Behind the photo: Braves at the White House
The Braves will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 1995 World Championship team this weekend at Turner Field and many of the players pictured in this photo are expected to participate.
This photo was taken at the White House in February 1996 during the team’s one-day trip to Washington, D.C.
The Braves left mid-morning on a chartered Delta flight from West Palm Beach, where they were still held spring training back then. By noon, they made it to the home of Bill and Hillary Clinton.
There were no camera phones but the Atlanta Journal-Constitution assigned a photographer from the Cox Washington bureau to cover it. Interestingly, on the plane ride north, a player stood up and asked who had voted for Clinton in the 1992 election. The only one to raise his hand was reliever Mark Wohlers.
But if that question would have been asked on the ride back, it might have been a different story. Many players were quoted about how engaging President Clinton was during their team-only meeting with him.
It made sense for Glavine to do the jersey honors. He was the players’ union representative for the team and had met with Clinton in January 1995 after he called players and owners to Washington and tried unsuccessfully to end the strike.
