Red Sox’s Alex Cora Responds To Backlash Behind Family-First Absence

BOSTON — Red Sox manager Alex Cora lives and breathes baseball, but the 49-year-old made an exception to step away from the club for a day while the team opened up their three-game series against the Mets on Monday night.

Cora spent the day with his daughter, Camila, who graduated from Boston College, roughly six miles down the road from Fenway Park.

The parental instinct to put his daughter first and foremost sparked criticism toward Cora, most notably from 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Michael Felger. The Boston-based radio host questioned Cora’s decision and commitment to the team for missing nine innings of a 162-game regular season. Slow news day? Perhaps. Nevertheless, Cora laughed off the outside noise upon resuming duties at Fenway Park.

“I’ll leave it at that,” Cora said before Tuesday night’s Red Sox-Mets matchup. “People have their own opinions, and those people have families too and at one point, they had to make decisions too. I bet they made decisions for the best of their family. I made the best decision for my daughter. For those who don’t understand, I am not going to try to convince them. It is what it is.”

Cora was joined by 20 family members for the ceremony and celebration. Meanwhile, back at Fenway Park, Red Sox bench coach Ramón Vázquez filled in for Cora and managed the team’s series opener against the Mets. Boston defeated New York, 3-1, which credited Vázquez with his first-career managerial victory, and even though Cora was in attendance, that didn’t mean he wasn’t watching from afar.

“That was interesting too, to watch the game with my mom,” Cora mentioned. “Oof. That’s something. That’s something. A lot of different thoughts to say the least.”

It was a brief departure that, while controversial to some, isn’t one Cora regrets taking.

Camila has been by Cora’s side ever since the ex-big leaguer became the Red Sox’s 47th skipper in 2018. She sat alongside her father during the team’s World Series celebratory duck boat ride across Boston and shared a teary-eyed moment when the Red Sox defeated the Rays in the 2021 American League Division Series, to advance to the ALCS.

Those moments are forever cherished by Cora, who’s watched Camila grow up throughout the past few years.

“She wanted me to be with her and it was her day, so this is secondary,” Cora said. “We’re in this world for a purpose and for me, it’s to raise her and try to do the best I can. Obviously, it wasn’t perfect, but right now it’s perfect. For her, she was very anxious having the whole family in town, but like we told her, anything for her.”

Camila is officially done with Boston College, but she’s not done pursuing her education. Next, she’ll attend Miami to pursue her master’s degree at the University of Miami — the same school Cora attended and played for three years before joining the Los Angeles Dodgers in the third round of the 1996 MLB Draft.