The Alex Cora Managerial Decision Thread

[Emp9]

Exactly, he had plenty of time to get there. Should have been up and moving as soon as the bat slammed.

 

Also, a catcher should never take his mask off in those situations; if the other guy is dumb enough to punch a mask and/or helmet, let him. If you watch the Varitek -ARod incident, Varitek walks down the line between ARod and Arroyo and never takes his mask off; it gets knocked off once the benches clear.

 

Vaz, just like most of our team, and especially last season (btw), are not veterans. They learn as they go in situations like this. I wouldn’t be too judgmental.

[Bellhorn04]

Peter Abraham's take on this year's incident vs. the Machado incident. Abraham clearly blames last year's bungling of the retribution on Farrell and thinks Pedroia's reaction was misunderstood.

 

https://t.co/jDCRmmX54O

[illinoisredsox]

Yup, Vaz needs a sit down with Tek. You need to protect your pitchers.

 

Or if Tek is unavailable, maybe David Ross next time he's in town to do a game. Heck, get one of the Molina brothers on the phone, Vaz has worked out with them.

 

Vaz, just like most of our team, and especially last season (btw), are not veterans. They learn as they go in situations like this. I wouldn’t be too judgmental.

 

Agreed, Tek may not have been that savvy in his 2nd or 3rd year either. Vaz will learn.

 

Those of you who have seen most of the games, is he still going to that stand up high fastball on 0-2? Or scraping the dirt to make the batter think he's setting up opposite of where he actually is? I haven't noticed it as much, but I don't get to see every game. To me, those were silly things that fool nobody.

[Carbo-Diem]

Still sticking with my prediction of Torre justice, Kelly 5 games, Austin 2.

 

And Austin's will be appealed down to one. That punk Judge needs a couple also for putting Kelly in a headlock.

[illinoisredsox]

And Austin's will be appealed down to one. That punk Judge needs a couple also for putting Kelly in a headlock.

 

Actually, Judge may have saved Kelly from a major hit from behind. Big guys like that tend to be pretty mild mannered. If he had wanted to, he could have really hurt him. He didn't. Graig Nettles or Mickey Rivers he ain't (or Sanchez for that matter, to use a more recent Yankee brawler).

[jacksonianmarch]

Judge may have headlocked him, but he saved Kelly from getting his ass kicked.

[mvp 78]

@ByChrisMason

 

I’m sure a bunch of Red Sox fans missed this because it was on the YES broadcast, but Alex Cora told Phil Nevin to take a hike after the brawl. #Likability

 

https://www.clippituser.tv/c/qdwmaq

 

GOAT

[mvp 78]

Judge may have headlocked him, but he saved Kelly from getting his ass kicked.

 

Pfft, Judge was preventing Kelly from ripping out Austin's throat. Austin is a little baby bitch. I hope he enjoys his 15 minutes like Karim Garcia.

[mvp 78]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/alex-cora-stung-yankees-joe-kelly-fastball-article-1.3930076

 

"That was bush-league stuff," the former manager said, speaking of Cora. "You don't disrespect the other coaching staff like that. Nevin is a well-respected guy in the game, a former No. 1 pick … the guy had a good career. What has Cora done? He's a first-year manager, he's not Mike Scioscia.

 

"I don't know what was said, but Cora was waving Nevin away like, 'you're not on my level.' And (Cora) was back in the dugout by then. It looked like that got (Aaron) Boone fired up, and I don't blame him.

 

The former player, who admittedly has some old Yankee bias, agreed.

 

"Cora was out of line from what I saw," the player said. "Players look out for their coaches. They're not going to forget that.

 

"There's a lot more there than a guy getting drilled for spiking the second baseman," he said. "Teams are going to retaliate for that. Whether it was intentional or not, you don't go after somebody's leg with your spikes up like that and not expect to hear about it from the other team."

 

It's true, Austin's slide was the type that almost always provokes a reaction of some kind.

 

Naturally the Yankees were going to defend Austin, but if they saw the replay I have to think that, at least privately, some probably understood the Red Sox reaction.

 

Instead, I thought Hall of Famer Chipper Jones, on Twitter, spelled out what is probably pretty universal reaction among players:

 

"U slide in with ur spikes up and catch a piece ur gonna get thrown at young fella. That's how baseball works. It polices itself, whether people like it or not. That will never change. Love the spirit in both squads, though."

 

Crying about Cora telling another coach to go sit down is great. I do like that the NY writer eventually admits that the slide was dirty tho. Good stuff.

[S5Dewey]

Vaz had more than enough time. Once Austin walked forward and slammed the bat, he should have at least gotten between the batter and the pitcher. In a perfect world, he would have tackled him.

 

I've now watched the replay a couple of times and as much as it pains me to admit this, you're right. Austin slammed the bat down and took four steps by my count toward the mound before breaking into a run. Vaz had adequate time to get between the two. He at least should have remained close enough to Austin to have pulled him down from behind when he (Austin) started running.

[S5Dewey]

Any word on suspensions yet?

[a700hitter]

@ByChrisMason

 

I’m sure a bunch of Red Sox fans missed this because it was on the YES broadcast, but Alex Cora told Phil Nevin to take a hike after the brawl. #Likability

 

https://www.clippituser.tv/c/qdwmaq

 

GOAT

GTFOH Phil Nevin!

[Jasonbay44]

Phil Nevin is sounding like one hell of a pussy in this whole situation.

[mvp 78]

I've now watched the replay a couple of times and as much as it pains me to admit this, you're right. Austin slammed the bat down and took four steps by my count toward the mound before breaking into a run. Vaz had adequate time to get between the two. He at least should have remained close enough to Austin to have pulled him down from behind when he (Austin) started running.

 

It shouldn't pain you to admin that I'm right. I'm just that damn good at TS posting.

[mvp 78]

GTFOH Phil Nevin!

 

Part of those roided up Padres teams.

 

https://goodmenproject.com/sports/all-steroids-team-phil-nevin/

 

In the February 2004 edition of Peter Gammons’ “News and Notes,” the Hall of Fame sportswriter makes a couple of interesting observations.

 

First, Gammons tells us that San Diego Padres first baseman Phil Nevin “has lost 30 pounds after a winter of yoga, pilates, and workouts and looks tremendous.”

 

Then, Gammons adds that another first baseman, the Yankees’ Jason Giambi, “has lost 25 pounds and is clearly focused on coming back from the knee surgery to play first base.”

 

Hulking, power-hitting first basemen going on crash diets and joining their wives for pilates? Something smelled fishy. Just the season before, Giambi had the third-best at-bats-per-home-run ratio (13) in the American League. Meanwhile, during his four years with the San Diego Padres, Nevin had been averaging a home run every 17.4 at bats.

 

What Gammons failed to mention in his notes: during the 2004 season, Major League Baseball would begin implementing random testing for performance enhancing drugs.

 

Three seasons and three teams later, Nevin’s career would be over.

[S5Dewey]

It shouldn't pain you to admin that I'm right. I'm just that damn good at TS posting.

 

Do you have to butter up your head to push it through doorways, too?

[mvp 78]

Phil Nevin is sounding like one hell of a pussy in this whole situation.

 

Upset that his bacne exploded last night. Poor guy!

 

A fine addition to that "classy" Yankees franchise.

[cp176]

Cora needs to go. He loses the opener, and now his team is starting a losing streak with no end in sight. And letting Aaron Freaking Boone beat you? I mean who does that!!!

 

Where is this coming from? Anybody even come close to suggesting that?

[illinoisredsox]

Where is this coming from? Anybody even come close to suggesting that?

 

Did jad need to put the tongue in cheek smiley in there?

[cp176]

I've now watched the replay a couple of times and as much as it pains me to admit this, you're right. Austin slammed the bat down and took four steps by my count toward the mound before breaking into a run. Vaz had adequate time to get between the two. He at least should have remained close enough to Austin to have pulled him down from behind when he (Austin) started running.

 

My guess is this - Austin's reaction caught Vazquez by surprise. Next time and I think there likely will be next time, Vazquez will show up big time.

[cp176]

Where is this coming from? Anybody even come close to suggesting that?

 

For me I guess so - I'm not very smart. Sorry jad if you were just trying to lighten things up - I'm still pissed about that slide and yes I do think that if the rule had not been changed, Austin's next slide into second base would have been one helluva lot closer to the ground or he would have been eating the ball.

[Emp9]

Pfft, Judge was preventing Kelly from ripping out Austin's throat. Austin is a little baby bitch. I hope he enjoys his 15 minutes like Karim Garcia.

 

“Karim Garcia?! Who the f*** is .... Karim Garcia?!” Lol

[Maxbialystock]

Peter Abraham's take on this year's incident vs. the Machado incident. Abraham clearly blames last year's bungling of the retribution on Farrell and thinks Pedroia's reaction was misunderstood.

 

https://t.co/jDCRmmX54O

 

Thanks, Bellhorn. Solid commentary from Abraham and on both incidents. He could well be right that Farrell mishandled it last year and Cora did it right this year.

[mvp 78]

Do you have to butter up your head to push it through doorways, too?

 

Nah, my tiny brain doesn't need a large cranium to reside in!

[oldtimer]

Not sure i would put Holt in the lineup tonight with Lin available. Neither can hit, but Lin has more range.

[Natick to NC]

Not sure i would put Holt in the lineup tonight with Lin available. Neither can hit, but Lin has more range.

 

This had to be said ...TY

[Natick to NC]

Where is this coming from? Anybody even come close to suggesting that?

 

There mayyyy be a hint ....just a smidge of sarcastic stuff there .

[jad]

For me I guess so - I'm not very smart. Sorry jad if you were just trying to lighten things up - I'm still pissed about that slide and yes I do think that if the rule had not been changed, Austin's next slide into second base would have been one helluva lot closer to the ground or he would have been eating the ball.

 

If only I got paid for the number of times I missed a joke, I'd be freaking Croesus! I too am amazed at that slide, although I suppose cleats aren't quite as lethal now as they were in my day and can't actually slice your leg off. I loved his childish tantrum at home plate! Slamming the bat down, and posturing theatrically to ensure that everyone got there in time to break up a fight which never got going.

[Kimmi]

https://twitter.com/MLB/status/984256977277665280

 

Watch the video again. Instead of messing around with his mask, Vaz needs to step between the batter and the pitcher. He has enough time. The batter starts walking towards Kelly and Vaz just slowly wanders behind. Not good enough.

 

I agree with you. And I'm a big Vaz fan.

 

Varitek would have been all over that.

[a700hitter]

I agree with you. And I'm a big Vaz fan.

 

Varitek would have been all over that.

Glad that you agree with me on something.