And I was one of the complainers because I was plenty worried we had used up 2 starters in one game and still lost it. But I still think Cora has had an incredible season for a manager because I've watched almost every game and think he makes good decisions.
But more than that it appears he has the team thinking the right way and I love the way he looks in the dugout during games. Alert, decisive, and calm--the exact opposite of what a first time manager for a highly paid, highly visible ball club should look.
They just fired a guy who took them to the WS in 2013 and won the AL East in 2016 and 2017. Gone. Francona, a perfectly good manager who broke the Curse and then won a 2d WS--gone. In the movie Bull Durham Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) holds forth on how tough MLB pitchers can be, but they ain't nuttin' compared to the Sox front office in the John Henry era. They are currently paying two guys, Pablo and Hanley, a combined $35M this season to stay away from this team.
Yet there is Cora--to the manner born. Pretty remarkable.
That said, just maybe it's time to recognize the players without whom all this--108 wins, 3 of 4 in the ALDS, 4 of 5 in the ALCS, and now 3-1 in the WS--is impossible.
And it has to be said, especially by yours truly, the big fat whiner last night, that last night's game was representative of the best games they've played this season. In fact, it probably is the best game given their situation and what was at stake.
So hat's off to all of them and especially Pearce who was interviewed after the game and said the same thing--it was a team effort all the way. I assume everyone has seen the replay of Sale charging guys up in the bullpen I think right before the Sox batted in the 7th.