San Francisco Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto reportedly wanted to be included in the Kansas City Royals’ championship celebration at the White House, but the team did not extend him an invitation.
The defending World Series champions visited President Barack Obama on Thursday, and Cueto discussed his snub Saturday, per Ronald Blum of the Associated Press: “I believe that I earned it. I was on the team. I did something for the team for them to win the World Series, so I was expecting it.”
Before Cueto signed with the Giants in the offseason, he started 13 regular-season games for Kansas City in 2015. He struggled with a 4-7 record and 4.76 ERA but rectified that with a gem against the New York Mets in the World Series, pitching a complete game while allowing two hits and one run during Kansas City’s 7-1 victory in Game 2 of the Fall Classic.
Blum noted Cueto didn’t talk to the Royals about attending the celebration.
“But I also feel that it’s the team’s, the organization’s responsibility to invite me,” Cueto said. “I did a job for them, so I think that they should have had the courtesy to invite me.”
The Royals only invited players who were on the squad for the entire 2015 season, including the active postseason roster.
That meant other players, such as the Chicago Cubs’ Ben Zobrist (who also played for the Oakland Athletics last year) and outfielder Jonny Gomes (who also played for the Atlanta Braves in 2015) weren’t invited either, as Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News pointed out.
However, Baggarly noted the Giants had an off day Thursday and were on the East Coast in preparation for their series against the New York Yankees. Logistically, it wouldn’t have been much of a stretch for Cueto, who began the 2015 campaign with the Cincinnati Reds, to attend the ceremony.
Despite his regular-season struggles with Kansas City in 2015, Cueto has been one of the best players on the Giants roster this year. He started the All-Star Game for the National League and sported a 2.64 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 119 strikeouts in 136.1 innings as of Saturday. He is one reason San Francisco leads the National League West over the rival Los Angeles Dodgers.
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