'The opposite of being on Sports Illustrated!': Trump hints Red Sox form down to White House visit
US President Donald Trump has hinted that the recent good fortune of MLB franchise the Boston Red Sox is down to a recent visit to the White House, which he hailed as "the opposite of being on the cover of Sports Illustrated".
Last Thursday, the US head of state welcomed the team to the White House to mark their 2018 World Series Championship. Since the meeting, the Red Sox have gone on to win their three MLB games against the Seattle Mariners.
READ MORE: White House suffers embarrassing typo as it welcomes baseball's World Series champions
Hinting that their winning streak was somehow connected with the White House, Trump tweeted Monday: “Has anyone noticed that all the Boston @RedSox have done is WIN since coming to the White House! Others also have done very well. The White House visit is becoming the opposite of being on the cover of Sports Illustrated! By the way, the Boston players were GREAT guys!”
Has anyone noticed that all the Boston @RedSox have done is WIN since coming to the White House! Others also have done very well. The White House visit is becoming the opposite of being on the cover of Sports Illustrated! By the way, the Boston players were GREAT guys!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 13, 2019
Urban legend dictates that any successful team or athlete to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated will subsequently be jinxed. Unsurprisingly, Trump didn't mention the fact the Red Sox had won six of their last eight games prior to the White House visit, and also failed to provide examples of "other" sports figures thriving post-visit.
The visit from the Red Sox was also notable for several team members, including manager Alex Cora, last year’s MVP Mookie Betts, and pitcher Hector Velazquez snubbing the offer of meeting the president.
Velazquez skipped the event due to what he deemed as consistent disparaging remarks made by Trump about his native Mexico, whereas Cora, a Puerto Rican, said he believed the government could have done more in the devastating wake of Hurricane Maria. Aruban shortstop Xander Bogaerts also missed the meeting.
Their absence triggered speculation that only white players attended the meet-and-greet ceremony with the president.
