Mookie Betts won’t be making the White House trip with the Dodgers on July 23, and he says the reason is simple: family time.
The Dodgers shortstop told the California Post he most likely will spend the day with his family instead of joining the team in Washington, D.C. Betts said the reaction would be the same either way.
“If I do [go], people are gonna hate me. If I don’t, people are gonna hate me,” he told the Post's Jack Harris. “So instead of trying to make everyone else happy, I’m gonna think about myself and my family.”
Betts said his decision wasn’t rooted in politics, though he expects people to read it that way anyway. “people are gonna try to drag me into politics, just because I am who I am,” he said.
The Dodgers confirmed Thursday that they plan to visit the White House on an off-day between their three-game series in Philadelphia and New York. The team also said the visit to the White House and Capitol Hill fits a long-standing tradition for World Series champions.
“As was the case one year ago, the Dodgers’ upcoming visits to the White House and Capitol Hill follow the longtime tradition of visits by other World Series champions. We appreciate these tributes in recognition of our back-to-back championships.”
Los Angeles had already made a White House stop in April 2025 after accepting the invitation that came with its 2024 World Series title. The club then won the World Series again in November 2025, but until this week it wasn’t clear whether another trip to Washington would happen.
Betts has been in this spot before. He skipped the Boston Red Sox’s championship visit in 2019, then later visited the White House with the Dodgers in 2021 and 2025. He also knelt during the U.S. national anthem amid the George Floyd protests in 2020.
For Betts, though, this one comes down to the calendar and a new baby. “I’m not trying to make this a whole big deal,” Betts told Harris.
“We just had a baby. You don’t get many days off.
They’re coming [on the road trip]. And just want to hang out with the fam.
That’s really kind of it. But people are gonna make it a whole bunch of other stuff.”
Utility player Kiké Hernández also signaled Thursday that he would not go, replying to a comment on his Instagram account before deleting the words. Later, Hernández said he would be on a rehab assignment and "probably wouldn’t have gone" to the White House even if he was not away from the team.
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