The Boston Red Sox found out Monday that they were staying at the same hotel in New York as President Barack Obama for their series against the Yankees. And now, Torey Lovullo’s wish has come true.
The Red Sox’s interim manager said Monday that the president was spotted in the hotel’s gym but that he’d just missed him. Lovullo said he’d start his morning workout earlier Tuesday, per ESPN Boston’s Gordon Edes, and apparently, it worked.
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“It was almost unbelievable,” Lovullo said before Tuesday’s game, per the Boston Herald’s Jason Mastrodonato. “I walked into the same place that he was, and we were both civilians. He had the same workout clothes that I did, he just had 15 security guards that were watching his workout. It was a big difference. I took the advice of my stepson and just walked up to him freely and said, ‘Mr. President, nice to meet you, my name is Torey Lovullo. I’m one of the Red Sox coaches,’ anticipating that he would have said, ‘Hey, we had you guys in here (at the White House) a couple of years ago,’ but nothing.
“He wanted to talk about the (Chicago) White Sox, he wanted to talk about how our season was going. He’s fairly dialed in to what’s happening in Major League Baseball, and we had a great conversation.”
Lovullo said the president’s workout was pretty intense and that he’s in great shape. But all that mattered to him was the photo op. New GM Mike Hazen apparently forgot to turn on the flash, but that was OK with Lovullo.
“I had a motive,” Lovullo said. “I made it happen. You don’t want to miss those opportunities.”
Obama is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
