Four days before he leaves office, President Obama hosted the Chicago Cubs at the White House on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. But as Cubs president Theo Epstein pointed out, it wasn’t the first time the team has visited.
“It was 1888 and we were known as the Chicago White Stockings,” he said. “And we stopped in here to visit President Grover Cleveland, and apparently the team demanded for a proclamation to be named the best baseball team in the country. The president refused, and the team went on their way.
Advertisement
“We going to make no such demands today.”
As the president honored the World Series champion Cubs in the East Room on Monday, he singled out key players like David Ross, Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Ben Zobrist, Kyle Schwarber, Javy Baez, Kyle Hendricks, Jon Lester, Dexter Fowler and more. He gave kudos to the front office members, manager Joe Maddon and the Ricketts family, and also recognized Cubs Hall of Famers Ryne Sandberg, Fergie Jenkins and Billy Williams, who were all in attendance.
Former Cubs outfielder Jose Cardenal received a special shoutout from the president, as the First Lady’s favorite Cubs player of all time. Epstein said Cardenal got “the longest hug from the First Lady we’ve ever seen.”
The president said his wife, a lifelong Cubs fan, had another event to attend, but for the first time in his presidency, she made a point to say hello to a visiting sports team.
Epstein of course ribbed Obama about his White Sox fandom, thanking the First Lady for her loyalty to the team.
“Of course we have great faith in your intelligence, your common sense, your pragmatism, your ability to recognize a good thing when you see one,” Epstein said. “So Mr President, with only a few days remaining in your tremendous presidency, we have taken the liberty today of offering you a midnight pardon for all your indiscretions as a baseball fan. So we welcome you with open arms today into the Cubs family. To recognize this terrific conversion and this great day, we have some gifts for you and your family.”
Anthony Rizzo presented the president with a No. 44 Obama Cubs jersey, and Laura Ricketts gave the Obamas a lifetime pass to Wrigley Field.
“I love how it says non-transferrable,” the president said.
The Cubs also gave Obama a W flag signed by the entire team, as well as a No. 44 tile from the historic Wrigley scoreboard.
Advertisement
The president had a good retort, saying, “among Sox fans, I’m the Cubs’ No. 1 fan.”
The president also spoke about the hope the Cubs brought to his hometown of Chicago, and the way they changed the history of the franchise.
It was about more than just the game, Obama said.
“It is a game and it is celebration, but there is a direct line between Jackie Robinson and me standing here,” he said. “There is a direct line between people loving Ernie Banks the city being able to come together and work together in one spirit. And I was in my hometown of Chicago on Tuesday for my farewell address, and I said, sometimes it’s not enough just to change laws, you gotta change hearts. And sports has a way sometimes of changing hearts in a way that politics or business doesn’t.”
Obama said that the way the Cubs played and ultimately won “tell us a little something about what America is and what America can be.
“So it is entirely appropriate that we celebrate the Cubs today, here in this White House on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, because it helps direct us in terms of what this country has been and what it can be in the future.”