Alex Cora

Early career

Cora was drafted in the 12th round of the 1993 Major League Baseball draft by the Minnesota Twins, but did not sign a contract and decided instead to play collegiate baseball at the University of Miami. While there, Cora was named to the College World Series all-tournament team in both 1995 and 1996. He led the team to the title game in 1996, a game they lost to Louisiana State University.

Cora was rated by Baseball America as the best collegiate defensive player going into the 1996 draft. Cora was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the third round, and played 61 games of the 1996 season with the Class A-Advanced Vero Beach Dodgers, batting .257 with no home runs and 26 RBIs. He played the 1997 season with the Double-A San Antonio Missions; in 127 games he batted .234 with 3 home runs and 48 RBIs. Cora spent parts of the 1998, 1999, and 2000 seasons with the Triple-A Albuquerque Dukes, hitting .264 in 81 games, .308 in 80 games, and .373 in 30 games, respectively.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Cora made his major league debut on June 7, 1998, with the Dodgers against the Seattle Mariners; his brother Joey Cora was Seattle's starting second baseman in the game.^[1] Alex Cora spent the next seven years in Los Angeles, appearing in a total of 684 games while batting .246 with 27 home runs and 173 RBIs. During his time with the Dodgers, he played at second base and shortstop. During the 2000 and 2001 seasons, Cora mostly played shortstop as the Dodgers moved the aging Mark Grudzielanek to second base. With the emergence of César Izturis in 2002, and the trade of Grudzielanek to the Chicago Cubs in December of the same year, Cora spent the rest of his stint with the Dodgers as their primary second baseman.

Cora played in one postseason series with the Dodgers, the 2004 NLDS, which the Dodgers lost to the St. Louis Cardinals. Cora was the Dodgers' second baseman in all four games, batting 2-for-15 (.133) during the series.

Cleveland Indians

In January 2005, Cora signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Indians, where he appeared in 49 games, with 22 starts at shortstop and 14 at second base; he batted .205 with a home run and 8 RBIs. On July 7, 2005, Cora was traded to the Boston Red Sox for infielder Ramón Vázquez.

Boston Red Sox

Cora with the Red Sox, turning a double-play against the Los Angeles Angels at Fenway Park on April 16, 2007

Cora made his Red Sox debut on July 7, 2005, and through the end of the regular season appeared in a total of 47 games for Boston, batting .269 with 2 home runs and 16 RBIs. In the 2005 ALDS, which Boston lost to the Chicago White Sox in a three-game sweep, Cora played in one game as a defensive replacement, without a plate appearance.

Cora was originally intended to back up shortstop Édgar Rentería. With the trade of Rentería to the Atlanta Braves in December 2005, Cora was being eyed to take the position of starting shortstop, until the Red Sox acquired Álex González in February 2006. For the 2006 season, Cora appeared in 96 games, batting .238 with one home run and 18 RBIs.

Cora was a member of the Red Sox team that won the 2007 World Series. During the regular season, he appeared in 83 games and batted .246 with 3 home runs and 18 RBIs. In the postseason, he appeared as a late-innings defensive replacement in two games of the 2007 ALCS and two games of the World Series. He had one plate appearance, a sacrifice bunt in World Series game 3.

For the 2008 regular season, Cora played in 75 games, batting .270 with no home runs and 9 RBIs. He appeared in four postseason games; two games of the 2008 ALDS, which Boston won, and two games of the 2008 ALCS, which Boston lost. He batted 4-for-26 (.154) with no home runs and one RBI. These games were the final postseason appearances for Cora as a player.

On October 30, 2008, Cora became a free agent. In his four seasons with Boston, he appeared in 301 regular season games, batting .252 with 6 home runs and 61 RBIs.

New York Mets

On January 22, 2009, Cora signed a one-year deal with the New York Mets.^[2] During the 2009 season, he appeared in 82 games, batting .251 with one home run and 18 RBIs. In November 2009, Cora re-signed with the Mets for the 2010 season, with an option for 2011. He was released by the Mets on August 7, 2010^[3] — at the time, he was batting .207 with no home runs and 20 RBIs, having played in 62 games of the 2010 season. In his time with the Mets, Cora appeared in a total of 144 games, with a .234 batting average, 1 home run, and 38 RBIs.

Texas Rangers

On August 17, 2010, Cora signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers, and was assigned to their Triple-A affiliate Oklahoma City, where he appeared in 6 games, batting 4-for-22 (.182). He then played four games for the Rangers, batting 2-for-7 (.286). The Rangers released Cora on September 7. Despite his limited time with Texas, the team later rewarded him with an AL Championship ring.

Washington Nationals

Alex Cora with the Washington Nationals in 2011.

In January 2011, the Nationals signed Cora to a minor league contract.^[4] During the 2011 season, he appeared in 91 games for Washington, batting .224 with no home runs and 6 RBIs. Cora's final MLB appearance was with the Nationals on September 28, 2011, when he tripled as a pinch hitter against the Florida Marlins.^[5]

Late career

Following the 2011 season, Cora played winter baseball in Puerto Rico, after which he announced his retirement; shortly thereafter he clarified that he was retiring only from winter baseball.^[6] He agreed to a minor league contract with the St. Louis Cardinals on February 5, 2012.^[7] After batting .208 with one RBI in 24 plate appearances in spring training, Cora was released by the defending World Series champions on March 25, 2012.^[8]

Notable games

With the Dodgers on May 12, 2004, Cora had an 18-pitch at-bat against Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Matt Clement. Facing a 2–1 count, Cora fouled off 14 straight pitches before finally hitting a home run.^[9] It is the third longest documented at-bat since baseball statisticians began keeping track of pitch counts in the mid-1980s.^[10] So much time elapsed that Cora's brother Joey joked that he and a friend were watching the game at a restaurant, ordering their first beer during the first pitch, and by the time Cora homered they were "so drunk that we had to call a cab to take us home."^[11]

Cora played in the two longest nine-inning games in MLB history. The first was a 4-hour, 27-minute game on October 5, 2001, between the Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants.^[12] The second game, and the longest on record, was a 4-hour, 45-minute game on August 18, 2006, the second game of a doubleheader between the Red Sox and the New York Yankees.^[12] Cora entered the 2001 game as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning,^[13] and was the starting shortstop in the 2006 game.^[14]

International career

Cora played for Puerto Rico in both the 2006 and 2009 World Baseball Classics; he batted 2-for-15 (.133) and 1-for-8 (.125) in those tournaments, respectively.^[15] Cora was the general manager of the Puerto Rico national baseball team until he became Manager of the Red Sox in 2018.^[16]

Broadcasting

From February 2013 to 2016, Cora was a color analyst for baseball on ESPN and ESPN Deportes.^[17]

Coaching

On November 15, 2016, Cora became the bench coach for the Houston Astros.^[18] Cora assumed managerial duties on three occasions during the 2017 season, following ejections of Astros manager A.J. Hinch.^{[19][20][21][22]}

On August 25, 2017, Cora was ejected from a game against the Los Angeles Angels by home plate umpire Laz Díaz.^[23] Cora argued that the baseball had too much dirt on it and should be removed from play; this was Cora's first career MLB ejection.^[24]

Managing