Trump ‘Socks’
Gets it wrong as BoSox split over visit
It’s bad enough that the Boston Red Sox somehow won the World Series again.
But the hated team from Beantown showcased that city’s infamous racial divide by failing to unite around a common decision to either attend a White House congrats session — or boycott it.
Manager Alex Cora, ace pitcher David Price and most of the black players on the team skipped the presidential photo op while most of the white players went — along with Cuban-American slugger J.D. Martinez.
The White House inadvertently tossed fuel on the fire by putting up a post on its official site welcoming the ‘Red Socks’ to the Trump meeting. Some noted it wasn’t the first typo for the most spelling-challenged administration in recent memory. A press release also referred to the “World Cup Series.”
There was no mention of the controversy as Trump praised the BoSox for their season and remarkable playoff run.
“Frankly they were unstoppable. I watched ‘em,” Trump said outside the White House.
The president even showed a rare contrite moment when he gave the Fenway franchise credit for beating his hometown New York Yankees: “I think I’ll stay neutral on that one,” Trump said with a smile.
Martinez presented Trump with a No. 18 Red Sox jersey and thanked him for his hospitality.
“We know celebrating the Red Sox is tough for you as a Yankees fan,” said ace pitcher Chris Sale.
Jokes aside, the racial divide was a black eye for a team and a city that has struggled to change its image as a redoubt of racism in the liberal northeast.
The Red Sox were the last team to sign a black player, and the Boston Celtics were long known as one of the whitest teams in the NBA. Off the field, Boston has battled to end its image of intolerance forged during the antibusing campaign of the 1970s.
Cora called his boycott a protest at Trump’s shameless treatment of his native Puerto Rico in the aftermath of the devastation of Hurricane Maria in 2016.
“I learned conviction from my dad and mom,” Cora told the Washington Post.
Red Sox great David “Big Papi” Ortiz, a Dominican immigrant, sided with the boycott citing Trump’s xenophobic rhetoric.
“You don’t want to go and shake hands with a guy who is treating immigrants like s—t, because I’m an immigrant,” Ortiz said.
The manager and black players, including Price, insisted there was no split in the locker room over the boycott. But plenty of people were keeping track of who went and who didn’t.
The hardball split is just the latest example of how Trump’s divisiveness has led to once-apolitical events becoming highly controversial.
Athletes, especially African Americans, have bristled as Trump uses his presidential bully pulpit to slam superstars who take political stands like Colin Kaepernick, who took a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality.
Members of the NBA champion Golden State Warriors refused his invitation to the White House — prompting Trump to say they were no longer invited anyway. The Philadelphia Eagles did the same thing and many members of the New England Patriots stayed away from the White House after their latest Super Bowl win.
Trump also controversially avoided congratulating the No. 1 pick in this year’s NFL Draft, while strangely heaping Twitter praise on the runner up. His qualification? He once expressed support for Trump.