EDITORIAL: Sox skipper missing a chance to pitch Access to Trump can yield benefits

May 07-- May 7--Red Sox Manager Alex Cora will not be joining the team this Thursday at they celebrate their World Series Championship at the White House. Cora's reasoning is thoughtful and sober and it is clear that it comes from a place of solidarity and compassion rather than the desire to latch on to a cultural fad.

Cora is concerned about the federal government's response to the devastating Category 5 Hurricane that hit Puerto Rico in 2017. Hurricane Maria has caused the deaths of approximately 3,000 people -- most succumbed to illness in the weeks and months after the storm due to insufficient health care. Those circumstances contributed to wildly inaccurate casualty numbers in the immediate aftermath of the storm.

Still, Puerto Rico's infrastructure problems and political situation have been factors in the slow pace of recovery and much of the island is still rebuilding. Thankfully, as The Associated Press reports, a record 1.7 million cruise ship passengers are expected to visit this fiscal year, and new hotels have opened or will open soon -- including some luxury brands. Additionally, flights have been added to get tourists to the island in record numbers.

"The government has done some things back home that are great, but as the report (in Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Dia, which broke the story) said, we still have a long ways to go," said Cora, after the Red Sox' 9-2 win over the White Sox. "That's our reality. It's pretty tough to go celebrate with where we're at. I prefer to not go, and be consistent with everything."

President Trump has expressed his displeasure at Democrats for politicizing the issue and opposing a relief bill, but has also taken aim at the mayor of San Juan and municipalities in Puerto Rico for their handling of the crisis.

On April 2 he tweeted, "... the crazed and incompetent Mayor of San Juan have done such a poor job of bringing the Island back to health. 91 Billion Dollars to Puerto Rico, and now the Dems want to give them more, taking dollars away from our Farmers and so many others. Disgraceful!"

Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz has been similarly hostile to Trump from the outset, but such personal rhetoric does little to assuage fear and suffering on the island of Puerto Rico, and it is easy to see how Cora could find such petulance abhorrent when a crisis is at hand.

Cora said he made up his mind a few days ago, and that he did not have to "wrestle" with that decision.

"Just talk to people and make a decision -- one thing for me, I do things with conviction, that's who I am," said Cora. "I talked to a lot of people, but I think at the end, the closest ones to me, they understand where I'm coming from and it is what I said."

Red Sox principal owner John Henry and chairman Tom Werner are attending the White House celebration with a number of players, and the team will visit veterans at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center beforehand.

As for Cora, we can understand and respect his position. However, the Puerto Rico issue is complicated, and a discussion with the commander in chief might go a long way toward raising awareness of some of the particular challenges of recovery on the island. Perhaps, as some celebrities have, this could have been an opportunity for Cora to influence the president on the matter.

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