Dec. 4 (UPI) — The Boston Red Sox, who won the World Series nearly five weeks ago, have accepted President Donald Trump‘s invitation to the White House, franchise President Sam Kennedy said.
“We’re working through logistics right now,” Kennedy told MLB.com. “We’ve got outreach from them and it would probably be sometime February, March, April. We’ve done it both ways. We’ve done the day trip from Fort Myers [Fla.] and we’ve done the start of the season when we’ve been in Baltimore. We’re just starting to look at that right now.”
The Red Sox, who defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 4 games to 1 on Oct. 31, earlier won baseball titles in 2004 and 2007.
Kennedy said it will be up to individual players whether they wish to attend.
“Like in the past, it’s an invitation,” Kennedy said. “It’s not a mandatory command performance. It’s a great opportunity for the players. It’s an invitation for the players, ownership, so it’s a great opportunity for those guys to go to the White House and get the behind-the-scenes tour and get the recognition they deserve for a world championship.”
Red Sox manager Alex Cora in September described as “disrespectful” that Trump disputed the number of deaths from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017.
On Monday, Cora said he will attend the ceremony in the White House.
“We’ve been talking about it, dates and all that stuff, and I’m going to use my platform the right way,” Cora said. “I’m not going to embarrass anybody. I’m actually going to represent probably 4 million people from back home the right way when we get there and we just have to wait and see when we go there.”
In the past, sports teams and players have declined the traditional championship visit to meet the president.
Trump invited the Golden State Warriors to the White House after winning the NBA title in 2017 but uninvited them when some players said they would not go to the White House.
On June 8, the president said neither of the 2018 NBA Finals participants, the Cleveland Cavaliers nor the Warriors, would be invited if they won the title. The Warriors went on to capture their second title in a row.
The White House canceled a visit by the Philadelphia Eagles, the NFL Super Bowl champions, on June 6 when only a few players said they would attend.
The Houston Astros, who won the 2017 World Series, visited the White House in March. The Washington Capitals, the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup champions, have received an invitation.
