BIDEN HOSTS WORLD SERIES CHAMPION RANGERS AT WHITE HOUSE

President Joe Biden noted the Word Series champion Texas Rangers were once the Washington Senators before they moved to Texas in 1972. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

 WASHINGTON -- The Texas Rangers visited the White House on Thursday to celebrate their 2023 World Series victory with President Joe Biden, who noted that the team was making a triumphant return to the city where its franchise was born.

"You're back in the nation's capital as world champions, and you deserve it," Biden said, referencing a team that was once the Washington Senators before it moved to Texas in 1972. "I think there's a word you all embody: resilience."

It's a long-standing tradition for professional and collegiate championship teams to come to the White House and be recognized by the president. The visit meant a rare public appearance by Biden since his July 21 announcement that he was dropping his bid for reelection and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the Democratic ticket in November.

The Rangers now play in Arlington, outside Dallas, and Biden said that city and region had grown accustomed to championships in football, basketball and hockey that left many wondering "if baseball would ever join them."

He noted that the Rangers failed to win last year's American League West division, which "was as tough as it's ever been." The team made the playoffs as a wild card and topped Tampa Bay and Baltimore before getting "revenge on the Houston Astros," Biden said, to make the World Series -- which they clinched in five games over the Arizona Diamondbacks in November.

"You never gave up," Biden said. "You kept the faith."

The event in the East Room began with the band playing an orchestral version of "Higher," the 1999 hit by Creed that became the 2023 Rangers' unofficial anthem. In the midst of their current season, the Rangers lost at home to the Astros on Wednesday and headed to New York after the ceremony for a series against the Yankees.

It was the Rangers' first championship, but the fourth for their manager, Bruce Bochy, who previously visited the White House after winning titles with the San Francisco Giants in the 2010, 2012 and 2014 seasons -- and celebrating them all while Barack Obama was president.

Biden noted that Bochy was running out of fingers on one hand for his World Series rings and that, if he were to win a fifth, he'd "need another finger" unless he put a ring on his thumb. "I don't know how you'd do that, man," Biden added.

Rangers general manager Chris Young called last season "a roller coaster."

"It was filled with highs and extreme lows, and there were moments where it didn't feel like we could possibly win the World Series," Young said. "But this group of guys, they never gave up hope. They never veered off course."

He said the players "forever changed the perception of our franchise" and fans had "waited a long time for this championship."

"You all deserve this," Young said. "We thank you for your patience."

As the players and Biden spoke, the World Series trophy sat on a table nearby, along with a No. 46 Rangers jersey with Biden's name on it and Rangers cowboy boots -- which the president declared would "give me another two inches."

"I had a hell of an arm," Biden joked as he held up the jersey. "I don't have it anymore."

- Associated Press

CHICAGO WHITE SOX LOSE 21ST STRAIGHT GAME, TIE AL RECORD

Chicago White Sox manager Pedro Grifol reacts [+]
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OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Chicago White Sox lost their 21st straight game, tying American League record with a 5-1 defeat to the Oakland Athletics on Monday night as Max Schuemann hit a tiebreaking, two-run single in the fourth inning.

Chicago is on the longest losing streak since the 1988 Baltimore Orioles lost 21 in a row. The NL record since 1900 is held by the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies, who lost 23 straight.

The major league low belongs to the 1889 Louisville Colonels, an American Association team that lost 26 consecutive games slide during a 27-111 season.

Chicago, which last won on July 10 in a doubleheader opener against Minnesota, dropped to 27-88 and is on pace to finish 38-124, which would be the most losses since the 1899 Cleveland Spiders of the National League went 20-134. The White Sox have been held to one run or none 32 times.

"We talk about it everyday, everybody knows what it is," Chicago manager Pedro Grifol said after the loss. "It's 21 in a row, it sucks, it's painful, it hurts, you name it. ... Like I said, it's not for lack of effort. Nobody wants to come out here and lose."

Measuring up against the rest of baseball, after the All-Star break, is even more dreary for the White Sox. Sixteen of the losses in the streak have come post-break, and according to ESPN Stats & Information research, every other team in the majors has at least four victories in that span.

"You just try to turn the page," outfielder Corey Julks said. "Look forward to the next day, bounce back, don't dwell on the loss, just try to learn from them and get better each day. ... We're just trying to rally as a team and find a way to get a win."

Former White Sox great Frank Thomas, a Hall of Fame first baseman, was on the team's postgame show on NBC Sports Chicago Monday, and said he would throw a postgame tantrum with reporters if he were managing this team.

"It's time to snap," Thomas said. "That's the only way through the players right now. Snap. I'm serious. I don't want to hear no more: `We're trying.′ No more: `They're working hard every day.′ No, it's time to snap. It's time to kick over the spread."

Thomas played for the White Sox from 1990 to 2005 as part of a 19-season career. Now 56, the two-time AL MVP hit 521 home runs, including 448 for Chicago. He was elected to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 2014.

"I'm not being nice. Kick the door. Slam the door! 'Get out of here! I'm tired of answering questions," Thomas suggested would be his reaction as manager. "'We've lost 21 in -- we're the laughing stock of baseball. You think I don't know that?'"

Tyler Nevin's first-inning sacrifice fly put the A's ahead, but Andrew Benintendi tied the score with an RBI single against JP Sears (9-8) in the fourth.

JJ Bleday doubled in the bottom half off Ky Bush (0-1), a 24-year-old left-hander making his big league debut, Zack Gelof walked and Darell Hernaiz was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. Schuemann grounded a single between shortstop and third that bounced into left for a 3-1 lead.

Lawrence Butler added a sixth-inning homer against Chad Kuhl, his 16th home run this season. Gelof added a run in the eighth when he sprinted home from first when Jared Shuster's pitch bounced away from catcher Korey Lee as Schuemann struck out. Lee looked toward Gelof at third and threw to first baseman Andrew Vaughn for the out, and Gelof ran home as Vaughn's throw skipped past Lee.

Sears allowed three hits in seven innings with five strikeouts and a walk, improving to 5-1 in his last six decisions.

"Our whole plan coming into this series was to continue our focus," A's manager Mark Kotsay said, whose club just dropped a weekend series to the Los Angeles Dodgers. "Focus on the details of the game, play the game the way we know we're capable of, and we did that tonight."

Austin Adams and Tyler Ferguson finished a four-hitter that took just 2 hours, 15 minutes.

"We bounced back today aggainst a team that has been struggling lately," Schuemann said in his postgame, on-field interview on NBC Sports California. "So, it was important to come out here and not take them lightly. That was a big key for us."

Bush allowed three runs, two hits and five walks over four innings with three strikeouts. He played college baseball at Saint Mary's College in Moraga.

On Tuesday, the White Sox will give it another shot with rookie right-hander Jonathan Cannon (1-5, 4.11 ERA) on the mound, opposed by Oakland righty Ross Stripling (2-10, 5.64).

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

- ESPN News Services

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