Boston Red Sox: There Should Be No Politics in Baseball

The Boston Red Sox will visit the White House as part of a ceremony being held by President Trump with the team recently winning the World Series. Not everyone on the team will be attending the ceremony, and fans and former players are giving their input.

Championship teams, like the Boston Red Sox, have been visiting the White House regularly since the 1980s, with all major sports being present, such as the NBA, MLB, NHL, and even NCAA. The first championship team to visit the White House was the 1924 Washington Senators baseball team, who met President Coolidge and posed for pictures.

Now while many would see it as an honor to tour and be invited to such a historical building, many athletes have refused the invitation from the President in the past.

Athletes from all sports such as Stephen Curry, Michael Jordan, Chris Long, Tim Thomas, etc., have all refused the invitation before citing personal reasons, commitments to a new team the next season, or scheduling conflicts for their absence.

In 2018, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series and shortly after winning, President Trump invited the team to the White House, which Sox President Sam Kennedy accepted. The date was still to be determined, but usually, teams will plan the visit for when they are in the area during the regular season.

More from Call to the Pen

The date was then set for May 9, when the team was set to play the Baltimore Orioles, a short drive from the White House and the nation’s capital.

As the date for the visit became closer, players on the team started to decide whether or not they would be attending the ceremony. You can find the list in the link here.

Some players like Eduardo Nunez and Eduardo Rodriguez are still undecided, but others like J.D. Martinez, Brock Holt, Chris Sale, and Nathan Eovaldi will be attending the celebration.

Notable names who will not be attending the ceremony are Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, David Price, and Rafael Devers, with arguably the most notable and most vocal name missing the ceremony being current manager Alex Cora.

While he was undecided when first invited, Cora recently decided not to attend based on his personal opinion regarding the relief efforts from the United States government after Hurricane Maria ripped through the island of Puerto Rico, where Cora is from.

Given that every player who is not attending the ceremony is of African-American descent, there has also been numerous media outlets and tweets regarding the social/racial aspect of players not wanting to visit the White House.

It is almost like being invited to the ceremony at the White House brings about an unnecessary amount of unneeded attention that just brings the team away from talking and playing baseball.

For three straights days, Alex Cora has been questioned and asked about why he is turning down the visit, rather than talking about lineups and pitching rotations.

The Boston Red Sox as an organization stated that they will support whatever the players on the team decide when it comes to attending the ceremony this Thursday.

Let me just say that as a Canadian, I really don’t have any political opinion when it comes to American politics and/or President Trump.

I just would rather see teams talk about baseball strategies rather than have players defend their reasoning as to why they will or will not be attending a ceremony with the President.

I applaud those athletes who aren’t attending for social/political reasons like David Price and Alex Cora, but also have no problem with players excited to visit and meet the President like Brock Holt and Mitch Moreland.

Next. Cleveland Indians: Trevor Bauer and the internet tough guys. dark

In my opinion, there should be no reason to be upset as because a player wants to go to the ceremony versus not wanting to go. They are grown men and can make their own choices.

This is baseball. There is no politics in baseball.

Home/Boston Red Sox