BALTIMORE — The Twins visited the White House on Tuesday. Well, some of them.
They would like someday to bring the whole squad back to celebrate a championship with the president, but for four players — Brian Dozier, Trevor Plouffe, Glen Perkins and Joe Mauer — their off-day visit was more than memorable.
"It was awesome," Dozier said of the two-hour visit on Tuesday, which team president Dave St. Peter arranged through an important acquaintance: White House chief of staff Denis McDonough, a Stillwater native and Twins fan who has been President Obama's top aide for three years. "We got the exclusive tour. [McDonough] gave us a lot of information and history in each room. He spent a lot more time with us than we deserved, actually."
Six other members of the traveling party were invited along: General manager Terry Ryan, manager Paul Molitor, equipment manager Rod McCormick, communications director Dustin Morse, bullpen catcher Nate Dammann and director of team travel Mike Herman. At one point, when the president went down the hall for a meeting with his military leaders, the group was ushered into the Oval Office.
"There was something about being in that setting — pretty surreal," Dozier said. "[McDonough] told us about the [president's] Resolute Desk, all different kinds of stuff. It was pretty cool."
They didn't get to meet President Obama, though "he was in the next room a couple of times," Dozier said.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for most of the Twins, though Molitor has been to the White House a handful of other times, once even serving as captain for a Miracle League baseball game (for developmentally disabled children) on the White House lawn.
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