Is Alex Cora this good of a manager or is this a case of the having the players? I think it is a little of both. The first year manager led the Boston RedSox to a 108 win season then beat the New York Yankees, then beat the defending champs Houston Astros to get to the world series, now he is just 2 wins away from winning a championship to add to Boston’s trophy case. There have been several first year managers this season to various degrees of success (Aaron Boone of the Yankees) and to a much failed degree Mickey Callaway of the New York Mets. In this era or error of analytics Cora manages more with his gut (What a novel concept) and use both analytics and a feel for the game. The RedSox responded playing with emotion.
They’ve outscored opponents 68-41 in the postseason. They are 9-0 when scoring first in October. They are undefeated in five games on the road in October, with all of those wins coming against teams with 100 or more wins. As a team, they have a .261/.345/.404 slash line in these playoffs while opponents are batting only .209/.305/.333.
Throughout the entire postseason they have scored 36 of their 68 total runs with two outs on the board. That’s clutch hitting dear reader and there doesn’t seem to be any reason to believe this will stop iin Los Angeles as the series shifts to Dodger Stadium. Maybe the Dodgers will win one game but this series belongs to Alex Cora and the Boston Redsox.
smallthoughtsinasportsworld 