WASHINGTON — The White House gets pinstripes today when President Obama will welcome the Yankees to his home to honor the 2009 World Series champions.
For Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada, this will be the third president the Core Four will have met after winning a championship. They met President Bill Clinton after titles in the ’90s and President George W. Bush after winning the 2000 World Series.
“It’s always fun, it’s always a nice honor to go to the White House,” Jeter said. “There is only one president and you are getting recognized for what you have done.”
The Yankees will present Obama with a jersey signed by all of the members of last year’s team. The 2009 remembrances should stop for a while after today, at least until Johnny Damon returns to The Bronx in August.
“Growing up you see the Oval Office and the garden and then all of a sudden you are standing there, it’s cool,” Pettitte said.
Before going to the White House, Yankees players, coaches and executives will visit wounded soldiers at the Walter Reed Medical Center and the Malone House, a long-term rehabilitation home for wounded soldiers near Walter Reed, bringing the World Series trophy along with them.
In the afternoon, it’s on to Pennsylvania Avenue.
“It’s going to be good. I met him at All Star Game,” Mariano Rivera said. “He took pictures of me and my kids.”
The players said they’ll leave their political views at the hotel.
“I don’t choose to share my politics; [today] I am a New York Yankee,” Mark Teixeira said. “There is no reason to bring politics on Monday, because I am representing the New York Yankees.”
