We seem to have a conflict of political philosophy going on here with the Sox.
Alex Cora doesn’t mess with Donald Trump like that, so when asked if he will go to the White House with the World Series champion Boston Red Sox, his reply was: “We’ll talk about it later on.”
Cora, a native of PR chastised the President in September, for insensitive statements 45 made questioning the validity of the 3,000 person death toll reported in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, which devastated the island.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora addressed President Donald Trump's comments after the President tweeted he doubted Hurricane Maria's death toll in Puerto Rico https://t.co/SJgdQtvpLd
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) September 13, 2018
“To be tweeting about 3,000 people and being efficient, it’s actually disrespectful for my country,” Cora said at the time. “We see it that way. I know he probably doesn’t feel that way. And like I said, hey man, thank you for helping us. He went down there, he did what he did. I hate talking about politics and all that, but I think this is more than politics.”
On the other hand, this is Boston we are talking about and some players expressed an eagerness to take that traditional White House visit and don’t have any qualms with Trump. Heath Hembree told TMZ about a possible White House visit: “Hell yeah! I f@ck with Trump!” When questioned further about what he enjoys about the President, he exclaimed: “Everything!”
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We seem to have a conflict of political philosophy going on here with the Sox. The conversations between Cora, ownership, Red Sox players and MLB’s top executives is going to be an interesting one over the next few days. The fans are having their social media say as well.
The 2018 Red Sox will be dead to me if they go to the White House.
— Alex Reimer (@AlexReimer1) October 29, 2018
https://twitter.com/ewfeez/status/1056752580062105606
Holbrook 2018 on Twitter
Congratulations Boston Red Sox on dominating win! Champions!
College and pro championship teams from all over the sports landscape have been declining invites to visit the White House and stand in the presence of the President. White House visits are like a plague to most teams dominated by women or people of color.
Hembree is a happy, white male, making a lot of money and living his best life, so I get the enthusiasm, but a lot of people have been hurt by the President and his outburst was unnecessary and hopefully fueled by alcohol.
'I f–k with Trump!' Red Sox pitcher thrilled for White House visit https://t.co/Hz0D2rrjxI pic.twitter.com/dfXoTKvlyL
— New York Post (@nypost) October 29, 2018
Boston Red Sox owner John Henry has also had his spats with Trump (although they are still considered “brothers in wealth”). In addition to the Red Sox franchise, Henry owns The Boston Globe. Earlier this year, the paper organized an editorial response against Trump’s “dirty war on the media.” In 2016, the paper published a false front predicting a frightening Trump presidency before he was elected. The progressive owner says he expects the team will go to the White House, but the team has not been invited yet.
“I think we will go,” Henry told WEEI. “This is a special team. We’ll see what they want to do, but I think so.”
Even MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has chimed in on the situation with strong support for a White House visit. Manfred has recently said he expects the team to put the office ahead of the man. Manfred says that despite disagreeing with the President, there’s something to be said for tradition.
MLB commissioner: White House visit won't be issue for World Series champs https://t.co/ylrlEKWQLq pic.twitter.com/AyGqJPeuuV
— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) October 27, 2018
That’s the problem though. For the people who have been offended by Trump — his insults, warped policies and his overall management as POTUS — there is no respect for the office as long as he’s serving. You can’t respect an institution that has a maniac running wild, stoking the fires of hate with asinine Twitter rants and unfiltered attacks.
If Trump doesn’t offer the team an invite, then that solves the problem, but most of the Houston Astros went to the White House after winning the World Series last year. Cora was a bench coach on that team. Trump’s attack on sports hasn’t really affected MLB, but his disrespectful tweet about the victims of Hurricane Maria is something Sox manager Cora will never forgive.
It’s very telling when every time someone wins a championship the discussion becomes whether or not they will visit the White House. It used to be an honor. Now it’s a point of division for teams who reached the pinnacle of their sport by functioning as a unit. Just another battlefield for political posturing as Trump is running out of people to offend.
