The invite hasn’t come yet so it’s up in the air.
The Red Sox won the 2018 World Series with a Game 5 win against the Dodgers on Sunday night, and besides the World Series MVP presentation and all the emotion on the field and the parade plans coming into focus on thing on people’s minds was whether this team will go to the White House or not.
That’s been the trend over the last few years every time a team wins a championship. The celebration starts, and almost immediately the speculation follows on whether they’ll go visit the White House. Or if President Trump will invite them at all. He disinvited the Eagles the day before they were meant to go, the Warriors declined, the Penguins happily went, and the Patriots made a partial appearance last year.
So are the Red Sox heading to D.C.? Or will they opt for a trip to Puerto Rico or charity efforts at the capital rather than a visit to the White House proper? So soon after their win, we don’t know yet. As usual, any potential White House invite wouldn’t have even happened yet if it’s coming so we’re left to see how the Red Sox are reacting. While players haven’t made their preferences known yet, John Henry and Alex Cora both commented briefly.
Red Sox owner Henry told WEEI, “We haven’t been invited ... I think we will. This is a special team. We’ll see what they want to do, but I think so” while Cora simply said “We’ll talk about it later on.”
Henry has donated heavily to Democratic organizations and causes in recent years, and unlike Patriots owner Robert Kraft does not appear to consider Trump a dear friend. You never know someone’s feelings about other rich people when separated from politics but this seems like a case where if some of the Red Sox go to the White House it won’t be because their owner agrees with the current administration’s politics.
Alex Cora spoke out about recent Trump tweets that denied 3,000 people died in Puerto Rico due to Hurricane Maria, saying “I think this is more than politics” at the time. Cora is Puerto Rican and has dedicated himself to supporting the relief and recovery efforts on the island any way he can. One of the stipulations of his being hired by the Red Sox was that they would send supplies and help to the island, which they did. Ownership donated $200,000 and sent a plane full of 10 tons of supplies to the island.
Cora did attend the White House visit with the Astros last year, winning a ring with Houston as a bench coach. But a lot can change in a year so we’ll see whether this is another team that has some people go and a decent group of people decline or whether they’ll make this decision as a team one way or another.