The 2018 Boston Red Sox team certainly was unforgettable.
Boston went on to win a franchise-best 108 games before winning the World Series in six games against the Los Angeles Dodgers. It also all was done under first-year manager Alex Cora.
But a dark cloud was cast over the championship and season when Major League Baseball launched an investigation into the 2018 team regarding sign-stealing. The Red Sox and Cora mutually agreed to part ways due to his role in the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing allegations just a few months after a mediocre 2019 campaign.
MLB released its report Wednesday on the Red Sox, noting it found Cora “the Red Sox coaching staff, the Red Sox front office or most of the players on the 2018 Red Sox knew or should have known that (video replay operator J.T.) Watkins was utilizing in-game video to update the information that he had learned from his pregame analysis.”
Because of this, CEO Sam Kennedy doesn’t believe the 2018 season is in any way tainted.
“No. Not at all,” Kennedy said during a conference call Wednesday. “In no way do I think it’s appropriate to invalidate the accomplishments of the 2018 team based on this infraction.”
He added: “I believe that the 2018 team was one of the truly most talented teams … by far the most talented team I’ve been a part of or witnessed in person. Just a special, special team.”
The 2018 team certainly was fun and made plenty of fun memories for fans. But now, regardless of MLB’s findings, the report always will be tied to it.
