The 2018 World Series Champion Red Sox
will visit the White House on February 15th—an atypically
early visit. Generally, the team has made the White House visit during the regular season—usually when the team makes its first trip to Baltimore. Red Sox President
Sam Kennedy offered the following explanation for the unusual timing:
"This was the date that was preferred by Alex Cora, Dave Dombrowski and the coaching staff. 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 (Jan. 18-20), 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." Thankfully, while some (un-named) players will not attend, the team is going out of its way to
avoid political issues. Said Kennedy: "
Just like in the past, I’m sure there will be players who choose not to go, who do go. 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." This will be the fourth visit by the Red Sox to the White House to celebrate a title in the last fifteen years.
