Why Alex Cora Won’t Manage Red Sox In Series Opener Vs. Mets

Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora is forced to make in-game decisions as part of his job.

But Cora won’t need to make any Monday when the Red Sox open a three-game set against the New York Mets from Fenway Park.

Cora already made the decision that he will skip the series opener against the Mets to attend his daughter’s graduation from Boston College.

“The fact that we were here while she was going through college, it meant a lot,” Cora told reporters prior to Boston’s 10-4 loss Sunday to the Atlanta Braves, per MassLive’s Christopher Smith. “And it’s gonna be a very special day — one that I’m not gonna miss. And I will 100% miss the game for that. And I’ll do that any given day because it’s gonna be a special day for us.”

Bench coach Ramón Vázquez will step in as the manager in Cora’s absence. Vázquez has been with the Red Sox since 2018 and is in his third season as the the team’s bench coach.

Cora’s daughter, Camila, was a high schooler when she joined her dad on the field to celebrate the Red Sox winning a World Series title in 2018. The two Coras enjoyed another on-field celebration three years later, this time at Fenway when the Red Sox triumphed over the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Division Series.

“We’re excited,” Cora said. “Amazing. It happened fast, man. You put everything in perspective and you go back to the videos from ’18, she’s a little girl. She was a little girl. And then in ’21 when she hopped to the field when we beat Tampa, she was still a little girl. Now she’s not a little girl. She’s a woman. She has fun with it. She’s been a great student and the future is bright for her and we’re very proud of her.”

After graduating from BC, Camila Cora will head off to graduate school at the University of Miami, which happens to be her father’s alma mater.

Alex Cora didn’t campaign for her to go there, but can see why she came to that decision.

“No, that was her,” Cora told reporters, per MLB.com’s Ian Browne. “She had options for the next chapter in her life. And I think, like everybody else, you decide what you want to do, and I think she’s ready for the 85-degree weather all year round.”