What people are saying about Alex Cora’s rookie year as Red Sox manager
Cora was appointed to the position just under a year ago.
It’s been less than a year since Alex Cora was officially named manager of the Boston Red Sox and so far he’s pulled off the most successful season in franchise history. With 108 wins, the Sox are headed to the ALDS to face the New York Yankees in the postseason for the first time in almost 14 years.
Cora, an MLB veteran and former Red Sox infielder, is entering his first postseason as team manager with the same team he won a World Series with in 2007. When Cora was appointed to the position, he was valued for his experience playing in Boston, his knack for baseball analytics and ability to communicate with the team. Now at the tail end of his first season, Cora is proving he’s deserving of the accolades.
Here’s what writers, pundits, and even members of the Red Sox are saying about Cora.
Cora turned the Sox into a force to be reckoned with.
Peter Gammons, GammonsDaily.com: “
In a league of extraordinary managers, Alex Cora is Manager of Year because he took a beaten down team and immediately got players’ attention and trust.”
Julio Ricardo Varela, ESPN: “I think Alex Cora has turned the Red Sox into a machine. 108 wins is nothing to sneeze about. Am so excited for Friday. Red Sox will be ready. They will take this ALDS in four or dare I say it: sweep?”
Chad Finn, The Boston Globe: “
The Red Sox’ performance has made this a World Series-or-bust season, even more so than in most seasons. And that’s how it should be. Many among us like to bring up 1978 because… well, I don’t know why, because the only thing that team has in common with this year is that the Red Sox had a loaded lineup and a big lead over the Yankees. This Red Sox team is not going to collapse like that one– or like the ’11 Red Sox– or even fade like Dave Roberts’s Dodgers did late last season, and Cora is one of the major reasons why.”
Ian Kinsler, Red Sox second baseman: “The team follows their leader. That’s just the nature of a team. And he’s the leader. He’s the manager of the team. He’s the leader. And the team takes on his personality. You can honestly see that from the other side. You can see that on TV just watching the team play.”
His attention to details makes a difference.
David Ortiz, MLB analyst and former Red Sox player:
“Oh yeah, because he paid attention to all the details. If you watched the video of when we were playing, he was always just looking around when he wasn’t playing. This is a guy, he is extremely smart. With Alex being that talented and being that young, a lot of wonderful things are going to happen around here, especially with younger players.”
Alex Speier, The Boston Globe: “Perhaps most notably, Cora has been an agent of change for the Red Sox regarding information and analytics, the areas most often caricatured as corrosive to the modern manager. He has been a catalyst for the increased integration of data into the team’s preparation and game management, pushing the envelope beyond even what the front office expected.”
Joe Kelly, Red Sox pitcher: “The effort and time he puts in, even being the manager, he’s working on scouting reports, he’s working to see if some guy’s pitching mechanics are off. That’s something different that I’ve seen from Cora than from past managers. If a guy is struggling, he’ll look to see what’s different from the time when he was doing good. He does his own homework on his own players. That’s pretty cool.”
Dana LeVangie, Red Sox pitching coach: “[Cora]prepares not only for our team but does a lot of research on the team we’re playing and is pretty focused on how he wants to go about it. For me, the biggest thing for us as a staff and these guys in this room, just consistency day in and day out. His ability to communicate helps have success and that’s stood out for me. I think that’s where we sort of built our relationship in that regard. You bring in information and as we see now, he loves information and good information and I think that’s how we hit it off.”
He facilitates cohesion throughout the franchise.
Jen McCaffrey, The Athletic:
“Cora hasn’t been afraid to show personality throughout the season, lending authenticity to his actions. He’s not afraid to joke around with players or mention a long night staying up with his 2-year-old twin boys. He’s not afraid to admit a mistake made in-game or speak his mind like he did regarding President Trump’s remarks on Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. He’s relatable and perhaps that’s his biggest asset.”
Matt Barnes, Red Sox pitcher: “He absolutely has (affected outcomes), there’s no question about that. There are a lot of things Cora helps with. Some that stand out are his communication. He communicates with you, lets you know what’s going on. And genuinely wants to talk about whatever. So it allows you to build that rapport with him, which is huge. The other thing is, and nobody needs coddling, but after a bad outing he says, ‘Hey, don’t worry about it, you’re good and you’ll get them tomorrow.’ Something simple like that. Nobody in this room or this business needs coddling. We’re all grown men. But in situations like that, after you go out and don’t have your best stuff and give it up, he’ll do that sometimes.”
Tyler Kepner, The New York Times: “The Red Sox and the Yankees lost to Cora’s Astros in the playoffs last fall, but the Yankees got much farther, reaching Game 7 of the A.L. Championship Series. Cora said he learned a lot from the Astros and their manager, A. J. Hinch, mostly about the need for cohesion throughout an organization.
“The most important thing is you have to connect,” Cora said. “The baseball operations, the analytics department, the medical staff — if they don’t get together, what’s the point? How are we going to filter the information from these departments to the coaches and to the players? If you can’t accomplish that, then you’re in trouble.”
Read that again. In four sentences, Cora distilled the most important task for the modern manager.”
Dav Dombrowski, Red Sox president of baseball operations: “
I think we needed a different voice, a younger voice, a connectivity voice between the manager and the players, with everybody. We have a lot of young guys, and the ability to connect even deeper than what we did in the past, in the clubhouse, I think is important.”
Billie Weiss, Red Sox team photographer: “Alex actually came directly to me, I think it was the second or third game of the season, and I was just in the dugout kind of waiting for the game to start, shooting the guys’ pregame routine and what they usually do. Alex came up to me and said, ‘Hey, I have this idea. We’ll see how long we can keep it going for. I want to do the photo that defines the game for each game we win.’ I thought, ‘That’s awesome.’ We’re out there shooting every game, he pitched the idea to me and from there, just kind of ran with it… I think it’s a fresh idea. I can’t speak for the team, but it is kind of a cool morale thing if they go into his office and see all these great moments from throughout the season.”
