Red Sox manager Alex Cora still undecided on White House visit but says, 'I respect the president'
Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora still isn’t committing to anything involving a White House visit or President Donald Trump. But Cora did say Thursday that he respects the president and whatever is decided, he’ll use his platform “the right way.”
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There’s a little bit of a beef with Cora and Trump, dating back to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and the government’s response to it. Cora, who is Puerto Rican, said in September that Trump’s tweets that tried to downplay the death tolls in Puerto Rico were “disrespectful.” The president was arguing against a university study that said nearly 3,000 people died Hurricane Maria.
At the time, Cora said: “It’s actually disrespectful for my country. We see it that way. I know he probably doesn’t feel that way.”
Once the Red Sox won the World Series, the topic of a White House visit for Cora became an immediate talking point, seeing as how combative that sports tradition has turned since Trump took office.
This isn’t LeBron James calling Trump a “bum” or the Golden State Warriors getting uninvited, but after the Red Sox won Game 5, Cora put off the question. On Thursday, he still wasn’t committing but at least talked about his approach to the situation, via MassLive.com:
“I’ve been using this platform (as manager) the right way the whole time,” Cora said here at Fenway Park on Thursday. “Whatever we decide is going to be respected. And if we decide to go, I will use my platform the right way.
“If you start looking at this team, we’ve got guys from the United States and from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Puerto Rico. So I’ll use the platform the right way. Like I said before, and I know the headlines don’t show it, I say I respect the president of the United States. And I know he [helped] our country (Puerto Rico). So whenever we have to make the decision we’ll make it. And it’s going to be respected.”
Cora said the decision as to whether the Red Sox visit the White House will be an “organizational” one, not just what he thinks. They’ve got some time. Generally, baseball teams visit the White House in the spring.
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Mike Oz is a writer at Yahoo Sports. Contact him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
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