The Red Sox will face the Houston Astros in the ALCS, and they brought Alex Cora back to Boston to manage them to victory in a series like this.
Last year, the Houston Astros won 101 games in the regular season, and then won the 2017 World Series. They edged out the New York Yankees in the ALCS in seven games, and then did the exact same thing against the Los Angeles Dodgers to win their first ever world championship in franchise history.
The Astros won because of stellar pitching, clutch hitting, and because they play the game of baseball the right way. They did it all under the excellent guidance of manager A.J. Hinch, and Alex Cora got a front row seat to all of it while serving as Houston’s bench coach.
Then after the season, the Boston Red Sox fired their manager, John Farrell, and brought Cora back to town to be the man in charge. Cora had spent time with the Red Sox as a player, even winning the World Series with the team in 2007.
Boston brought Cora back because he was familiar with the organization, and because he’s been part of a winning culture. He won a championship in Boston under Terry Francona, and then won again as an assistant coach under Hinch, even beating the Red Sox along the way. He knows all about that culture, and that’s why the Red Sox hired him: to be able to win a series like the one they are about to play against Houston in the ALCS.
After the Red Sox let Farrell go, Cora came in and found instant success. The team was winning games at an incredible pace, and finished the season with a franchise record 108 wins for the best record in baseball.
But now they face a Houston team that won 103 games, an even better team that than the one that won it all a year ago. Even though Boston won more games, and even though they have home field advantage for this ALCS, they are still essentially an underdog. The Astros still have lights out pitching with aces like Justin Verlander and Dallas Keuchel, and they still have reigning AL MVP Jose Altuve, as well as stars like Alex Bregman, George Springer and Carlos Correa.
The Astros are still the team to beat in the American League, but that’s why the Red Sox brought Cora back to Boston: to beat this team and get to the World Series.