Cora gave careful answers when asked initially about the prospect of visiting the White HouseGETTY IMAGES
The Red Sox after winning the World Series will now have to "answer the question all championship teams encounter in these politically turbulent times: Will they or won’t they visit the Trump White House?," according to Joe Battenfield of the BOSTON HERALD. With a "left-leaning" owner in John Henry and manager in Alex Cora, it "may be difficult" for the Red Sox to accept an invitation to the White House. The team may not want to "risk raising the ire of Sox Nation Democrats." But Cora and Henry "could also try to put aside partisan politics and make the White House trek, a decision that would please some of their right-leaning players." They both "gave careful answers when asked initially about the prospect." A lot "has changed" since Bruins G Tim Thomas "caused an uproar" by not attending the team's visit to the Obama White House after winning the Stanley Cup in '11. Since Trump’s election in '16, it has "become much more common for winning players to refuse to meet with the president" (BOSTON HERALD, 10/30).
HALL OF FAME-WORTHY: In Boston, Michael Silverman notes the Red Sox' World Series victory comes 21 years after Red Sox President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski won a championship with the Marlins in '97 in the same role, and this title "likely assured Dombrowski will stand on a podium in Cooperstown one day" (BOSTON HERALD, 10/30). Also in Boston, Peter Abraham notes Dombrowski has joined Pat Gillick, John Schuerholz, and Theo Epstein as the "only executives to build World Series champions in both leagues." Gillick ('11) and Schuerholz ('17) have "already been inducted at Cooperstown," and Epstein is a "Hall of Fame lock after building Red Sox and Cubs teams that ended long World Series droughts." That leaves Dombrowski on a "short list of modern-day executives worthy of Hall of Fame recognition" (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/30).
DOING IT THE RIGHT WAY: In DC, Dave Sheinin writes the Red Sox won the World Series because they "spared no expense in assembling a deep and pedigreed roster, running up the game’s highest payroll by far" in '18. They also won because two of Dombrowski’s "trade-deadline pickups," 1B Steve Pearce and P Nathan Eovaldi, "became indispensable contributors in October." But the Red Sox organization ultimately won "because of its remarkable organizational unity, flowing from ownership and the front office down to the clubhouse, and its seamless melding of old-school and new-school concepts about how a baseball team should be run" (WASHINGTON POST, 10/30).
