Johnny Damon says players like Sean Doolittle and Steph Curry should NOT ditch White House because of President Trump ... telling TMZ Sports it's the perfect time to make their voices heard with the leader of the free world!
Of course, it's become a major debate in sports ... with huge athletes boycotting celebratory visits to 1600 Penn. as a way to stick it to POTUS.
So, when we saw Damon, we spoke with the ex-Yankees superstar about some Washington Nationals players like Doolittle, Anthony Rendon and more deciding to sit out the trip last weekend .