You might have noticed something different about Alex Cora when the manager arrived to Boston Red Sox spring training: He's rocking a beard.
Check it out:
So, is the facial hair here to stay? Or will Cora shave before Opening Day?
It sounds like the skipper intends to play it by ear. Although the decision ultimately might be out of his hands, seeing as Cora's girlfriend, Angelica, digs the new look.
"There's a lot of people out there that like it," a smiling Cora told reporters Monday at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Fla. "I think the most important person is Angelica, and she loves it. So, Lou (Merloni) knows, if they like it, they like it. I've got to take care of her. She said, 'You better keep it,' so I'll keep it.
"I've got some tricks. I can do the photoshoot on Tuesday with the beard, and then it'll be all over the place throughout the season, it'll be in the media guide. So, we'll see."
Of course, Cora theoretically could keep the beard, see how the Red Sox perform to begin the 2022 season and then decide its fate from there. After all, baseball is full of weird superstitions.
"I tried that in '19," Cora joked, pointing to a season when Boston failed to make the playoffs after winning the World Series in 2018. "I actually tried to grow it and it didn't work. It's just about looks, to be honest with you. It just happened organically."
Time will tell whether Cora breaks out the razor. He definitely can pull off the new look, though, which honestly can't be said for everyone who experiments with some scruff.
