Nearing the halfway point in his fifth season as a manager Alex Cora recorded his 400th win. The Red Sox skipper won the World Series in his first season back in 2018 and became the first Puerto Rican manager ever to do so in MLB history. Additionally, Cora becomes just the ninth manager in Red Sox history to win 400 games over their career with Boston. The Boston Red Sox's 9-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins marks the fifth win in a row and places Boston three games over .500.
400 wins for our manager.
— Red Sox (@RedSox) June 20, 2023
Congratulations, AC! pic.twitter.com/qNsgcAGW12
The 2018 championship was not the first time Cora had won it all in Boston, as he was a part of the 2007 World Series team. Cora has become known as a player's manager who can bring together a clubhouse and help create a winning culture. It has been a rough past few seasons by the Red Sox standards, and Cora has got the team going in the right direction. Even though the Boston Red Sox sit bottom of the AL East, they sit only a game and a half outside a wild card spot.
Cora has been around the game a long time as both a player and manager in the major leagues. After his 14-year playing career, he stayed involved with baseball through ESPN as an analyst and was a coach for the infamous 2017 World Series champions, the Houston Astros. One of the most iconic moments that perfectly depicts the type of player Cora was is the 18-pitch at-bat he put together against the Chicago Cubs. The plate appearance lasted over four minutes and ended with a home run off Cubs pitcher Matt Clement.
An interesting fact is that Cora actually declined the Minnesota Twins when drafted in the 12th round to play college ball at the University of Miami. It became one of the best decisions he had ever made because, following his college career Cora was drafted in the sixth round by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Not only did he improve his draft stock, but he was later inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.
The Red Sox manager has a long career in baseball filled with ups and downs, which has prepared him for any situation in the clubhouse. Boston is trending upwards right now, having gone 7-3 in their last 10 games. Numerous tough decisions will be made with players coming back from injury, starting pitching/roster manipulation, and the MLB trade deadline. Boston is in good hands with Cora and Chaim Bloom together have put together a solid team that just keeps getting healthier as the days pass. In addition, Cora has been able to get the best out of players like Jarren Durran, Triston Casas, and Bryan Bello.