
Alden GonzalezMar 25, 2025, 09:47 PM ET
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- ESPN baseball reporter. Coated the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.
ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Los Angeles Dodgers introduced they authorized a call for participation to the White Space to have fun their International Collection identify.
The staff will make the shuttle on April 7, a Monday, sooner than the primary of a three-game collection in opposition to the Washington Nationals. Individuals of the Dodgers will even consult with Capitol Hill on April 8, the staff introduced.
In step with long-standing baseball custom, President Trump has invited the 2024 International Champion Los Angeles Dodgers to the White Space after they play in Washington D.C. on April 7. The Dodgers stay up for visiting the White Space and celebrating our identify.
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— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 25, 2025
“It wasn’t a proper dialog that we had as a ballclub,” Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts mentioned sooner than Tuesday’s exhibition recreation in opposition to the Los Angeles Angels. “It is definitely an enormous honor to get the invitation to the White Space. It permits us to have fun our 2024 championship. To my figuring out, each International Collection champion will get that honor, so it is a nice honor for all folks.”
The Dodgers’ White Space consult with is particularly notable within the wake of an argument surrounding a tale highlighting Jackie Robinson’s army provider. The tale was once quickly deleted from the Division of Protection’s web page ultimate week as a part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to purge references to variety, fairness and inclusion thru a “virtual content material refresh.”
Robinson served as a 2nd lieutenant within the U.S. Military all over International Warfare II, then broke Main League Baseball’s colour barrier when he made his debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. A statue in his honor graces Dodger Stadium’s center-field plaza. Although it does now not make any references to DEI, the tale on Robinson’s provider was once amongst a swath scrubbed from govt internet sites in contemporary days.
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Roberts, who has incessantly spoken in regards to the significance of primary league groups deploying extra various training and entrance workplace staffs, mentioned he was once ignorant of what came about with the Robinson tale. After being knowledgeable by way of a reporter, he mentioned: “I believe I am satisfied that the web page went again up. I’ve my sturdy evaluations on DEI and all that stuff, however that is every other scrum.”
In 2019, close to the tip of Trump’s first presidency, Roberts indicated as a part of a Los Angeles Occasions profile that he would now not consult with the White Space if the Dodgers hoisted the International Collection trophy later that 12 months. Reminded of that Tuesday, Roberts smirked and mentioned, “Did I?”
“I am going,” he added. “I appreciate the placement. It is the perfect workplace in our nation, definitely on the earth, so, having a look ahead to it.”
The Dodgers visited the White Space beneath Joe Biden’s presidency at the heels of securing a championship on the finish of the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season. 4 years later, on Oct. 30, 2024, they clinched their first full-season identify since 1988 by way of defeating the New York Yankees in Recreation 5 of the International Collection.
Trump was once elected president a couple of week after. About two months later, he feuded with native politicians and California Gov. Gavin Newsom within the wake of wildfires that ravaged portions of L.A., at one level threatening to withhold federal help over disagreements in regards to the area’s water control. The Trump management sooner or later handed an government order geared toward addressing water shortages and regulatory hurdles hindering crisis reaction efforts in Southern California.
Dodgers chairman Mark Walter and part-owner Earvin “Magic” Johnson had been decided on by way of Newsom to steer an initiative geared toward supporting wildfire restoration and rebuilding efforts in L.A., committing as much as $100 million to fund the philanthropic effort. Johnson has brazenly spoken out in opposition to Trump in recent times, however the Dodgers, thru their X account, mentioned Tuesday that they “stay up for visiting the White Space and celebrating our identify.”