Ex-Royal Jonny Gomes is crushed that he won’t be at the White House with the World Series champs

The Royals are set to visit the White House on Thursday, and at least one member of the 2015 Royals will not be in attendance.

Well, actually, many former players will not be making the trip, but in an interview with Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, former Royals outfielder Jonny Gomes expressed disappointment that he did not receive an invitation to the ceremony.

“I’ve been sent down. I’ve been nontendered, whatever, but this is probably the worst news of my professional baseball career,” Gomes said.

The news itself was hardly a surprise. The White House limits the number of team employees that can make the trip. Gomes was a minor figure in a championship run. He was acquired in a trade on Aug. 31, appeared in just 12 regular-season games and was not on the postseason roster for any playoff series. He did, however, make his presence felt during the victory parade, unleashing a PG-13 rated speech on the stage in front of Union Station.

“I’m not trying to throw an egg on anyone’s face, but a lot of people are asking me, ‘Hey, are you going to wear that American flag jacket? Is Obama going to ask you to make that speech again?’ ” Gomes told Rosenthal. “It would be pretty cool. This is probably going to be [President Barack] Obama’s last championship team before he leaves office.”

Gomes, of course, is not the only member of the 2015 Royals who will not be in attendance. And many key members of the front office, including scouting director Lonnie Goldberg and pro scouting director Gene Watson, will not be able to make the trip.

Still, Gomes said he was crushed by the news. After beginning the season playing in Japan’s professional league, Gomes had returned to the United States earlier this year.

“It wasn’t maybe a top-five reason for me to leave Japan,” Gomes said, “but one of the first things that hit my mind once I signed the contract to go to Japan was, ‘Oh (expletive), I’m going to miss the White House trip.’ ”

This story was originally published July 17, 2016 at 11:29 PM with the headline "Ex-Royal Jonny Gomes is crushed that he won’t be at the White House with the World Series champs."