A CHEATER IS A CHEATER AND MLB SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF ITSELF

 Alex Cora is a piece of garbage. Always has been.  

He's a guy that bought into the notion that he's a great manager and great baseball mind.  Now he might be a good baseball mind in some regards, but when you're cheating your way through life, sooner or later you are banished for bad behavior.  You would have thought that MLB would have banned Alex Cora and AJ Hinch for life after the Astros cheating scandal, but clearly a deal was struck between Jim Crane, the Astros owner and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and for that I will always frown on Manfred.  Integrity didn't matter to him... friendships and back-room deals were more important.

And so, Cora gets to come back after his suspension and tries to redeem himself. And sure, the Red Sox has had some successes, but it's just like any team... if you don't have top talent, your manager isn't going to look good because the team won't win.  It takes a really good manager to understand how to navigate a mediocre team.  And when teams are really good, it's clearly the talent pool and not the manager.  I mean, look at Aaron Boone.  

The games we lose are usually because he made a horrible decision and then tries to gaslight us in the presser after the game.  The games we win are always guys like Aaron Judge and Juan Soto and have NOTHING to do with Boone.  Same thing could apply to Cora.  While he a decent status among peers in the league, is he really that good of a manager? Nah.

Now look; when it comes to hitting players in the batter's box, it's kind of an unspoken thing.  I mean, we have seen head hunting before with the greats of Bob Gibson, or Gus Weyhing, but it was not something you talked about in the dugout. You as a team collectively knew what had to be done and sometimes you did it and sometimes you didn't.  Well, when it's talks about OUT LOUD, that's just being a dick and when Alex Cora does it, that just goes to show the MLB world that he really hasn't learned his lesson when it comes to giving his team an edge.  

He's a cheater and he'll always be someone trying to get away with whatever is unsavory.  In other words, MLB messed this one up.  MLB should look long and hard in this latest situation about Alex Cora publicly stating that he wanted to hit Aaron Judge.

Pinstripes Nation writes:

Alex Cora basically admitted that Brayan Bello tried plunking Aaron Judge on purpose. He was asked if he considered yesterday's IBB/HBP fiasco closed:

"It was closed yesterday around the sixth inning. We had our chance. It didn't happen." pic.twitter.com/x1z4iA0HfF

— Chris Kirschner (@ChrisKirschner) September 15, 2024

"Major League Baseball is reportedly investigating comments made by Red Sox manager Alex Cora that suggest his team intentionally targeted Aaron Judge with a pitch. As of Monday evening, the league had yet to reach a decision on the matter.

Cora hinted on Sunday that the Red Sox might have retaliated during Saturday’s game after Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole hit Rafael Devers with a pitch in the first inning and later intentionally walked him in the fourth. Cora, visibly upset, believed the walk indicated Cole’s earlier hit-by-pitch was no accident and stemmed from a desire to avoid Devers.

When asked about the situation on Sunday, Cora implied the matter was settled during the sixth inning of Saturday’s game, noting they had an opportunity but failed to take advantage of it."

Not ultimately MLB will protect Alex Cora. Crane was so far up Rob Manfred's butt back in the day there will be calls from fake folks saying "Well hitting guys in baseball, Rob.  Alex was doing what any manager would do."  But if Manfred had any balls he would look long and hard into the kind of person Alex Cora is.  He lacks character, professionalism and he's just a dick.  

While I don't think anything will happen to Alex Cora, I am a man of integrity, and I believe in common sense.  Something should be done, even if it's small.  The Red Sox have no shot this year, the Yankees do, and any baseball guy will tell you that if that ball hits Judge on the knee and he's out for the remainder of the season it would be a free for all among fans.  Thank God it didn't... but think about if it did.  My point is there is also an unspoken rule about tipping your imaginary cap to the teams that have had success and not playing dirty.  Alex Cora knows better, but Alex Cora is about himself.

A cheater is always a cheater.  Alex should be ashamed, but MLB should have nipped this in the bud a long time ago and didn't. Shame.