Go Visit Trump's White House, Dodgers — But Stand Up For L.a. While You're There

When a pitcher purposely throws precocious and inside, nan batter has 4 choices.

He tin look down nan pitcher. He tin complaint nan mound. He tin get revenge by walloping nan adjacent transportation for a hit.

Or he tin disregard nan intimidation maneuver and proceed arsenic if thing happened.

The past prime is nan wimp’s measurement out, since nan batter will suffer his teammates’ respect, while opposing pitchers will see him a pushover and occurrence much brushback pitches astatine him.

Ever since the Dodgers visited nan White House past spring to commemorate their 2024 World Series win, President Trump has launched a barrage of metaphorical fastballs trying to wounded Los Angeles — successful nan courts, successful speeches and connected societal media, but particularly via his deportation deluge that’s starting to simmer again.

So really person nan Boys successful Blue responded successful defense of nan metropolis they deterioration connected their jerseys and nan organization that has sustained them for astir 70 years, making Dem Bums 1 of nan astir valuable franchises successful baseball?

They’re scheduled to sojourn nan White House coming truthful Trump tin usage them arsenic a photograph op and bask successful their 2025 championship.

That’s for illustration staying successful nan dugout during a bench-clearing brawl aft a pitcher plonks a batter, past offering nan offender a handshake nan adjacent inning.

Winning back-to-back titles and blazing done this play has brought Angelenos much-needed happiness during a unspeakable agelong for nan metropolis — but winning is what nan Dodgers are expected to do. They’re besides expected to do more.

This is nan squad of pioneers for illustration Jackie Robinson and Sandy Koufax, Glenn Burke and Fernando Valenzuela. The squad whose mythology insists it’s a franchise isolated from nan remainder of master sports because nan Dodger Way is kinder, braver and much consenting to return civilized risks that transcend shot and make nine better.

And yet head Dave Roberts told Times sports columnist Bill Shaikin successful February that he would gladly judge different White House invitation “to proceed to effort to do what contented says and not effort to make governmental statements, because I americium not a politician.”

Well, convey God nan Dodgers collapsed baseball’s longstanding contented of segregation agelong earlier Roberts, who is Black and Japanese American, was born!

Manager Dave Roberts of nan Los Angeles Dodgers looks connected from nan dugout during a 2025 crippled against nan San Diego Padres astatine Petco Park successful San Diego, California.

(Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

Most of nan Blue Crew fans I cognize — who are mostly Trump haters, by nan measurement — rotation their eyes each clip a wokoso personnel of Dodger Nation complains astir nan team’s White House visits aliases nan nonaccomplishment of players, coaches and executives to speak retired much forcefully against Trump’s anti-immigrant campaign. Politics person nary spot successful baseball, my friends and family members will say.

But opinionated up for L.A. by snubbing Trump aliases calling retired his warfare against america isn’t governmental astatine all.

Angelenos request a champion connected nan Dodgers to opportunity what needs to beryllium said: The City of Angels is wonderful, and Trump is incorrect to target it. If you can’t guidelines up for nan elemental belief that we don’t merit to beryllium Trump’s individual piñata, past you person nary spot playing for nan Dodgers.

Only 2 players person announced they’re not going to nan White House: superstar Mookie Betts and instrumentality favourite Kiké Hernández. The latter, a autochthonal of Puerto Rico, endeared himself to nan Dodger religious past twelvemonth during nan tallness of nan migration raids with an Instagram station that read, “I cannot tolerate watching our organization proceed to beryllium violated, attacked, abused and separated. ALL group merit to beryllium treated pinch respect, dignity and their quality rights.”

This clip around, Hernández told nan Times that he’s not going truthful he tin attraction connected a rehabilitation stint successful nan minors. When pressed by newsman Maddie Lee, he said, “I’d alternatively return a time disconnected than do squad activities.”

Nice measurement to rhetorically onslaught out, Kiké.

Betts, meanwhile, said he wants to walk clip pinch his newborn kid — arsenic morganatic a logic arsenic any. But past he sat down for a short question and reply pinch Fox News.

“I don’t cognize why nan world sees athletes arsenic governmental figures aliases these group that tin make change,” Betts said. The early Hall of Famer, who for illustration Roberts owes a batch to Robinson for paving nan measurement for him and different Black players, hemmed and hawed arsenic if he didn’t rather judge what he was saying.

Dodgers past and coming haven’t been averse to governmental stands — they conscionable usually hap to beryllium of nan blimpish variety.

After his retirement, Robinson campaigned for Richard Nixon’s unsuccessful 1960 statesmanlike bid but near nan GOP 8 years later, accusing Nixon of “prostituting himself to nan bigots successful nan South” to triumph nan presidency.

Other Dodger legends, from erstwhile proprietor Peter O’Malley to Steve Garvey to Tommy Lasorda, were proud, vocal Republicans arsenic well. Reliever Blake Treinen sounded successful a crippled pinch “Charlie Kirk” written connected his chapeau aft nan assassination of nan far-right commentator — you know, nan feline who lambasted L.A.’s consequence to Trump’s migration hammer arsenic “open rebellion to American sovereignty and authority … successful a corrupt bluish city.”

Treinen — who skipped nan Dodgers’ 2021 White House sojourn erstwhile Joe Biden occupied nan Oval Office — was astatine it again this twelvemonth erstwhile he and teammate Alex Call declined to deterioration Pride Night-themed caps, choosing alternatively to play pinch nan standard-issue one. They followed nan illustration of Dodgers titan Clayton Kershaw, who wore a Pride headdress past twelvemonth but adorned it pinch a verse from nan Book of Genesis commandeered by MAGA Christians to impeach LGBT+ group of appropriating rainbow colors to observe their supposedly wicked ways.

Dodgers guidance didn’t browbeat Treinen and Call, and that’s good — ballplayers should beryllium entitled to stock their individual thoughts, nevertheless noxious. I moreover understand why nan squad mightiness want to ham it up pinch Trump this week — that’s what multimillionaires look to want to do these days, aft all.

Federal agents shape extracurricular Gate E of Dodger Stadium connected June 19, 2025.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

What offends maine astir is that Dodgers proprietor Mark Walter knows what Trump is doing to L.A. is wrong, moreover if he’ll ne'er publically opportunity anything.

Last June, nan squad announced that it had prevented Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from entering nan Dodger Stadium parking lot — nan feds denied that this happened. The Dodgers besides announced they would donate $1.1 cardinal to nonprofits to assistance group affected by nan migration raids — a consequence to organization disgust astir video of national agents successful beforehand of a Dodger Stadium gross pinch group who had been detained astatine a adjacent Home Depot.

Soon after, nan Dodgers were deed pinch a national civilian authorities complaint, revenge by a ineligible group co-founded by Stephen Miller, accusing them of discrimination because of their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. This year, Walter’s finance patient free itself of each shares successful GEO Group, which runs migrant detention centers connected behalf of nan national government.

Yet now, nan Dodgers are going to nan White House.

Enjoy nan trip, fellas. Hey, possibly 1 of you will shingle Trump’s manus and show him that multicultural, immigrant, Dodgers-blue Los Angeles is each right.

Hey, possibly nan Angels will triumph nan pennant.