On Wednesday, Red Sox manager Alex Cora joined WEEI Afternoons for his weekly visit with the show ahead of what he hopes will be his first full game managed for the Red Sox (25-25) since the team’s 10-4 loss to the Braves on Sunday.
Monday was an excused absence by the team, as Cora was celebrating his daughter’s graduation from Boston College earlier that day in Chestnut Hill. With bench coach Ramon Vazquez getting the spot-start as the team’s skipper, Boston was able to beat the Mets 3-1.
Tuesday was an unexcused early dismissal, as Cora was thrown out of the game in the 3rd inning after sharing some unkind words with home plate umpire Mike Estabrook for having a quick hook on starting pitcher Walker Buehler in his first game back from a stint on the injured list. Buehler was arguing balls and strikes, and Estabrook exercised no patience or nuance with the situation.
Down both a starting pitcher and a manager, Vazquez stepped back up and helped piece together a bullpen game for Boston, besting the Mets 2-0 to get the team back to .500 on the season and put the Sox in line to sweep New York (29-20) at Fenway Park on Wednesday.
With Vazquez now “2-0” as the fill-in manager this season, using semi-sarcatic air quotes as neither game counts for his actual career managerial record, there is a loud subsection of anit-Cora Red Sox fans that see this two-game stretch as the best example of why this team should move on from a manager that has gone 262-274 with no playoff appearances since losing to the Astros in the 2021 ALCS in six games.
If you don’t believe me, just scan the comment sections on any Red Sox content from this Mets series across our social media. You’ll see plenty of commenters boldly calling for the job of the 49-year-old manager who just signed a three-year contract extension last July worth $21.75 million.
It’s all some version of, “This team is better off without Cora, clearly he doesn’t care about being in the dugout anyways. We’re better off without him!”
That, plus some unnecessary expletives.
For the record, I don’t agree for one second with these replies. I am merely presenting the context around Cora being asked two days later about missing the game on Monday for BC’s 2025 commencement.
“As a guy who's broadcasting from the home studio today to attend a senior award night for his son, I get the family-pull sometimes for these jobs that are commitments to us,” said WEEI’s Andy Hart. “The decision Monday to go to your daughter's graduation - was that an easy one, and what was your response to some of the backlash you got from it?”
“It was very easy,” said Cora. “People talk about my sacrifices as a manager. Missing a soccer game, missing whatever - you know, whatever she had going back home in Puerto Rico. How about the sacrifices she has made over 22 years because [her] dad is a public figure and he's a baseball player and he's a baseball coach, right? There's a lot of sacrifices, you know?
“And for me, it was kind of like, ‘pay it forward,’ you know? And hopefully we have to do it again for grad school. And then - I don't know, the twins are 7, so whenever they graduate from high school, I will go to that one. I don't know if I'm going to be managing, [but] if I'm managing I’m going to that one, and then I'll do the same thing.”
There’s basically no such thing as work-life balance at the professional level in sports, but Cora is trying his best to be there for his family during the big moments.
“We all have families, we all have principles,” said Cora. “This is my job, this is not my life. My life is my family.
“She wanted us to be together, so we did that and we had a blast. You know, I cannot change the mindset of people, you know? I'm just just me, you know? And for those who didn't like it - well, I'm not gonna try to change their mind. I'm just gonna keep living my life.”
With Cora planning to be on the bench for the entirety of Wednesday night’s game, his ballclub will go for the sweep with Garrett Crochet (4-3, 2.0 ERA) on the mound. Tylor Megill (3-4, 3.74 ERA) is on the bump for the Mets. First pitch is set for 6:45 p.m. ET.
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