Report: Red Sox will postpone visit to White House until after shutdown
The Boston Red Sox were scheduled to visit the White House in February, but decided to postpone due to the ongoing government shutdown, per a Boston Globe report.
The World Series champions accepted the invite and were going to visit Feb. 15 before spring training begins in Florida. The team has since decided to delay the celebration in Washington until early May when the shutdown is hopefully over.
The team will tentatively visit some time between May 6-8 while the Red Sox are playing the Baltimore Orioles nearby, per the Globe.
Red Sox uncomfortable with optics
Red Sox President Sam Kennedy announced at a Winter Weekend fan event over the weekend that the team was likely to postpone the visit.
“It’s hit people hard in the New England area,” he said. “I’m not sure it’s appropriate to be celebrating in such a public way while there’s people who are struggling right now. That’s been the internal conversation.”
The government shutdown reached an unprecedented 34th day Friday and things are starting to unfurl fast. Flights are delayed around the country due to staffing shortages at critical air traffic control centers in New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia.
Shortages and delays in Atlanta are especially troubling as people are beginning to fly in for Super Bowl LIII between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams.
Approximately 800,000 federal employees are working without pay and missed their second paycheck Friday. WBUR detailed the shutdown’s impact on New England and Bostonians.
The national champion Clemson football team visited during the shutdown and was met with a smorgasbord of fast food.
Cora still undecided on visit
Manager Alex Cora will have a few more months to make a decision. Cora, a native of Puerto Rico, has been an outspoken critic of how President Donald Trump handled the devastating Hurricane Maria.
He initially said he was considering going to use his platform to argue for change in Puerto Rico, but last week said he was still thinking about it due to the shutdown and new developments regarding the island. Trump has threatened to take away Puerto Rico’s disaster relief funds. A study shows federal response to Maria was less generous in terms of funding, staffing and response time than to similar hurricanes in Florida and Texas the same year.
The Globe reports that several of the team’s Latin American players — Rafael Devers, Eduardo Rodriguez, Xander Bogaerts and Eduardo Nunez — said they will not attend, are likely not to attend or are still contemplating.
Matt Barnes, Ryan Brasier, Brock Holt, Brian Johnson, Mitch Moreland, Steve Pearce, Rick Porcello, Chris Sale and Blake Swihart have said they would attend, per the Globe.
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