President Obama was sufficiently gracious in welcoming the World Champion New York Yankees to the White House today, as he has done for other winning teams from other leagues. But he did include a bit more snark in his remarks than usual, acknowledging the polarizing nature of Major League Baseball's all-time winningest franchise.

"This is a team that goes down to spring training every year expecting to win it all -- and more often than not, you guys get pretty close," Obama said at a ceremony in the East Room. "That attitude, that success, has always made the Yankees easy to love -- and, let's face it, easy to hate as well."

Obama, a noted Chicago White Sox fan, jabbed that the South Siders would be just as successful if they had a closer like Mariano Rivera.

"It's painful to watch Mariano's cutter when it's against my team, or to see the Yankees wrap up the pennant while the Sox are struggling," he said. "Although I do remember 2005, people -- so don't get too comfortable."

Afterwards, the Yankees professed to be awestruck by their visit to the White House, even veterans like Derek Jeter who has visited four times before. But he did warn the president not to take too many more pot shots at the pinstripers.

"He better be careful with that. There are a lot of Yankee fans that vote," the Yankee captain told reporters after the event.

As the White House and the DNC roll out an initiative aimed at preserving Democratic majorities in Congress, the President would be wise to heed that advice.

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