Monday, the Chicago Cubs will be heading to The White House to visit Barack Obama and one player that won’t be there…Jake Arrieta.
Given his alleged political leanings, a lot of people were left wondering if that’s the reason the pitcher is skipping the trip. You see, not long after the election, the 2015 National League Cy Young Award winner channeled his inner-Curt Schilling and left a lot of his fans less than thrilled.
Turns out, dude has a good reason (actually two of them)…and it has nothing to do with the man who currently calls 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue home.
#Cubs Arrieta will not go to White House Monday but it's because his mother in law is recovering from brain surgery. Son also needs care
— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) January 13, 2017
Brain surgery and a dental procedure? Makes sense.
“People have opinions of me, but it’s nothing about who is our president and who is not,” Arrieta told the Chicago Tribune. “It’s just we (the family) have things to take care of. We have a lot going on. So I won’t be going to that (visit).”
Now, back to that tweet from November 9.
As you might imagine, Arrieta’s “beat it” comments left many with a sour taste in their collective mouth, but, finally, he’s explaining himself.
“I was simply calling out people who have a tremendous platform of millions of followers that said they were going to leave the country if Trump was elected. I was basically calling their bluff. If you don’t want to live here…then beat it,” the righty said during the team’s annual Cubs Convention. “I’m pretty pro-United States, as I think everybody in this country should be, if you want to stay here. And if not, then I’m sure there’s somewhere else they can go.”
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
