The kid had been ushered up onto the
stage during a pause in the Red Sox “Town
Hall” session at the team’s recent Winter
Weekend, and giddily approached everyone
within range for an autograph, beginning
with David Ortiz and Pedro Martinez and
on down the line—team President Sam
Kennedy, President of Baseball Operations
Dave Dombrowski, Chairman Tom Werner,
NESN host Tom Caron.
As the kid was about to return to his
seat, Alex Cora stopped him, went down on
one knee and tied his shoe.
That sweet, unscripted gesture by
the new Red Sox manager was revealing
about the humble nature of the man. It also
stands as an example of what the Red Sox
expect from Cora as they prepare for the
2018 season: attention to detail, and a willingness
to help this team in any way to take
the next step.
The team that Cora is inheriting as the
47th manager in Red Sox history is hardly
starting from scratch. The Sox have won
back-to-back American League East titles
for the first time since division play
began in 1969, and in both 2016 and 2017
won 93 games. Those seasons ultimately
ended in disappointment, the Sox losing in
the first round of the playoffs. In each instance
they lost to the team that ultimately
won the American League pennant—the Indians
in 2016 and last season the Astros,
who with Cora as bench coach to manager
A.J. Hinch went on to win the World Series
in seven games against the Los Angeles
Dodgers.
The young core of those highly competitive
teams returns intact, with Mookie
Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Andrew Benintendi,
Rafael Devers and Eduardo Rodriguez all
25 years of age or younger. And 12-year
veteran Dustin Pedroia, still the face of
the franchise at age 34, was making rapid
strides in his recovery from cartilage restoration
surgery on his left knee, an injury
that plagued him all last season.
It is not unrealistic, Cora told reporters in
January, that this team will only get better.
“I know for a fact that there’s a lot of
guys in that clubhouse, they’re going to improve,’’
Cora said. “We ran into two teams
the last two years that were just better at
the time. With what we have right now and
the things we’re going to do—I get it, people
see the numbers, and yeah, power was
down—but we can find ways to score runs.
At the end of the day, you score runs, you
win games.’’
The Red Sox finished last in the Amer-
In 2018, Chris Sale will
be looking for a repeat
of his spectacular 2017
performance. Photo by
Michael Ivins.
40
Christian and Craig relish
the Red Sox clinching the
A.L. East on September
30, 2017 vs. the Astros at
Fenway Park. Photo by
Billie Weiss.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 38