Red Sox announce date they will visit White House
Share
The Boston Red Sox will keep their White House visit streak alive with news breaking that they will visit it on February 15 this year.
The news broke Tuesday that they will make the trip and take a picture with President Donald Trump. This marks the third straight administration the team has visited. They made a pair of trips to the George W. Bush White House in 2005 and 2008 respectively and in 2014, they made a trip to the Barack Obama White House. You may remember Jonny Gomes wore a sweet American flag suit on the latter trip.
Before those visits, the last time the Red Sox would have had the chance to visit the White House would have been under the Woodrow Wilson administration. However, sports teams visiting the White House was not a thing back in those days. According to ESPN, John F. Kennedy's administration is the one who started the tradition more than 50 years ago.
Attendance for these events is never mandatory for players and with it being during spring training, it's unclear which individuals could make the trip.
As we know, Manny Ramirez didn't go see Bush and the then-president joked that his grandmother must have died again. Plus, Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas did not go see Obama, sparking some serious media outrage.
People have the right to their own opinion on all of this stuff--whether they like certain people or don't. That goes for fans, players, etc. However, I think we can all agree--regardless of where you stand on all that stuff--that being invited to the White House is not a bad thing because it means the team must have done something right.
After all, you won't see the Baltimore Orioles at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue anytime soon--or even be afforded the opportunity for it.