The Dodgers might be visiting the White House, but Phillies fans live in it.
“Jilly from Philly” wants to make it clear that even though the Los Angeles Dodgers are the current defending World Series champions, her heart remains in Philadelphia.
As the Dodgers visited the White House on Friday, Joe Biden addressed the champs and made their allegiances clear:
"“My wife is a Philly girl from her belt buckle to her shoe soles, and if I root for anybody but the Phillies, I’ll be sleeping in the Lincoln Bedroom alone.” – President Joe Biden"
This isn’t the first time Biden has spoken about his wife’s love for the Phillies. In 2009, ABC News reported that Biden called his wife the Phillies’ “Most Rabid Fan,” even leaving the 2008 campaign trail early to see the Phillies win their second-ever World Series. She called being present for the victory, “one of the best nights,” to which her husband replied, “This woman bleeds red.”
In 2012, Biden told the media that his wife kept a Jimmy Rollins bobblehead on her nightstand and that she’d hang around the house in a warm-up jacket that Rollins had given her.
Rollins shared the story, too:
In March 2020, Biden – in the midst of his campaign for the presidency – appeared on Jimmy Kimmel on what would have been MLB Opening Day if the pandemic had not begun weeks before. When Biden saw that Kimmel was wearing a Mets cap, he put on a Phillies cap.
Kimmel joked, “This is not the way to win voters.”
Biden replied, “It’s the way to be able to sleep with my wife. She’s a Philly girl. If I weren’t into the Phillies, I’d be out of luck, man.”
The reactions on Twitter to Biden’s comments during the Dodgers visit were amazing:
Biden talking about the Phillies while honoring the Dodgers at the White House is the awkward, wholesome POTUS content we deserve.
— Jordan Ross Schindler (@jrschindy) July 2, 2021
Biden is not the first U.S. President to support a Philadelphia baseball team
Biden is not the first Philadelphia sports fan to sit in the Oval Office, but it has been a while. So long, in fact, that the team is no longer in Philly. Herbert Hoover, best known for letting Americans wither away in shanty towns that were aptly named Hoovervilles during the Great Depression, was apparently a serious Philadelphia A’s fan and frequented their games.
In 1929, Hoover threw out a ceremonial first pitch for A’s-Senators Opening Day; months later, he did the same for the World Series game that clinched the series for the A’s. That was just days before the stock market crashed on the day that has become known as Black Tuesday. In 1930, Connie Mack even made then-President Hoover the team mascot for some reason.
However, in 1931, nearly two years into the Great Depression, Hoover had, understandably, worn out his welcome with the American people. At the World Series that October – the A’s third in a row – he was booed. There were two reasons: the first, the economic hardships that had befallen the country under his watch. The second: Prohibition was still in effect and baseball fans wanted to enjoy a beer at the ballgame.
When the Hoovers left the ballgame early, fans began to chant “We want beer!”
As Biden addressed the Dodgers, who won their first World Series since 1988, during the shortened 2020 MLB season, he acknowledged the importance of sports, even during the pandemic:
"“When the season began it was easy to feel like we had bigger things to worry about than just sports. And of course we did and we still do. But I think what we discovered is we need sports more than we ever realized.” – President Joe Biden"
Biden has thrown out the first pitch at a ballgame before. During his time as Barack Obama’s vice president, he had the honor on Opening Day at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Like Hoover, it sounds like Biden got some boos.
The pitch was a bit high, but they called it a strike.
Hopefully, the Phillies can win one in the next few years, so the President and First Lady can welcome their favorite team.