Biden lauds Rangers' 'resilience' at White House

WASHINGTON — The Texas Rangers visited the White House on Thursday to celebrate their 2023 World Series victory with President Joe Biden, who noted that 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 it moved to Texas in 1972. “I think there’s a word you all embody: resilience.”

It’s a long-standing tradition for professional and collegiate championship teams to come to the White House and be recognized by the president. The visit meant a rare public appearance by Biden since his July 21 announcement that he was dropping his bid for reelection and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the Democratic ticket in November.

The Rangers now play in Arlington, outside Dallas, and Biden said that city and region had grown accustomed to championships in football, basketball and hockey 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 it’s ever been.” The team made the playoffs as a wild card and topped Tampa Bay and Baltimore before getting “revenge on the Houston Astros,” Biden said, to make the World Series — which they clinched in five games over the Arizona Diamondbacks in November.

“You never gave up,” Biden said. “You kept the faith.”

The event in the East Room began with the band playing an orchestral version of “Higher,” the 1999 hit by Creed that became the 2023 Rangers’ unofficial anthem. 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 their manager, Bruce Bochy, who previously visited the White House after winning titles with the San Francisco Giants in the 2010, 2012 and 2014 seasons — and celebrating them 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 were to win a fifth, he’d “need another finger” unless he put a ring on his thumb. “I don’t know how you’d do that, man,” Biden added.

Rangers general manager Chris Young called last season “a roller coaster.”

“It was filled with highs and extreme lows, and there were moments where it didn’t feel like we could possibly win the World Series,” Young said. “But this group of guys, they never gave up hope. They never veered off course.”

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 thank you for your patience.”

As the players and Biden spoke, the World Series trophy sat on a table nearby, along with a No. 46 Rangers jersey with Biden’s name on it and Rangers cowboy boots — which the president declared would “give me another two inches.”

“I had a hell of an arm,” Biden joked as he held up the jersey. “I don’t have it anymore.”