The Boston Red Sox announced they would be visiting President Donald Trump at the White House on Feb. 15 to celebrate their 2018 World Series championship. While we don’t know if they’ll be served the same spread as the Clemson Tigers football team, we do have a few more details about the scheduled trip.
Team president and CEO Sam Kennedy discussed why the trip is in February rather than during the season on WEEI’s “Dale & Keefe” on Wednesday, and he also explained the team’s travel plans to Washington D.C.
“This was the date that was preferred by Alex Cora, Dave Dombrowski and the coaching staff,” Kennedy told hosts Dale Arnold and Rich Keefe, as transcribed by WEEI. “We wanted to set it up earlier rather than later. Some years in the past, we went during April or May when we’ve played down in Baltimore. Those always seemed a little bit stale. There was quite some time between the championship and the visit. So we wanted to do it during the winter. We looked at the possibility of doing it after Winter Weekend, which is this weekend, but this is the date everyone will be in Fort Myers. We’re going to do a charter from Fort Myers up to Washington D.C. and back in the same day. It’s actually most convenient to players and their spouses. The Major League staff will also be joining us if all of this comes together.”
And while he didn’t name names of players who wouldn’t be attending, Kennedy seemed confident the Red Sox would be well-represented.
“Just like in the past, I’m sure there will be players who chose not to go, who do go,” Kennedy said. “We’ve been pretty consistent and clear about this. This is an honor and a privilege to be invited to the White House. We’ve tried to not make it a political statement. It’s an honor to be invited under the Bush administration two times and the Obama administration once. We feel fortunate. It’s about the players and giving these guys an opportunity to go behind the scenes at the White House and be honored for what was a remarkable 2018 season. You want to rise above politics and give your players the opportunity. But it certainly is not a mandatory trip. But when it all comes together, I believe we’ll have a good representation of players and ownership who choose to go.”
It certainly will be a busy week for the Sox, as pitchers and catchers report to Fort Myers on Feb. 13 before the rest of the squad returns to Florida on Feb. 18.
