WASHINGTON — The Texas Rangers visited the White House on Thursday to celebrate their 2023 World Series victory with President Joe Biden, who said the team was making a triumphant return to the city where its franchise was born.
“You're back in the nation's capital as world champions, and you deserve it,” Biden said, referencing a team that was once the Washington Senators before moving to Texas in 1972. “I think there's one word that all of you embody: resilience.”
It is a long-standing tradition for championship professional and college teams to come to the White House and be recognized by the president. The visit marked a rare public appearance by Biden since his July 21 announcement that he was dropping his reelection bid and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the Democratic ticket in November.
The Rangers now play in Arlington, just outside Dallas, and Biden said the city and region had grown accustomed to championship football, basketball and hockey games that left many wondering “if baseball would ever join them.”
He noted that the Rangers failed to win last year’s American League West division, which “was as tough as I’ve ever seen it.” The team made the playoffs as a wild card and beat Tampa Bay and Baltimore before “getting revenge on the Houston Astros,” Biden said, to reach the World Series, which they won in five games against the Arizona Diamondbacks in November.
“They never gave up,” Biden said. “They kept the faith.”
The event in the East Room began with the band playing an orchestral version of “Higher,” Creed’s 1999 hit that became the Rangers’ unofficial anthem in 2023. In the midst of their current season, the Rangers lost at home to the Astros on Wednesday and headed to New York after the ceremony for a series against the Yankees.
It was the Rangers' first championship but the fourth for manager Bruce Bochy, who previously visited the White House after winning titles with the San Francisco Giants in 2010, 2012 and 2014, all while Barack Obama was president.
Biden noted that Bochy was running out of fingers on one hand for his World Series rings and that if he won a fifth, he would “need another finger” unless he put a ring on his thumb. “I don't know how you would do that, man,” Biden added.
Rangers general manager Chris Young called last season “a roller coaster.”
“It was a period of ups and downs, and there were times when it didn't look like we could win the World Series,” Young said. “But this group of guys never gave up hope. They never got off track.”
He said the players “forever changed the perception of our franchise” and fans had “waited a long time for this championship.”
“You all deserve this,” Young said. “We appreciate your patience.”
As the players and Biden spoke, the World Series trophy sat on a nearby table, along with a No. 46 Rangers jersey with Biden's name on it and Rangers cowboy boots, which the president declared would “give me two more inches.”
“I had an incredible arm,” Biden joked as he held up the shirt. “I don't have it anymore.”
