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Alex Cora responds to criticism over missing Red Sox game for daughter’s graduation
"It is what it is. I made the best decision for my girl.”
A day after Alex Cora received flak on sports-radio airwaves for missing Monday’s home game against the New York Mets to attend his daughter’s graduation, the Red Sox manager pushed back against the criticism.
“People have their own opinions,” Cora said Tuesday ahead of Boston’s game against the Mets, per MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. “I bet those people have families, too, and at one point, they have to make decisions, too. I bet they made decisions for the best of the family.
“I made the best decision for my daughter. For those who don’t understand, I’m not gonna try to convince them. It is what it is. I made the best decision for my girl.”
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Cora announced ahead of the Red Sox’s series opener against New York that he planned to miss Monday’s game in order to attend his daughter Camila’s graduation from Boston College earlier that morning.
Boston College held its graduation at Alumni Stadium on Monday morning, with bench coach Ramón Vázquez managing the Red Sox later that night in what was an eventual 3-1 win for Boston.
Cora’s decision to skip Monday’s game — with first pitch set for 6:45 p.m. — drew the ire of 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Michael Felger during Monday’s edition of “Felger and Mazz”.
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“It’s just the tone you set and the example you set for the team,” Felger said. “It’s not like they need him there to make the pitching change or lay down the bunt. It’s the leadership and optics of the whole thing. It’s a very easy chance for him to say, ‘Nothing’s more important than tonight’s game.’ He just does it by example. Nothing’s more important than this game.”
A day after Monday’s events, Cora once again stressed that he had no regrets over prioritizing his family over a regular-season game in May.
“She wanted me to be with her,” Cora said. “It was her day so this was secondary. We’re in this world for a purpose, and for me, it’s to raise her and try to do the best we can. Obviously, it wasn’t perfect but right now, it’s perfect. Everybody contributed.
“For her, she was very anxious having the whole family in town. Like we told her, anything for her. To be able to listen to her, how she thought about the whole day, the whole week and the whole four-year experience, there was a lot of emotions. It’s a day — I wasn’t going to miss it. The whole day. There’s coaches that take three days for that. It just so happened we’re here in Boston so I took one.”
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Cora also offered up plenty of praise toward Vázquez for helping lead Boston to a hard-fought win over the Mets while he was away from the team.
“The guys played well. Ramón did an outstanding job,” Cora said. “He has it. He has it in him. It’s just a matter of time. I truly believe that. For him to have that experience, it was great. Honestly, didn’t call him during the day because I trust him. He’s my bench coach. He understands how we do it. It was a good one. It was a clean one.”
In an ironic twist, Vázquez ultimately managed a majority of Tuesday’s night’s game as well after Cora (and starter Walker Buehler) were ejected in the third inning after arguing balls and strikes with home-plate umpire Mike Estabrook. The Red Sox ended up shutting out the Mets 2-0.
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