LA Times writers suggest World Series champion Dodgers should skip White House visit: 'Thanks, but no'

The Times mentioned how Mookie Betts skipped out on a visit in 2019 with the Boston Red Sox and remains outspoken about social justice issues, and other former Dodgers, as well as co-owners Magic Johnson and Billie Jean King, have been critical of the president in the past.

Los Angeles will be in D.C. early in the season, with a three-game series from April 7 through 9. That is likely to be the time the Dodgers would pay their visit. (They will also visit the nearby Baltimore Orioles in early September.)

But the Times said that "it's hard to imagine" the team visiting 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

"The World Champion Dodgers should stand up to, not next to, the president. If an overture from the White House comes, they can send a friendly note: Thanks, but no."

The Dodgers visited former president Joe Biden in July 2021 to celebrate their 2020 World Series title. 

The Philadelphia Eagles will visit the White House on April 28 amid their Super Bowl LIX victory, despite prior rumors that they would skip, as they did in 2018. The Florida Panthers recently visited the president to celebrate their Stanley Cup victory last summer.

Both the Las Vegas Aces and Boston Celtics, the reigning WNBA and NBA champs, respectively, visited Biden before he left office. The prior NBA champions, the Denver Nuggets, notably canceled their visit last year, citing their quest to earn the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. (They got the No. 2 seed after a tiebreaker.)