Royals surprise press secretary on trip to the White House

Nine months after clinching the World Series title, the Royals are heading to the White House to celebrate the victory along with President Barack Obama, and to pay a surprise visit to a big fan in the administration.

Your teams on the go or at home. Personalize SI with our new App. Install on iOS or Android.

Nine months after clinching the World Series title, the Royals are heading to the White House to celebrate the victory along with President Barack Obama, and to pay a surprise visit to a big fan in the administration.

Press Secretary Josh Earnest calls himself a “lifelong Royals fan” in his Twitter bio and he was clearly very excited to get to work on Thursday as evidenced by his very cool socks.

Never been a better day to rock my #Royals socks. @POTUS will welcome the Champs to the White House later today. pic.twitter.com/hODMLXyOxd

— J Earnest (Archived) (@PressSec44) July 21, 2016

It turns out his day was even better than expected, as the team decided to crash a press briefing and present him with his own jersey and autographed ball.

The guys set up a surprise visit to diehard #Royals fan, @PressSec's morning briefing! #ForeverRoyal pic.twitter.com/Kcj7NEu9mR

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) July 21, 2016

The team also spent some time touring the building before meeting with the Commander-in-Chief, who congratulated the team on their comeback filled run to the franchise’s first title in 30 years.

We're here! Looking sharp guys! #ForeverRoyal #Royals pic.twitter.com/naaqNHBd0V

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) July 21, 2016

.@SalvadorPerez15 has taken over the @WhiteHouse Snapchat account! Follow along to go behind the scenes with him. pic.twitter.com/25zxjlfRQd

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) July 21, 2016

A gift for @POTUS. #Royals pic.twitter.com/GggSsUwBAf

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) July 21, 2016

“In all, they had eight comeback wins in the playoffs which is a Major League record” —@POTUS honoring the Kansas City #Royals

— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) July 21, 2016

President Obama also quoted the team’s unofficial postseason mantra “That’s what speed do” which was coined by outfielder Jarrod Dyson when try to explain how the team’s baserunning gave them an edge over opponents.

Earlier in the week Jonny Gomes, who played 12 games for the team and failed to make the postseason roster, joked that the team’s decision not to invite him on its trip to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave was the “worst news” of his career.