Alex Cora admitted the Red Sox have been ‘horrible’ at Fenway Park in recent seasons
"When youāre down seven, 'Sweet Caroline' doesnāt sound great to be honest with you."
Alex Cora’s acknowledgement about the Red Sox record at Fenway Park: After starting the season 7-3 on a West Coast road trip, the Red Sox now return home for a Tuesday afternoon home opener at Fenway Park against the Orioles.
And while it will undoubtedly be a welcomed return back to Boston, Alex Cora also knows that his team hasn’t always played its best baseball in front of the hometown fans during recent seasons.
Cora bluntly explained his point during a pregame moment on Sunday, per MassLive’s Christopher Smith.
“We’ve been horrible at home since 2019 to be honest with you,” Cora told Smith. “I think we were good in ‘21. But in ‘19 we were bad. And the last two years we’ve been bad. For us to accomplish our first goal, which is to make it to the playoffs, we’ve got to play better [at Fenway Park].”
Aside from 2021—when Boston made the playoffs—the Red Sox are 131-143 (.478) at Fenway since 2019.
Cora added that he doesn’t fault the environment, as it’s something he still enjoys.
“It’s awesome, man. I love it,” Cora said of games at Fenway. “‘Sweet Caroline’ in the eighth [inning] and all that stuff.
“But,” Cora added, “when you’re down seven, ‘Sweet Caroline’ doesn’t sound great to be honest with you.”
In addition, Cora touched on an interesting dynamic.
“The fan stuff, there’s a lot of fans from the opposition,” he said. “That happens because people enjoy going to Fenway. If I’m from California and my team is going to play at Fenway, I’m going to circle that and I’m going to go to Fenway Park. I’ll go to Yankee Stadium. I’ll go to Wrigley Field. That works against us at certain times. We know in October, it’s a different story. But for us to get to October, we’ve got to play better in the regular season.”
So far, the Red Sox are off to a good start in the bid to return to the playoffs (though 152 games remain). Boston’s pitching staff has been particularly effective, posting a league-leading 1.49 team ERA through its first 10 games (a Red Sox record).
Trivia: Only five MLB managers won the World Series in their first seasons. One is Alex Cora in 2018. Who was the most recent to do it before Cora?
(Answer at the bottom).
Hint: His team defeated the Yankees.
Scores and schedules:
On Sunday, the Celtics defeated the Trail Blazers 124-107. Jaylen Brown led Boston with 26 points. The Celtics will face the Bucks on the road Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
The Red Sox also got a win on Sunday, besting the Angels 12-2 in the final matchup of a three-game series. Tuesday is the 2024 home opener, as the Red Sox host the Orioles at 2:10 p.m.
Also on Tuesday, the Bruins will play the Hurricanes at TD Garden at 7 p.m.
And the Revolution travel to Mexico City for a Tuesday night clash against Club América in the second leg of a two-game CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinal. Kickoff is set for 10:30 p.m. as New England enter the night trailing 4-0 on aggregate.
More from Boston.com:
- Jaylen Brown scores 26 points and reaches 10,000 in his career in Celtics’ 124-107 win over Portland
- Celtics bench shines in 4th quarter minutes, pulls away from Trail Blazers: 8 takeaways
- McGuire drives in 5, O’Neill hits fifth homer as Red Sox defeat Angels 12-2 to cap trip
- Breaking down the Celtics’ potential playoff path
- Ranking the Bruins’ 7th Player Award candidates
- With Kyle Dugger extended, which contract situations do Patriots need to resolve next?
- Hall of Famer-to-be Chauncey Billups reflects on the start of his NBA career with the Celtics
- Why Jerod Mayo is using Texans’ turnaround to ‘kind of’ plead patience on Patriots rebuild
- 4 takeaways as the Revolution finally get a regular season win, defeat Charlotte 1-0
The Maine Celtics are in the finals: Boston’s G-League team advanced to the finals with a 99-77 win over the Long Island Nets.
National Championship highlights: South Carolina emerged victorious in the highly anticipated NCAA tournament final against Caitlin Clark and Iowa, 87-75.
On this day: In 1970, the Bruins began the playoffs with an 8-2 rout of the Rangers. Phil Esposito notched a hat-trick and Bobby Orr added two of his own. The game also included a series of fights between the two teams that resulted in a combined 50 penalty minutes (not including other infractions).
Daily highlight: Matteo Politano scored a fantastic volley in Napoli’s 4-2 win over Monza in an Italian Serie A matchup on Sunday.
One more view:
Trivia answer: Bob Brenly (Diamondbacks, 2001)
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