After months of relative silence (besides a few petty tweets) following his firing as the Boston Red Sox's manager, Alex Cora has reemerged. He appeared on the October 26 episode of the "Baseball Isn't Boring" podcast to discuss the lead-up and immediate aftermath of his firing, a potential return to baseball and other things.
Cora noted underperformance from pitchers as one of the potential reasons for his firing, as well as weird energy early in the season. Boston was fresh off an offseason fans felt it bungled — the loss of Alex Bregman was rightly a huge sticking point. The disappointment turned into strange vibes at Fenway Park, specifically around Caleb Durbin.
"We get home and Caleb gets booed. They booed him in the introductions, and that's not Boston, that's not Fenway Park. I was surprised that happened," Cora said. "'Sell the team' chants around the sixth, seventh inning of the home opener, that was weird... It was a bad vibe, to be honest with you, not with us, but with the whole atmosphere."
Red Sox fans have in the past been known as some of the smartest fans in baseball, known for understanding the business of the game as well as the game itself. Boston had to pivot in the wake of its Bregman loss and Durbin was the answer. He ended up being a pretty good one.
Alex Cora said Red Sox fans booing Caleb Durbin on Opening Day is 'not Boston'
Durbin had nothing to do with his move to Boston. He didn't deserve to be subjected to boos because Red Sox fans felt he wasn't the third baseman they deserved. Letting Bregman walk over money after trading Rafael Devers to accommodate him was uncompetitive and unserious for one of the biggest markets in the league, but it had nothing to do with Durbin.
Durbin lacked some of the qualities that Bregman brought to the Red Sox, like experience and home run power, but he showed serious promise during his first year in the big leagues. It took some time, but he proved the Boston boo birds wrong and improved on his previous season's work, even with a broken pinky finger that later required surgery.
Red Sox fans probably wish they could take their boos back after seeing Durbin grow into a fan favorite. He was one of the team's most important spark plugs during its 32-5 stretch and he played like the dirt dog Craig Breslow said he would be. He even played defense at or very close to Bregman's caliber and he's a lock for Gold Glove at third base in the American League.
Cora rightly called Red Sox fans out for their treatment of Durbin, not only because Durbin didn't deserve it, but because it didn't help anyone play better. Red Sox fans' real gripe was with the front office and it should've been expressed that way.
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