President Joe Biden welcomed the Atlanta Braves to the White House and suggested he knows what it is like to be “counted out.”
The Braves won the World Series in 2021 for the first time since 1995.
Biden claimed the team’s victory was “one of history’s greatest turnarounds.”
He continued, “But none of it came easy. People counted you out. Heck, I know a little something about being counted out, and I know in Georgia, you show up when it counts.”
Watch his comments below:
‘People counted [the team] out, heck, I know something about being counted out — and I know in Georgia, you show up when it counts.’
— NowThis Impact (@nowthisimpact) September 26, 2022
Pres. Biden welcomed the Atlanta Braves to the White House on Monday to celebrate the team’s 2021 World Series win ⚾️🏆 pic.twitter.com/8cWaBeEhUg
The Braves went on to gift Biden with a jersey with “BIDEN 46” printed on the back.
Terry McGuirk, the chairman of the Braves, also delivered remarks.
He told the audience “this group never quits.”
McGuirk mentioned former Braves player and Hall of Famer Hank Aaron, who passed away last year.
“We still think we had a special angel looking over us, having our recently passed friend Hank Aaron pulling the strings from on high. There’s no question Hank was a part of what we did and he’d have been with us every step of the way with us if he was here,” McGuirk said.
In 2021, the president welcomed the Los Angeles Dodgers to the White House following their World Series victory in 2020.
“I think what we discovered is that we need sports more than we ever realized,” Biden said at the time, acknowledging the challenges that came with the COVID-19 pandemic.
He explained, “When we go through a crisis, very often, sports brings us together to heal. To help us feel like things are going to be okay. Are going to get better.”
Biden continued, “For a few hours each day, feeling, sensing and experiencing something familiar. Something normal. Something that’s fun in the middle of the chaos. And believing that we’re going to get back to all that we’re missing. And we’re going to get back to it soon.”
