The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees got caught up in the rivalry during their final series of 2024, to the point that MLB got involved.
Brayan Bello pitched behind Aaron Judge in the middle of the rivals' Sept. 14 matchup. After the game, Red Sox manager Alex Cora seemed to imply that the attempt to hit Judge was intentional and MLB opened an investigation into the intent behind the toss.
Gerrit Cole plunked Rafael Devers in the first inning of their Sept. 14 matchup. and the third baseman took his base without any show of emotion. Cole's fourth-inning intentional walk of Devers caused the most commotion from the Red Sox dugout.
Cora interpreted Cole's hit on Devers as intentional after he gave up the free pass later in the game. Cole had recently shared that Devers was the hitter that had given him the most trouble in his career — stats back that up — and Cora believes Cole went to extreme measures to avoid facing the slugger.
MLB spoke with Alex Cora about his comments the other day and no suspension is forthcoming, I’m told.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) September 17, 2024
Red Sox manager Alex Cora will not be suspended after MLB investigation into postgame comments from Sept. 14 incident with Yankees
Bello's throw near Judge was an attempt to get even, slugger for slugger. MLB concluded its investigation into Cora's comments after two days and no suspension will be dealt, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive.
"It was closed yesterday, like, around the sixth inning, so you know, we had our chance. It didn't happen. We have to move on," Cora said.
It's rare for a manager to blatantly allude to plunking a player on purpose, but teams have been taking discipline into their hands since MLB's inception. Judge mentioned the throw during his postgame presser, and it doesn't sound like he took the incident personally.
"Things like that happen... something's got to happen and that's the way this game kind of gets policed and has been policed for 100 years," Judge said. "So the biggest thing is don't miss when you do it."
Many Yankees fans haven't taken well to the news that Cora won't be suspended. Bello's ball didn't even graze Judge, but the admission that the Sox may have retaliated is worse than Cole actually hitting Devers, in their eyes. Cole defended himself after the game and said he didn't hit Devers on purpose, but the history between the two players and the following bases-empty intentional walk leaves room for doubt on Boston's end.
It's unbecoming of a manager to admit to potential retaliation on another player, but it's been happening in MLB for well over 100 years, as Judge mentioned. The intent behind hitting a batter doesn't change the outcome, and only Red Sox batters were hit on Sept. 14.