An Inside Look At Cubs' Visit With Obama At The White House
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Chicago Cubs World Series celebration train has not come to an end yet.
The Chicago Cubs made a visit Monday to the White House to be honored by President Barack Obama for their World Series Champions title, before he leaves office.
After the Cubs won the title last year, Obama, a longtime White Sox fan, tweeted an invitation.
President Obama leaves office on Jan. 20, when President-Elect Donald Trump is sworn in as the nation's 45th president.
Cubs owners and most players are expected to be in Washington for the meeting with Obama.
The meeting begins at noon. CBS 2 will be LIVE streaming the event on our website and Facebook page. CBS 2's sports reporter Megan Mawicke will have a front-row view of the meeting and will be reporting from the event.
Megan arrived Sunday and spoke with some players ahead of their big meeting with the President.
"We get to meet the 44th President, so hopefully I can somehow give him a jersey with 44 on it," said Chicago Cubs' first baseball Anthony Rizzo. "It's going to be a lot of fun and we look forward to it."
Rizzo hinted that the No. 44 jersey would read RIZZOBAMA on the back. We will see if he follows through on that idea.
The players also arrived Sunday night and have already been posting sneak previews of the experience on their social media. We have their inside looks below...
Dexter Fowler jokes on the bus ride over to the White House that Javy cannot tie his tie - he needed a little help from Grandpa Rossy.
And joked again about making it through security...
Julianna Zobrist, wife of Chicago Cubs' second baseman Ben Zobrist posted Sunday on Instragram, a picture of her view from the plane going to D.C.
And Cubs' pitcher, Pedro Strop posted a picture on Instagram with his wife, Yenni Valdez while on his flight, sticking to his Dominican roots with a caption written in spanish "Casa Blanca mañana si dios quiere." The comment translates to, 'White house tomorrow, God willing.'
We know Dexter Fowler likes to give gifts. He gave a sneak peak to the gift he will be presenting to President Barack Obama on Instagram. The caption read, "Top Secret @jumpman23 delivery for President @barackobama from me. Tune into @playerstribune Instagram tomorrow to see what's inside."
What do you think is inside the box?
Chicago Cubs' infielder, Javier Baez tweeted Monday morning, pointing out President Obama's fandom to the Chicago White Sox and hoping he is ready for the Cubbies visit.
He also posted a photo on Twitter, showing off his suit and wearing his sunglasses on his head, as usual. His post read, "Excited to be here in the White House. #JB9 #ElMago."
Alongside Javier Baez, teammate Willson Contreras posted on Instagram a photo of Javier Baez, Pedro Strop and himself, with a caption reading, "With My Boys At White House Dimeloooo @javy23baez @pstroop"
Suited up and ready to go, David Ross tweeted a picture with teammates - Jason Heyward, Dexter Fowler, and Anthony Rizzo - ready for the meeting with the President, stating they are "Presidential!"
He even had a run-in with American musician and songwriter, Jimmy Buffett.
Kris Bryant, David Ross and Anthony Rizzo posed in front of a White House podium, again feeling "Presidential!"
Kris Bryant regrammed the photo.
And speaking about suits... The Chicago Cubs twitter page, tweeted some pictures of the players arriving - all dressed to the nines ready for this history-making meeting. The tweet read, "Suit game strong. #CubsInDC"
It was not just the players who donned nice outfits - their significant others dressed up too.
Javier Baez's girlfriend, Irmarie Marquez took to her social media platforms to share the special moment of the White House trip.
The two posed for a picture with a statue head of Abraham Lincoln. "White House With My Man @javy23baez @Cubs"
She also took an individual picture in one of the White House corridors.
And pitcher, Pedro Strop posted a picture with his wife inside the White House.
Dexter Fowler gave his followers an inside look at the White House - first stop of the tour, the China room.
And in looking at the Chicago Cubs's twitter page, the team brought the World Series trophy along with them to the White House and a signed 'W' flag.
Joe Maddon and wife, Jaye Sousoures were also posing for photos, taking in the experience.
Addison Russell joined in on the fun - making many posts to his Instagram feed.
Russell took a selfie with his teammates, Kris Bryant, Jason Heyward and Dexter Fowler.
And a candid shot of "presidential prospects" with teammates Jason Heyward, Cubs' right fielder and C.J. Edwards, Cubs' pitcher.
He posed for a photo behind the podium - feeling "blessed."
And even dabbed...
Cubs' pitcher C.J. Edwards wore snapchat spectacles to capture his experience.
Him and his fiance posed for photos. They will be getting married this February.
He posted on Instagram, "White House with this beauty @love_dot_nette #whitehouse#cubsworldseries2016"
And his fiance, Anquinette 'Nette' Smith posted a picture of the two of them behind the podium.
Speaking of couples... Dexter Fowler posed with his wife, Darya Aliya Fowler in front of the seal of the President of the United States.
Ben Zobrist and wife, Julianna posed together for a beautiful photo. She captioned it, "An unforgettable day at the White House."
And another one... with the caption, "Very Presidential conversations in the Red Room. #fromtheWStotheWH"
Kris Bryant and wife, Jessica took a photo at the podium. Jessica wrote on Instagram, "What an unbelievable moment. A little after this photo was taken, we sat and listened to the president of the United States talk about the Cubs and their season. During this speech, he congratulates Kris & I on our marriage. & not to mention, making sure everybody knows he married up!!haha but seriously, what a surreal moment to be mentioned by a president in his last official speech in office."
Cubs' pitcher, Mike Montgomery and his girlfriend, Stephanie Duchaine captured the moment. "Thank you for having us, Mr. President."
And Anthony Rizzo brought his girlfriend along, too.
And killing some time, before the meeting at noon, Javier Baez and his girlfriend sat in one of the many White House rooms. Baez wrote, "Like a Boss! Im the President now!"
Miguel Montero and his wife, Vanessa took a similar photo.
And just before the official meeting kicked off - the first baseman, Anthony Rizzo had some fun posing behind the podium. His tweet read, "Like a kid in a candy store. So cool."
And just like the sport of baseball, this important meeting required a bit of practice.
And let the meeting begin!
President Obama address Cubs' MVP Ben Zobrist and his wife, Julianna. She was pretty excited, posting a video of the moment on Instagram, reading "and then the President of the United States addressed me personally and referred to a conversation we had had earlier when he asked me whether or not Ben has a big head since winning MVP. It was a joy to assure him of Ben's humility and down to earth nature. Aaaaaaand I'm going to go pass out now. #fromtheWStotheWH"
And now if you were wondering what is in the gift box Dexter Fowler presented to President Obama...
There was a custom pair of Jordan gym shoes - made special for President Barack Obama. The pair of shoes feature the president's signature on the side of the show and the seal of the President of the United States on the tongue.
Player's Tribute released Fowler's video revealing the gift. The comment read, "First Look: @DexterFowler reveals the presidential pair of @jumpman23 made just for @BarackObama. Check out our IG Story for more from Dexter's White House visit."
That was not the only gift Obama received from the visit.
President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein joked the Cubs were offering the outgoing Obama "a midnight pardon" to forgive him for being a White Sox fan.
The Cubs also presented Obama with two No. 44 jerseys — Anthony Rizzo's number — that said "Obama" on the back, one jersey was a Cubs' striped on-field jersey, the other was a grey jersey with 'Chicago' on the front and a World Series patch on the sleeve.
Anthony posted on Instagram a photo of him with Obama, stating, "How do you even caption this?"
Obama also received tiles from the historic Wrigley Field scoreboard, reading No. 44...
And a lifetime pass to attend games at Wrigley Field.
Lastly, the Cubs gave Obama a "W" flag signed by the entire team.
Epstein asked for the flag to be raised at Obama presidential library.
Obama said it was the "best swag" he received while President.
After the meeting, David Ross posted a selfie in the White House's West Wing.
And another good one at a podium...
While Ben Zobrist took a selfie with a statue head of George Washington. The caption read, "Me and George at the White House just thinking. No matter who you are or what your political opinion, it's a privilege to live in this great nation. Missed it last year with KC, but this Cubs team earned us another chance to meet the President and First Lady at the White House."
And Dexter Fowler and Anthony Rizzo caught up on some reading...or maybe just had a nice candid shot.
While pitcher, Rob Zastryzny took to Twitter to thank the President.
As did, Willson Contreras...
Addison Russell and his wife, Melisa posed for a photo together. He reposted her original post that read, "Thank for having us Mr. President ???????? #coolestdayever @addison_russell"
The Cubs' infielder continued with a snapchat selfie, using the dog filter while posing with a statue head of Abraham Lincoln. He captioned it, "Abe knows what's up! #filters #ABEbaybay"
While his wife, on the other hand, took a classy photo in one of the White House rooms, saying "Just another day at the White House."
But together they captured a moment of Russell trying to serenade Melisa.
A few teammates took to Twitter to express their reactions of the day.
Eh, we don't know about that one Fowler - maybe the Cubs will let you come back with them if they win the World Series in 2017...
The team tweeted out photos as well.
Following the meeting's speech, the team received a private tour of the Walter Reed Medical Center.
