Boston Red Sox

Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora says he will NOT join the team to visit Donald Trump on Thursday ... and several Red Sox players are boycotting with him.

The team was invited to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to be honored for winning the 2018 World Series -- and it's all set to go down on Thursday -- but Cora says he ain't going.

The 43-year-old issued a statement in Spanish saying he doesn't feel "comfortable" visiting Trump after the way POTUS handled recovery efforts in his native Puerto Rico after the 2017 hurricane.

"Puerto Rico is very important to me," Cora said ... "Unfortunately, we are still struggling, still fighting. Some people still lack basic necessities, others remain without electricity and many homes and schools are in pretty bad shape almost a year and a half after Hurricane María struck."

"Even though the United States Government has helped, there’s still a long road ahead and that is OUR reality."

"I’ve used my voice on many occasions so that Puerto Ricans are not forgotten and my absence [from the White House] is no different."

"As such, at this moment, I don’t feel comfortable celebrating in the White House."

Cora said he told Red Sox officials about his decision before informing the media.

Other Red Sox stars who will NOT go to the White House include shortstop Xander Bogaerts, David Price and Mookie Betts.

Trump has hosted a bunch of athletes recently -- including NASCAR champ Joey Logano.

Nobody's droppin' into Tilted Towers in the Red Sox locker room these days ... 'cause the team has decided to quit playing Fortnite until they start winning again!!!

TMZ Sports has learned there's no official ban on the ultra-popular video game ... it's just become an unspoken rule in the clubhouse that the Sox ain't playin' it until the L's stop piling up.

Of course, Boston's been off to a sluggish start after winning 108 games and the World Series last year ... going just 14-17 in the season's first month.

But, seems they've found a solution to their woes -- put down the controllers ... and start picking up some W's!!!

Star pitcher Nathan Eovaldi spoke with WEEI about the situation, saying, "Maybe if we were doing a little better maybe we would be doing it. But you can’t be losing and playing Fortnite in the clubhouse."

It's a pretty big deal for the guys in Beantown ... the Sox were one of the strongest proponents of the game last year, hittin' popular Fortnite dance moves all over the diamond.

But, don't bet on the game's banishment taking too long ... the Red Sox have won six of their last 10 -- and Mookie Betts is just starting to heat up!!!

If this isn't the most Gronk story to date ...

Rob Gronkowski made sure to leave his mark on the Patriots before retiring from the NFL ... putting a HUGE dent in their 6th Lombardi trophy while trying to use it as a baseball bat.

Yes ... Gronk used a freakin' Super Bowl trophy to try to hit a baseball because ... we don't know why he would do this, actually.

It all went down when the Patriots were honored at Fenway Park before a Red Sox game earlier this month ... when players like Gronk and Julian Edelman were having some fun and *pretending* to hit baseballs while using the trophy as a bat.

Gronk must've missed the memo about PRETENDING ... 'cause the dude switched up his batting stance to bunt the ball ... and he made contact.

The bunt resulted in a massive dent in ol' Vinny ... and the Patriots hilariously released a mini-mockumentary to give the play-by-play of the whole thing.

Flea HATES the Boston Celtics with the red, hot, fiery passion of 1,000 suns -- and when we saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers star at LAX ... HE WENT NUCLEAR on Beantown!!!

Oh, we should mention he's a die-hard Lakers fan ... if you couldn't tell by his throwback Magic Johnson shirt.

"I just think the Boston Celtics SUCK ASS," Flea proclaimed, "They're like the Satanic bottom of the basketball world! They are the shadow side."

It didn't stop there ... Flea reached way back into the rivalry to throw even more shade at the Celtics.

"Magic Johnson owned Larry Bird in college, owned him in the pros ... more championships, smoked him in college -- it's a simple fact."

We asked Flea if he'd like to see a Lakers vs. Celtics series in the NBA Finals -- and he went even HARDER!

"That would be thrilling. I'd like to see Lonzo dunk right on Jason Tatum's head!"

So, how do people in Boston feel about that? We got Mark Wahlberg out the other day, and he's already counting on the Celtics and the Boston Bruins to make it a clean 4-team championship sweep this year.

Wine was chugged (Gronk). Shirts were ripped off (also Gronk). Tide Pods were thrown (who do you think?).

It's the New England Patriots Super Bowl parade in Boston -- and more than 1 MILLION people reportedly flocked to the streets to watch the champs roll through!!

Tom Brady talked about the event on 'WEEI' early Tuesday morning -- saying this should be the craziest bash yet ... his 6th Super Bowl parade in his insane Hall of Fame career.

Brady and Julian Edelman have already been partying it up in Disney World ... and Rick Ross raged with some of the players on Monday night. But, the REAL party goes down with the fans.

Team owner Robert Kraft rocked Meek Mill's "Championships" chain for the parade ... and we're starting to think he ain't giving it back.

Gronk lost his shirt about halfway through the festivities ... and even grabbed a police vest for a quick wardrobe change. Center David Andrews followed by goin' shirtless as well.

If this parade seemed a bit more "tame" this time around ... it's probably because Boston Mayor Marty Walsh asked partygoers to NOT throw beers at the duck boats to keep the dudes safe, right, Alex Cora???

The parade wasn't completely incident-free, though ... some Pats fans ended up duking it out in the streets!!

Boston Red Sox star Mookie Betts is sitting out a visit to the White House to celebrate his team's World Series win.

According to the Boston Globe, Betts was asked about the trip to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Saturday night -- which is currently scheduled for May -- and he reportedly said, "I won't be going there. I decided not to." He didn't elaborate beyond that, but he joins at least one other Sox player skipping it ... third baseman Rafael Devers also said he'd be a no-show.

FWIW ... Betts is the American League MVP, and arguably the best player on the Sox's roster. It's kind of a big deal in baseball if one of the best of the best doesn't wanna meet with President Trump.

Three other Red Sox players are reportedly on the fence, but the rest of the team has expressed interest in meeting with the Prez. The team was supposed to head out there in February, but it was pushed back to May because of the government shutdown.

Red Sox President Sam Kennedy said he didn't feel it was appropriate to be celebrating at the White House while so many federal employees were going without a paycheck and struggling.

Wanna live like the owner of a prestigious MLB team?? Got $25 MILLION laying around?

Awesome ... 'cause you can gobble up the insane mansion John Henry owned down in Boca Raton, Florida!!

The Sox owner -- who's also the honcho of Liverpool Football Club and the Boston Globe -- is ready to move on from the pad and just put the 41,000 square foot place on the market.

The estate is absolutely epic ... seven bedrooms, 19 (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) bathrooms and unreal pool that overlooks a lake.

It's also got a library, a theater, a recording studio ... AND AN INDOOR-OUTDOOR ROOM DEDICATED ENTIRELY TO MAKING PIZZA!!!

Oh, there's also a clay tennis court, sports bar room AND an underground wine cellar that promises to keep your booze at a perfect 53 degrees -- even in a power outage!!

Unclear why John's getting rid of the spot -- dude's owned it since 1999 -- but we do know one thing for sure ... being rich rules.

[H/T TopTenRealEstateDeals.com]

The Red Sox should ABSOLUTELY take their championship trip to the White House ... so says ex-MLB star Brad Penny, who says the team needs to support Donald Trump regardless of their opinions of him.

It's up in the air whether Boston will make its post-World Series visit to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave ... especially after manager Alex Cora publicly criticized the President in September.

But, Penny says it would be a huge mistake to not go ... telling TMZ Sports the team should be there.

"You gotta go," the ex-star pitcher says ... "You support the President whether you voted for him or not ... I think they just gotta go."

Penny knows a thing or two about those trips ... the 2-time All-Star went to George W. Bush's White House after his Marlins won it all back in 2003.

He says the trip was unforgettable ... and Red Sox players would regret not making it.

In fact -- Brad tells us he thinks Boston can send a strong message to those protesting Trump by going.

"All those protests and stuff, to me, we want everybody who's in office to do good ... I feel like a lot of people want Trump to fail and it's unfortunate."

Unclear whether Red Sox players will listen to Brad ... but we know at least one of their pitchers is on board.

The Red Sox players are STILL winning ... 'cause the bonus checks for their World Series "W" were just announced -- and Boston got paid!!!

Major League Baseball just announced the postseason bonus pool totaled $88 MILLION to be divided by all of the teams that made the 2018 playoffs.

The total pool number -- essentially made up of playoff stadium ticket sales -- is the largest pot in MLB history. It's divided by the 10 playoff teams based on how far they got.

The biggest payout was obviously Boston -- the champs split $31.7 million between 66 players, which came out to $416k each!

Not too shabby, but slightly LESS than the $438k each Houston Astros player got last year for winning the 2017 World Series.

Don't feel too bad for the 2018 losers ... Los Angeles will get a cut of the bonus money too -- with their checks coming in at $267,027.49 per player.

Here's how the rest of the playoff bonus money was distributed ...

Houston Astros -- $154,656.05 per player.

Milwaukee Brewers -- $122,957.13

Atlanta Braves -- $40,375.74

Cleveland Indians -- $37,040.29

Colorado Rockies -- $40,335.96

New York Yankees -- $43,081.55

Chicago Cubs -- $16,155.34

Oakland Athletics -- $19,760.35

Yeah, it still pays to be good.

Sorry, Mike Trout ... Matt Damon says voters got it right -- Mookie Betts WAS the AL MVP!!!

"That's great," Matt says ... "Good for him. He deserves it!"

Of course ... Mookie went head-to-head with Trout and the Indians' Jose Ramirez for the award -- but dominated the voting thoroughly, winning in a near-unanimous decision.

Damon tells TMZ Sports that's the way it shoulda been ... and he ain't wrong -- Betts batted .346 this season with 32 home runs and 30 stolen bases.

BTW ... it's not like Mookie was in much need of the confidence booster -- dude just won the World Series, had a new baby girl AND nabbed a Silver Slugger Award last week.

The celebration for Mookie Betts might never stop ... 'cause on top of winning the World Series two weeks ago -- the Red Sox superstar just welcomed a baby girl into the world!!

The outfielder posted Tuesday he and his longtime girlfriend, Brianna Hammonds, had their first child together ... and said he couldn't be more pumped about it.

"Never knew what unconditional love meant or how it felt until I met this little princess," Betts wrote.

"Nov 6th 2018 is a day I’ll never forget❤️"

It's been a helluva past few days for Betts ... who won a 'ship on Oct. 28, celebrated like crazy at nightclubs, had an epic parade around Boston -- AND partied with Tom Brady and the Pats last weekend.

Things might still be gettin' better for Mookie too ... he's expected to be named AL MVP next week!!

The Red Sox kept their World Series party rollin' Sunday with some dudes that are pretty familiar with winning championships -- Tom Brady and Bill Belichick!!!

Alex Cora, J.D. Martinez and the boys hit Gillette Stadium before the Pats beat down the Packers ... showing off their new 'ship to The Goat, The Hoodie and the 65,878 fans in attendance.

Bill held the trophy ... J.D. got the crowd fired up ... Cora got a selfie in with Tom. Good times were had by all (sorry, Aaron Rodgers).

The Sox won the Series two weekends ago ... and have hardly come up for air since -- dropping hundreds of thousands of dollars at clubs and tearing up the streets of Boston on parade day.

Speaking of that ... remember how the trophy took a beating from a rogue beer can out there? Thing looks all good now!

When the Boston Red Sox hit an L.A. nightclub to celebrate their World Series title, they bought 169 bottles of champagne and left a $195,000 tip, TMZ Sports has confirmed.

As we previously reported, the Sox hit up the Sunday party at Nightingale Plaza thrown by Made Nightlife where star players like Mookie Betts, Steve Pearce and J.D. Martinez turned it all the way up to celebrate beating the Dodgers.

We knew the total bill was around $300,000 -- but now we've seen the itemized receipt and confirmed it's legit.

The rundown ...

48 bottles of Dom. 43 bottles of Ace of Spades. 60 bottles of Moet. 5 bottles of Veuve. 12 bottles of Perrier-Jouet. And, a bottle of Cristal for good measure.

On top of that, the guys also got bottles of Don Julio, Belvedere vodka, 11 bottles of Jameson and 17 bottles of Jack Daniels.

All of the booze plus the tax and other fees added up to around $300k. The tip was around $195k ... totaling an even $500,000 final bill.

PARTY FOUL!!!

The Boston Red Sox World Series celebration just took a major hit at the championship parade on Wednesday ... after a rogue beer took out part of the Commissioner's Trophy!!

Boston fans let the beers fly through the air at the team's World Series parade ... and players caught and CHUGGED them.

But, one fan missed their target and hit the championship hardware right in one of the flags ... denting it pretty badly. The trophy was riding with Mookie Betts at the time.

That's not all ... one fan threw an open beer at manager Alex Cora ... and the dude was clearly PISSED, stopping his duck boat to point out the potential culprit.

One man was arrested and charged with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, minor in possession of alcohol and disorderly conduct after throwing an unopened beer can at a boat for the hit on Cora.

Overall, there were 6 total arrests during the parade.

It wasn't all bad for the Sox, tho ... guys like Blake Swihart, Matt Barnes, Craig Kimbrel and Rick Porcello were able to snag cans out of mid-air without incident ... and you better believe they didn't let them go to waste.

This ain't nothin' new for fans in New England -- Rob Gronkowski famously did the same thing (while wearing a Minions hat) when the Patriots won it all in 2015.

What else would you expect from the world champs??

Originally Published -- 7:06 AM PDT

What's better than one crazy $300,000 World Series party?? TWO OF 'EM!!!!

The Boston Red Sox know first hand ... 'cause after going through $300k worth of booze on Sunday night after winning the 'ship in L.A. -- they did it again in Boston!

TMZ Sports has the vid ... J.D. Martinez, Mookie Betts and others turned ALL THE WAY UP at Icon Nightclub -- tearing through champagne bottles like it was the Dodgers' pitching staff.

We're told the Sox had massive 15-liter bottles of Luc Belaire Luxe (which they happily shared with the crowd) ... and OVER 40 CASES OF THE BUBBLY!!!

Of course ... they ruined a famous DJ's laptop with champagne over the weekend -- but it appears computers were safe Tuesday ... maybe.

The Boston Red Sox better head over to Best Buy immediately ... because a huge celebrity DJ says their post-game champagne celebration completely ruined his laptop ... and he wants another one.

The DJ's name is Dre Sinatra, a man who along with guys like DJ Franzen, absolutely RUN the club scene on the West Coast and in Vegas, and go out on tour with big acts like Ty Dolla $ign.

Sinatra -- a die-hard Dodgers fan -- happened to be in the booth the night the Red Sox celebrated their World Series victory at Nightengale Plaza in L.A., and says things got super wild...

Maybe too wild.

"They started spraying champagne, and like it gets on my laptop and one thing about me, I'm like a chill person but once you mess up my laptop it's like a whole different person."

Dre says he stopped the music and warned the players ... and, after that not only did the team send him 3 bottles and let him spray them back but they made another -- more important -- promise to buy him a BRAND NEW LAPTOP.

BTW, we're told the Sox players dropped a combined $300,000 during the party!!!

Despite the drenched hard drive, Dre says it's all love for the Sox -- as long as he gets a new computer -- but says the Boston love stops with the Red Sox.