Administration of Joseph R. Biden, Jr., 2022

September 26, 2022

The President. What a big deal being here for World Champions. Please, have a seat. Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Well, welcome to the White House: the 2021 World Champion Atlanta Braves! Got some guys over there too.

I was telling the guys inâback in the other side of the building that I married a Philly girl. [*Laughter*] And she's smarter than I am, and she's hell of a lot better looking. And like every Philly fan, she's convinced she knows more about everything in sports than anybody else in any other city. [*Laughter*] And these guys beat the Phillies last night 8 to 7. [*Laughter*] I love them.

But, Boss, I thought I was going to be quarantined today. [*Laughter*] Anyway, I have to be careful how nice I am to these guys today and especially since last night. [*Laughter*]

We're joined by so many friends from Atlanta, starting with the former mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms. Stand up, Keisha. Keisha now works full time in the Executive Office Building with me, and she's the best. She's the best. And Iâshe took over from Cedric Richmond, who was, as he says, a Morehouse Man, played baseball at Morehouse. He's now at the Democratic Stateâ National Committee.

We've also got Mayor Andre Dickens.

Mayor Andre Dickens of Atlanta, GA. Right here.

The President. There you go, Mayor.

But I want you to knowâLisa Cupid, the Cobb County Commissioner, she's got the stadium. And from the Georgia congressional delegation, Representatives Bourdeaux, Williams, and Carter are all here. Stand up, guys.

My grandfather was an All-American football player at Santa Clara, and he was a newspaper guy up in Scranton, Pennsylvania. His name was Ambrose Finnegan. And when it was the Boston Braves, he didn't like it. [*Laughter*] But at any rate, that's another story. [*Laughter*]

They've allâthis team is defined by the courage of Hank Aaron, the Home Run King and 25-time All-Starâ[*applause*]â25 times. And Hank Aaron shattered a lot of records, but he shattered them in racism as well, with dignity and with class.

And you know, it's been celebrated for success in the ninetiesâfive times World Seriesâ five times World Series in a decade; 14-straight division titles. And now the Braves will be forever remembered for the unstoppable, joyful run that this team made last yearâand, I would say, "improbable" run at the time.

It was a rough start, plagued by injuries. The All-Star break, not 1 day of a winning record. Given a 0.4-percent chance of winning on CNN. No, I'm only joking. [*Laughter*] I listen to all the percentages on CNN, you know? [*Laughter*] My batting average isn't nearly as good.

At any rateâbut the franchise never quit, never gave in. You rebuilt the whole outfield practically overnight. Play by play, inning by inning, you grinded and you ground it out, and you did it together.

You made the playoffs and beat the Bravesâthe Brewers and the Dodgers. And then you beat the Astros to win it all. Forever known as the "Upset Kings of October." One of the greatestâone of history's greatest turnarounds. First title in 26 years.

But none of it came easy. People counted you out. Heck, IâI know something about being counted out. [*Laughter*] And I know in Georgia, you show up when it counts. When it counts. You never give up. You never give in. As my mother would say, "You keep the faith."

This team proved that Hank Aaronâwhat Hank Aaron once said. He said, "There is no shortcut in life. You have to take it one step at a time and work hard. And you have to give itâ give back."

Well, you know, this team has done it all. And that's what this team does on the field and off the field through the community service: it gives back, channeling its reachâits reach and resources to feed the hungry, support our veterans, give kids a safe place to play, and so much more.

Bringing people together, inspiring us to do better by the power of your exampleâthat's sports. That's America. And that's why I'm honored to host the 2021 Braves who are here at the White House. Fellas, congratulations.

And, Mr. Chairman, the floor is yours.

Atlanta Braves Holdings, LLC, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Terry McGuirk. The first thing I would say on behalf of all of my brethren behind me is: Wow. What a thrill to be here at the White House.

I want to start off paying a little bit of a compliment to our team, as President Biden has just done. They played an extra-innings game last night. We got in hours late from whenâthey've been doing a lot of traveling. You cannot believe, at this point in the season, how tired they are. They won 8â7 in the 11th inning last night.

These guysâbut whatââ

The President. And I slept in the guest room. [Laughter]

Mr. McGuirk. As the President says, this group never quits. It is unbelievable. It is the metaphor of how we got here today. We'reâthis group shows up, does their job every day. It's an amazing group of men. Andâ[applause]âyes.

Back to President Biden. Thank you so much for your kind remarks. On behalf of the entire Braves organization and all of our players, we want to thank you officially for hosting us and celebrating the 2021 World Series championship here at the White House. We're pinching ourselves. And, Mr. President, I'd like to thank one of our Atlanta friends, Keisha Bottomsâ former mayor of Atlanta who is on your staff. Her helpfulness in getting this done made it happen. Thank you, Keisha.

[*At this point, Mr. McGuirk continued his remarks, concluding as follows.*]

And now I'd like to invite our resident of baseball operations, Alex Anthopoulos, and our manager, Brian Snitker, to present a special gift to the President from our team.

[*The President was presented with a team jersey.*]

NOTE: The President spoke at 12:07 p.m. in the East Room at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to White House Senior Adviser for Public Engagement Keisha Lance Bottoms; former Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement Cedric L. Richmond, in his capacity as senior adviser to the Democratic National Committee; and Chairwoman of the Board of Commissioners Lisa Cupid of Cobb County, GA.

Categories: Addresses and Remarks : 2021 World Series Champion Atlanta Braves. Locations: Washington, DC.

Names: Biden, Jill T.; Bottoms, Keisha Lance; Bourdeaux, Carolyn J.; Carter, Earl L. "Buddy"; Cupid, Lisa; Dickens, Andre; McGuirk, Terry; Richmond, Cedric L.; Williams, Nikema N.

Subjects: Democratic Party : Democratic National Committee; Sports : Baseball; White House Office : Assistants to the President :: Public Engagement, Senior Adviser for.

DCPD Number: DCPD202200837.