Cubs to celebrate World Series title with Obama on Monday

by Jordan Fabian - 01/11/17 2:17 PM ET

The Chicago Cubs will visit the White House Monday to celebrate their historic World Series championship with President Obama, appearing right before the end of the longtime Chicagoan’s presidency.

The team’s visit will come just four days before Obama leaves office. Obama spokesman Josh Earnest said the visit was fast-tracked so that the president could host it before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

Obama invited the Cubs to the White House during a phone call with manager Joe Maddon in November after the team won its first World Series in 108 years.

{mosads}The Cubs defeated the Cleveland Indians, 9-7, in a classic Game 7 to break their record-long title drought.

Obama is a fan of the White Sox, the Cubs’ crosstown rivals. But he appeared to be rooting for the North Siders to win it all in the World Series.

“It happened: @Cubs win World Series That’s change even this South Sider can believe in. Want to come to the White House before I leave?” he tweeted after their win.

Earnest said attending the celebration last year for his own hometown Kansas City Royals’ title was one of the highlights of his White House career.

“I’m pleased to confirm that many of my colleagues here in the West Wing who are themselves Cubs fans will get to enjoy exactly the same thing when the Chicago Cubs come to the White House on Monday,” he said.

While the Cubs are visiting the White House before Trump’s inauguration, the team will have at least one connection to the new administration. Trump has nominated Cubs co-owner Todd Ricketts as deputy secretary of Commerce, despite Ricketts’s support for Trump rival and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker during the GOP presidential primaries.

Tags Donald Trump