Things Alex Cora clearly loves: his family, Boston and the Red Sox.
There are other things, to be sure, but those three he makes abundantly clear often, the latter two perhaps more so than ever Friday morning.
Cora is set to manage his first regular season game after missing the 2020 campaign due to a season-long suspension. He’s grateful to have another opportunity in the game, and has reiterated time and time again that he plans to make the most of his second shot.
And in his pregame availability Friday morning, Cora — in a soliloquy that sounded like it could be out of a movie — waxed poetic about, well, a lot of things.
“I love this city. I love it. It’s not my frickin’ city, like David (Ortiz) said, but there’s something about Boston. There’s something about Fenway. There’s something about being around these people that moves me, it gets me going. We love it here.
“We love everything that comes with the Red Sox — the ups, the downs, the obstacles. We deal with it as a family and as a group. But I’m very excited to be out there. I can’t wait to see the first pitch and move forward, I love to be here. Fr how tough (the media is), I love talking to you guys. It’s part of the business.
“I’m very excited, I’m actually out of words to explain it. I can’t wait for the ceremonies to be over with and then to start playing baseball and to see where this team is going to take us. I do believe, in the bottom of my heart, we have a great baseball team. We have a good baseball team. Do we have to work for stuff? Of course we have to work.
“But I think everybody that played yesterday, they have to play too. It’s not a given that X team is better than the other one or more powerful. Yeah, there are teams that are good. They’ve done an amazing job. But at the end of the day, you have to show up and you have to post. I have no doubt this team is going to post on a daily basis.“
First pitch for Red Sox-Orioles is set for 2:10 p.m. ET, with coverage beginning on NESN at 12:30 p.m. Nathan Eovaldi will be on the mound for the Sox opposite John Means.
