It seems there aren’t too many baseball fans working in the White House. In an email from the office of press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the Boston Red Sox were referenced as the “World Cup Series Champions.” The team won the World Series - not the World Cup - in 2018 and was invited to the White House Thursday. This mistake by the White House press office follows a typo in the team’s name, referencing them as the “Red Socks” on the White House event page. President Trump welcomed the team and mentioned three players by name, Nathan Eovaldi, Chris Sale and Steve Pearce, who were all in attendance. Trump was given a customized Red Sox jersey and the team took a behind-the-scenes tour of the White House. Manager Alex Cora, four coaches and 10 members of the team declined the White House invitation.<doc-sep>Andrew Joseph For The Win When politicians attempt to discuss sports, it rarely works out. You get results like Ted Cruz's "basketball ring", Donald Trump asking about Joe Paterno's wellbeing (he's dead) or the Boston "Red Socks." On that note, it's been quite the day for the White House communications staff. Just hours after the official White House website listed its event between President Trump and the Boston Red Sox as the "Red Socks," the sports-challenged communications department made another blunder at Boston's expense. Apparently, the Red Sox had not only won the 2018 World Series but they were also the 2018 "World Cup Series Champions." At least, that was how the official White House transcript referred to the World Series champs for their visit Thursday. The USWNT is favored to win this summer's Women's World Cup, but let's not get carried away here. The internet was not particularly kind to the White House after the second careless mistake of the day about the Red Sox. Follow For The Win's Andrew Joseph on Twitter @AndyJ0seph.<doc-sep>The Telegraph Two of the surprise packages of this clay-court season have been British – initially Dan Evans, who made a deep run in Monte Carlo, and more lately Cameron Norrie, who played his second final in three weeks on Sunday. Unfortunately, Norrie wasn’t able to land a maiden ATP title in Lyon. But then he was up against Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has been the dominant force of 2021 outside the slams, and now stands at No 1 in the table of most rankings points gained since January 1. Nevertheless, it had been a hugely creditable effort for Norrie to go this far, especially when you consider that he took out top seed Dominic Thiem on Thursday, and then trounced big-hitting Russian Karen Khachanov in Saturday’s semi-final, losing only two games in the process. Norrie has come to clay late in his career, but it feels like this is developing into his favourite surface. He has one of the heaviest left-handed forehands in the game, loaded with top-spin, and uses it like a miniature version of Rafael Nadal. The result has been a tally of 14 wins and only four losses since he began his European clay-court swing in Barcelona. So while the French Open, which starts next Sunday, has traditionally been a graveyard of British hopes, there are reasons to hope that this year’s event could deliver some more positive results. Norrie’s previous final in Estoril had been a nervewracking affair which he eventually lost on a deciding-set tie-break to the more experienced Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Sunday was more straightforward for Tsitsipas, who needed only 69 minutes to hammer home a 6-3, 6-3 victory. It was Tsitsipas’ second title of the clay-court sequence, after he won Monte Carlo in mid-April, taking out Evans in the semi-final along the way. He has become a serious contender to upset the establishment – specifically Nadal and Novak Djokovic – at Roland Garros over the next few weeks. “I felt in good shape from the beginning of the tournament,” said Tsitsipas afterwards. “I am proud of today’s match, I knew it would be a difficult one against Cameron, who has been showing great tennis this week. He has been winning against good players and showing what the left hand can do on clay. “It was not an easy match today. I had to handle the nerves and I am proud of my performance and the way I stayed focused towards my goal.” On this year’s results, meanwhile, both Evans and Norrie stand among the world’s 20 most successful men. Evans is at No 16 and Norrie No 14. The next challenge for them both is to convert that ATP Tour form into a deep run at a major.<doc-sep>
The White House mistakenly referred to the Boston Red Sox as the “World Series Cup” champions in an email after the team visited President Trump Donald TrumpTrump lashes out after grand jury seated for New York criminal probe Schumer tees up vote on Jan. 6 commission bill Senators struggle to save Jan. 6 commission MORE Thursday. After the team was honored by Trump in a Rose Garden ceremony Thursday, the White House sent out an release detailing the visit and Trump’s remarks, with the gaffe contained in the subject line. Inbox, from the White House: "Remarks by President Trump Welcoming the 2018 World ***Cup*** Series Champions Boston Red Sox" (emphasis mine) — Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) May 9, 2019 The Boston Red Sox won the 2018 World Series, an event held annually. The World Cup is an international soccer tournament that takes place every four years. ADVERTISEMENT The error follows an announcement Thursday morning before the team's visit that misspelled the team name as “Boston Red Socks” instead of Sox. The team’s manager Alex Cora and several players opted out of the planned visit Thursday, with Cora citing Trump’s handling of the disaster relief for Puerto Rico, where he was born, in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. Players Mookie Betts, David Price David Eugene PriceSecret Service: Optics of Trump greeting supporters outside Walter Reed wasn't a factor GOP ramps up attacks on Biden's border wall freeze The US has a significant flooding problem — Congress can help MORE, Rafael Devers, Sandy Leon and Jackie Bradley Jr. are among others who confirmed they would skip the celebration. Several championship-winning teams and individual athletes have decided against the traditional White House visit in the years since Trump took office.