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Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy reflects on past visits to White House

Bochy will make his fourth visit to the White House on Thursday, this time meeting with President Joe Biden.

ARLINGTON — Bruce Bochy remembers sitting on the couch with President Barack Obama in 2011, just chatting about baseball. That marked the first time the now-Texas Rangers manager visited the White House, after leading the San Francisco Giants to a World Series win in 2010.

“I’d been to the White House, going to school there in north Virginia on field trips, but to go there as part of a baseball tradition, winning the World Series, that was really cool for me,” Bochy said before Wednesday’s game against the Houston Astros. “Being in the Red Room with President Obama, just he and I sitting there talking baseball and sports. That was pretty cool.”

Despite Obama’s White Sox fandom, Bochy and the former president bonded over their love for baseball.

Following two more trips with the Giants in 2013 and 2015, Bochy will make his fourth visit to the White House on Thursday with the Rangers, the defending World Series champions. The Rangers hired Bochy out of retirement before the 2023 season, after the manager spent 13 seasons in San Francisco (2007-19).

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The Rangers will meet with President Joe Biden at 3 p.m.

“It’s symbolic of what we accomplished the year before,” Bochy said. “Part of what I’ve talked about is how winning the World Series is the gift that keeps on giving. A traditional White House visit, spend some time there and get a tour of the White House. Two times I’ve been, we did it indoors. Another time, we did it outdoors. It is a beautiful place. A historic moment for baseball. Only one team gets to do it.”

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Texas won its first championship in franchise history by defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 5 of the 2023 Fall Classic.

The Rangers finally join the club of local teams to make a trip to the White House and will be the area’s first visitor since the Dallas Mavericks paid Obama a visit in January 2012. President Bill Clinton became quite familiar with Dallas sports during his time in the White House, as the Cowboys visited in 1993, 1994 and 1996, while the Stars visited him in March 2000 to celebrate their 1999 Stanley Cup title.

After the ceremony, the Rangers will fly to New York for a three-game series against the Yankees beginning Friday.

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