Barack Obama honors Red Sox at White House, takes selfie with David Ortiz
Big Papi and the President of the United States of America, nailing the selfie. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The 2014 season has already started, but for the Red Sox, Tuesday morning was all about celebrating 2013. As is annual tradition, the defending World Series champions headed to the White House to meet with President Barack Obama, who honored the team for its championship. In his speech, Obama praised the team for its resilience, especially coming after the Boston Marathon bombing in April. "There was something about this particular squad that was special and will go down in history," Obama said. "Not just because they went from worst to first, but because they symbolized grit and resilience of one of America's iconic cities in one of its difficult moments." Obama also riffed on last year's team's penchant for facial hair—"I thought I invited the Red Sox here today, but there must be a mistake because I don't recognize all these clean-shaven guys." — and then mispronounced Mike Napoli's last name, but hey, no one's perfect.
After his speech, David Ortiz presented Obama with a commemorative Red Sox home jersey with "OBAMA 44" on the back, then, because it's 2014 and nothing is safe from the trend, took a selfie with the president at the podium.
https://twitter.com/davidortiz/status/451032513679749120
Also getting in on the fun: Jonny Gomes, who showed up to the White House looking like the world's most patriotic car salesman.
https://twitter.com/PeteAbe/status/451031844973457408
Gomes actually purchased stars-and-stripes blazers for the entire team, but he was the only one ridiculous brave enough to wear one to meet the leader of the free world. Gomes also presented Obama with a blazer, which he'll hopefully bust out for his next important state dinner.
Here's the full 10-minute video from today's ceremony:
[mlbvideo id="31742575" width="600" height="336" /]
