Cora declines invitation to White House

Red Sox manager Alex Cora will not be part of the team’s visit to the White House on Thursday. His position was originally reported Sunday by El Nuevo Dia, a Puerto Rican newspaper.

Cora, who was born in Caguas, P.R., cited as his reason the fact that Puerto Rico has still not recovered from Hurricane Maria, which struck on Sept. 20, 2017.

“The government has done some things back home that are great," Cora said after Sunday's 9-2 Red Sox win in Chicago, "but as the report [in El Nuevo Dia] said, we still have a long ways to go, and that’s our reality. It’s very tough to go celebrate when we’re where we’re at, and I’d rather not go, and just be consistent with everything.”

Cora has been a leader in the relief effort since the hurricane in 2017, organizing a trip in January 2018 with members of the Red Sox team and front office to the island to help in recovery. He did that before managing a game with the Red Sox, as he’d been hired following his 2017 stint as the Astros' bench coach.

Then, in November 2018, Cora brought the Red Sox’s 2018 World Series trophy to Caguas to celebrate the victory, along with players and front-office staff, including club president and CEO Sam Kennedy.

“I do things with conviction; that’s who I am,” Cora said of his decision. “I talked to a lot of people, and I think at the end, the closest ones to me, they understand where I’m coming from.”

Red Sox ownership emphasized to all players and staff that visiting the White House is optional. Xander Bogaerts said Sunday he wouldn’t be there either, and David Price, Hector Velazquez, Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr., Rafael Devers and Christian Vazquez have said they would not attend.