The Red Sox made it official on Sunday, hiring Alex Cora as the 47th manager in franchise history.
Cora is currently serving as the bench coach for the Houston Astros, who beat the Yankees Saturday night to advance to the World Series against the Dodgers.
The 42-year-old Cora played for the Red Sox under Terry Francona from 2005-08 and was a member of the Sox’ 2007 World Series championship team.
“I am extremely honored an humbled to be named manager of the Boston Red Sox and I want to thank Dave [Dombrowski], John Henry, Tom Werner and Sam Kennedy for giving me such a tremendous opportunity,” said Cora. “Returning to the Red Sox and the city of Boston is a dream come true for me and my family and I look forward to working towards the ultimate goal of winning another championship for this city and its great fans. At the same time, I want to express my appreciation for Jim Crane, Jeff Luhnow, AJ Hinch and the entire Houston Astros organization for giving me the chance to start my coaching career. It has been a very special season and an incredible organization to be a part of and I am looking forward to the World Series and winning with this group.”
Dombrowski targeted Cora early in a managerial search that lasted less than two weeks.
“We were very impressed when we interviewed Alex,” Dombrowski said. “He came to us as a highly regarded candidate and from speaking with him throughout this process we found him to be very knowledgeable, driven, and deserving of this opportunity. He is a highly respected and hardworking individual who has experience playing in Boston. Alex also has a full appreciation for the use of analytical information in today’s game and his ability to communicate and relate to both young players and veterans is a plus. Finally, the fact that he is bilingual is very significant for our club.”
The native of Puerto Rico becomes the first Red Sox manager to have played for the Red Sox since Butch Hobson, who managed the Sox from 1992-94.
Cora has only been coaching since November of last year as in his initial years of retirement from playing he was an ESPN baseball analyst.
Cora played in the majors from 1998-2011, spending time with the Dodgers, Indians, Mets, Rangers and Nationals in addition to the Red Sox.
