It's special when any championship team gets to visit the White House to be honored by the president. But Monday's appearance in Washington by the World Series winning Chicago Cubs has more significance: It's the beginning of the last week of Chicago native Barack Obama's administration, and it's also Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

"This is the ultimate time to go to the White House as an athlete, to meet the president after winning a ring," Cubs right fielder Jason Heyward said at this weekend's Cubs winter fan convention. "For me being an African-American there's something (special) about it. And for my teammates who are from Venezuela there's something about it, guys from Alabama or Mississippi (or wherever), there's something about it for them. Yes, there's a lot of significance for a lot of different reasons."