Boston Red Sox owner John Henry (second right) and chairman Tom Werner are handed the World Series trophy. Photo: EPA
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Boston Red Sox debate White House visit but owner John Henry thinks World Series winners will meet Donald Trump
- John Henry optimistic of World Series champions making traditional visit
- Manager Alex Cora, who has criticised president, says ‘we’ll talk about it later’
Boston Red Sox players celebrate after defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in game five of the World Series to win the series 4-1 and become World Series champions. Photo: EPA
Owner John Henry said he thinks the Boston Red Sox will visit the White House if they are invited by US president Donald Trump, but manager Alex Cora seems a little more uncertain.
“We’ll talk about it later on,” Cora told a post-game press conference after the Red Sox won the World Series on Sunday.
Henry said the team had not yet received an invite from Trump after their 4-1 series victory against the Los Angeles Dodgers brought them a ninth title.
“I think we will,” he said. “This is a special team. We’ll see what they want to do, but I think so.”
Puerto Rico native Cora criticised Trump’s tweets in September after the president said 3,000 people didn’t die after Hurricane Maria hit the island in 2017.
“It’s actually disrespectful for my country,” Cora said. “We see it that way. I know he probably doesn’t feel that way.
“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. This is about a country that really suffered.
Cora added: “It’s a little bit frustrating that the topic keeps coming and coming and coming. What’s the point? I respect him. He’s the president of the United States. But I don’t agree with a lot of stuff he says about us.
Manager Alex Cora celebrates with the World Series trophy. Photo: AFP
“Three-thousand, six, 18, I don’t know. We will never know how many we lost. I hate that people make it a political issue. This is about human beings. The people that went through this, they know what happened.”
Trump has yet to comment on Boston’s fourth World Series win since 2004. He criticised the Dodgers following a crucial collapse in game four.
“Watching the Dodgers/Red Sox final innings,” Trump tweeted on Saturday. “It is amazing how a manager takes out a pitcher who is loose & dominating through almost 7 innings, Rich Hill of Dodgers, and brings in nervous reliever(s) who get shellacked. 4 run lead gone. Managers do it all the time, big mistake!”
President Donald Trump speaks at an economics meeting in Washington. Photo: Bloomberg
Championship winning sports teams in the US traditionally visit the White House, though several have refused since Trump took office, including the NBA’s two-time defending champions the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018.
LeBron James, whose Cleveland Cavaliers were beaten in those two Finals, called Trump a “bum” for withdrawing the Warriors’ invite and criticising Golden State’s star player Stephen Curry in 2017.
Trump also uninvited NFL Super Bowl champions the Philadelphia Eagles earlier this year. Several players had said they would not visit the White House because of the president’s criticism of NFL stars kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial injustice in the US.