Biden is set to welcome the 2023 World Series champion Texas Rangers to the White House

WASHINGTON -- The Texas Rangers headed to the White House on Thursday to meet President Joe Biden and celebrate their 2023 World Series victory, the first in the franchise's history.

It’s a long-standing tradition for professional and collegiate championship teams to come to the White House and be recognized by the president. While it is the first such visit for the Rangers, it is the fourth for their manager, Bruce Bochy. He celebrated at the White House after winning titles with the San Francisco Giants in 2011, 2013 and 2015 — all while Barack Obama was president.

The Rangers clinched the World Series by defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 5 last November. The team lost at home to the Houston Astros on Wednesday and is set to fly to New York after the ceremony in Washington for a series against the Yankees.

The visit also means 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.

Rangers second baseman and shortstop Marcus Semien stepped out on the White House driveway to briefly take reporters' questions before the event later in the afternoon. Asked about the tumultuous politics that saw Biden leave the race against Donald Trump with little more than three months to go before Election Day, he said: “These are crazy times right now out there. But I think our job, as baseball players, as entertainers, is to just make sure people have a good time.”

As for any message he had for Biden, Semien said simply, “Thanks for having us.”