The World Champion Boston Red Sox have booked their ticket to Washington D.C. They Will be visiting the White House and President Trump on February 15th, but one member hasn’t fully committed to the trip.
As it stands right now at the time of me writing this, Red Sox Manager Alex Cora will be at the White House the day after Valentine’s Day. But an interesting wrinkle has been added to the narrative as Cora has mentioned that he isn’t 100% in on the visit. Cora is a proud Puerto Rican and even made it a priority to bring the Commissioner’s Trophy to his native Puerto Rico.
With everything happening in the wake of the massive Hurricane Maria devastated the Caribbean island in 2017. With the island absolutely demolished by the Category 4 storm, it literally hit home for Cora. The leader of the Red Sox has openly said that he hates talking about politics as it’s not one of his strengths. Cora has stated he will be there but is dealing with some internal struggles with the current administration.
"“We’ll see what happens,” Cora said here at the Hotel Commonwealth on Thursday before attending the Boston Baseball Writers’ dinner. “There’s a lot of stuff going on right now as far as the government and the shutdown and all that. So we’ll see.”"
Just like we all make decisions each and every day to do or not do things, it’s well within Cora’s right to decline or accept the visit. I try to look at the situation from both sides and understand both points. Teams have been visiting the White House for years and there have always been people here or there that have decided to decline the visit. And this would be just another case of that.
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Alex Cora is a prideful man as we’ve come to know not only during his playing time in Boston but this past season as the captain of the ship. Whether he decides to visit or not, he will do so with the best intentions.
And honestly, I don’t envy him at all in this situation. I can’t imagine what he may be feeling not only wanting to be loyal to his organization but to his friend and family back home.
"“Right now I can say, yes (about attending),” Cora added. “It might change tomorrow.”"
With the Red Sox gearing up to defend their World Series crown, Cora may not want to rock the boat with any controversy. The world seems to be more on edge than it has in some time and AC may want to keep the peace, especially with the season approaching. His big message was that no matter his decision, he wants to make the best impression. He views himself as a representative of Puerto Rico, and he’s not wrong.
"“But like I said, if I go, I’ll represent Puerto Rico the right way. I don’t know what kind of platform I’m going to have if I go. It’s not that I’ve changed my mind. But we’ll see what happens in the upcoming days.”"
AC has always carried himself in the highest manner to not only represent his family but all of Puerto Rico. He is a man of class and respect and it shows each and every day. He not only wants to make his family proud but his homeland and the city of Boston. I don’t know the decision he’ll make and I’ll never pretend to. But what I do know is he’ll do it after weighing all of the options and outcomes just as he would in a game.
Alex Cora has just under a month to decide on whether or not he’ll be attending the championship visit to the White House. he finds himself between a rock and a hard place as deciding, either way, could leave him in the cold. But just as he does when analyzes a game decision, he’ll take this from every angle. No matter his decision, I’ll be cheering for him as the Red Sox raise that championship banner at Fenway.