Former Red Sox Star: I Wouldn't Go to WH, Either

"It's like you are going to shake hands with the enemy," David Ortiz says
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted May 9, 2019 10:10 AM CDT
Red Sox Manager, at Least 9 Players Skipping WH Visit
A bunch of Red Sox players won't be coming here Thursday.   (Getty Images/tupungato)

Thursday is the day when the 2018 World Series champs are headed to the White House for a visit with President Trump. But a good number of the Boston Red Sox don't plan on attending, and a former player is offering solidarity. The Washington Post reports that manager Alex Cora, a Puerto Rican native who's been put off by how Trump has handled the Hurricane Maria aftermath on the island, won't be going to the White House: "I don't feel comfortable going to a celebration while we're living what we're living back home." The Post also has at least nine players down as not attending, including Mookie Betts, leaving about 20 who've said they're going or are expected to.

The AP notes that all of the Sox who won't be going are people of color, while every white player on the team will; JD Martinez, who's of Cuban descent, will also be attending. "So basically it's the white Sox who'll be going," snarked Athletic columnist Steve Buckley on Twitter. Meanwhile, former Red Sox player David Ortiz has also weighed in, saying he supports the decision of his teammates who've decided not to go. In an interview with WEEI, Ortiz, who grew up in the Dominican Republic and became a US citizen in 2008, said, "You don't want to go and shake hands with a guy who is treating immigrants like [expletive], because I'm an immigrant. … It's like you are going to shake hands with the enemy." (More Boston Red Sox stories.)

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