Obama hosts World Series champion Yankees

Updated 6:04 p.m.
By Cheryl W. Thompson
Baseball royalty descended on the White House on Monday afternoon.

The New York Yankees, who won their 27th World Series last year and brought their latest trophy, were feted by President Obama in the East Room. The standing-room-only crowd included Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, and numerous members of Congress and White House staffers, many of whom brought their kids, clad in Yankee pinstripes.

Obama -- a no-apologies Chicago White Sox fan -- gushed over the Yankees and their star power, including shortstop Derek Jeter, who the president said is "always setting an example."

"He epitomizes the best of the Yankee tradition," Obama said.

Obama descibed how painful it is to watch relief pitcher Mariano Rivera's "cutter when it's against my team, or to see the Yankees wrap up the pennant while the Sox are struggling on the South Side" of Chicago.

He praised first baseman Mark Teixeira and other players for the work they do off the field. "In the end, that's what makes the Yankees special; the people underneath the pinstripes," Obama said.

Yankees Manager Joe Girardi presented Obama with a Yankees jersey bearing the number "27" for the number of times the Bronx Bombers have won the World Series.

Earlier in the day, the Yankees spent time with soldiers and their families at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. "I think it really puts things in perspective," Jeter said of the visit at an impromptu news conference after the White House event. "They're heroes."