The optics admittedly weren't great.
The Boston Red Sox visited Donald Trump in the White House on Thursday to celebrate their 2018 World Series, but notably absent was nearly every minority member of the organization, including manager Alex Cora, reigning American League MVP Mookie Betts and star pitcher David Price.
But Red Sox chairman Tom Werner insisted the split attendance doesn't equate to a clubhouse split.
"We don't see it as a racial divide," Werner told reporters in Washington, D.C., via MassLive.com. "We've been pleased to come to the White House and it's our fourth visit here. It's not a mandatory communication. Those people who wanted to come were invited to join."
Werner and Red Sox principal owner John Henry have gone to all four of the team's White House visits -- none of which have had full attendance -- and have attempted to keep politics out of each trip.
"I think to the extent that we can, I think baseball is apolitical," Werner said. "Today is neither a red day or a blue day. It's a great day for us to be honored at the White House."
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Nonetheless, several Red Sox members who skipped this year's visit -- Cora included -- admitted their decision had to do with Trump or his administration's policies, and ex-Sox slugger David Ortiz even came out in support of the group that stayed behind.
That group missed a relatively uneventful visit save for a few unfortunate spelling errors (congrats to the "Red Socks") by the White House staff. It also missed a tour of the Lincoln Bedroom, which apparently led to a bizarre exchange between Werner and Trump that left some questioning the president's knowledge of basic U.S. history.
Werner went on to say he believed the president meant Lincoln was losing the Civil War at one point but then came back to win it. — Manu Raju (@mkraju) May 9, 2019
Let's hope that second tweet is true.
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