maria, which devastated the island where he was born, said in explaining why he was skipping the visit.
STRASBURG'S FUTURE: Stephen Strasburg's opt-out deadline creates awkward timing with World Series parade
“As such, at this moment, I don’t feel comfortable celebrating in the White House.”
Some of the Nationals’ biggest stars, and most impactful players, are either black or Latino: Juan Soto, Anthony Rendon, Howie Kendrick, Asdrubal Cabrera and Robles. Is it fair to expect Soto, who just turned 21 and is not even from this country, to have weighed the nuances and issues of what a White House visit means? In a matter of days, mind you, most of which have been devoted to raucous celebrations.
What of the rest of the roster? There was a good number of people who piled onto the Nationals bandwagon simply because they weren’t the Houston Astros, whose arrogance and toxic culture was revealed in their response to a story about a then-assistant general manager taunting female reporters over a pitcher who had been suspended for domestic violence. The bandwagon became even more crowded after Nationals fans booed Trump and chanted “Lock him up!” when he attended Game 5.
Does the team as a whole, and players individually, want to squander that goodwill? Sean Doolittle was a quick no, according to The Washington Post, though that was expected given he and wife Eireann Dolan are probably baseball’s most active on social justice issues.
And what of the Lerners, who let Major League Baseball know in no uncertain terms that they wanted nothing to do with Trump during Game 5. Does Ted Lerner, who at 94 likely has no cares left to give, really want to smile and be part of a White House sideshow?
Perhaps this is why the Nationals were happy to get this on the calendar right away. Rather than scheduling the visit during the season, it comes at a time when most players will have a plausible excuse to be absent.
Washington will fete the Nationals with a parade Saturday, and players will no doubt want to scatter soon after. It’s been a long season – spring training started way back in February – and no one will blame them if they just want to get home and spend time with their families.
A trip to the White House is no longer an honor everyone wants to experience. Instead of being one of the spoils of victory, meeting a president – meeting this president – might just spoil the victory.
Follow Paste BN Sports columnist Nancy Armour on Twitter @nrarmour.