Sam Kennedy: Red Sox accepting White House invite was ‘easy decision'

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While it remains to be seen which Boston Red Sox players attend the White House, the team's decision-makers are on the same page about the pending visit.

Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy confirmed Tuesday his club received an invitation from President Donald Trump's office "about a month ago" to celebrate their 2018 World Series championship at the White House.

And while the issue caused some "discussion" involving manager Alex Cora and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, Kennedy insisted there was no "disagreement" within the Red Sox about whether to accept Trump's invite.

"It was actually a relatively easy decision," Kennedy said Tuesday on WEEI's "Dale & Holley" radio show. "Those guys were fully on board, and I was on board, and also (Red Sox principal owner) John Henry and (chairman) Tom Werner -- who ultimately make a lot of decisions facing the franchise -- were on board. So we talked a lot about it, but there was actually no disagreement. Quite the opposite."

The same can't be said for the 2017 Philadelphia Eagles, who had their White House visit rescinded, or the 2017-18 Golden State Warriors, who declined their invitation. But Kennedy insisted Boston's decision is keeping in the franchise's tradition.

"We wanted to be consistent with our policy," Kennedy said. "It's an honor to be invited; we went after '04, '07 and '13 under different administrations and different individuals, and so we see it as a continuation of that policy."

The Red Sox are "trying to figure out logistics and dates," per Kennedy, who noted each Red Sox staffer will be free to choose whether they attend. For Kennedy's part, he's doing his best to keep politics on the sideline.

"We don't see it as a political event," he added. "Clearly when you go to the White House, it's an honor and a privilege and one that we take very, very seriously. It has never been from our perspective an endorsement of a politician or a policy or procedures.

"In the past we've had a great turnout from the clubhouse, and we'll see if that changes."

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