Red Sox Manager Passes on Visit to Trump’s White House

Manager Alex Cora said his decision was dictated by U.S. relief efforts in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria

Alex Cora
Former Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora. (Rob Tringali/ SportsChrome/ Getty)
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Last year’s World Series winners will be honored at the White House on Thursday without their manager.

Boston Red Sox skipper Alex Cora — who led the team to the promised land in just his first year at the helm — announced via the Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Dia that he will not be with his team when they visit Donald Trump’s White House this week. The native Puerto Rican said the federal government’s relief efforts on the island after Hurricane Maria played a role in his decision not to attend, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported.

“Even though the United States Government has helped, there’s still a long road ahead,” Cora told the paper, according to a translated version of the story posted online. “That is OUR reality. I’ve used my voice on many occasions so that Puerto Ricans are not forgotten and my absence (from the White House) is no different. As such, at this moment, I don’t feel comfortable celebrating in the White House.

“The government has done some things back home that are great, but we still have a long ways to go,” he added. “That’s our reality. It’s pretty tough to go celebrate when we’re where we’re at. I’d rather not go and be consistent with everything.”

Cora is not the only member of the team to decline the invitation: players Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr., Christian Vazquez, Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts, David Price and Hector Velazquez have all said they will not attend. When asked in January by the Boston Globe about his decision, Betts, the reigning AL MVP simply said, “I won’t be going there. I decided not to.”

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