Keeping it in perspective
Players, coaches meet with survivors of Parkland tragedy
FORT MYERS — The Red Sox were hoping that some Saturday morning baseball could help provide a light atmosphere for children who just endured a living nightmare.
Three kids from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., were at JetBlue Park yesterday to take in the sights, sounds and smells of spring training. The children were survivors of a national tragedy earlier in the week, when 17 students were killed by a former student with a semiautomatic AR-15 rifle.
“They talked to some of the coaches and some of the players,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “It puts everything in perspective. We talk about baseball every day and what’s going on and for them to come here after what happened, it was a good day for them.
“Got to give credit to those guys, they got a lot of stuff going on and for them to be able to take their time and talk to them, pretty good day for us in that sense.”
Parkland is located about two hours away from Fort Myers on the eastern side of the state.
“Baseball is awesome, and we love it, but when stuff like that happens, it puts everything in perspective,” Cora said.
Pedey checks in
Dustin Pedroia was a new arrival to camp, when the 34-year-old got to see Cora performing his managerial duties for the first time.
Pedroia and Cora were teammates during Cora’s final three years in Boston from 2006-08.
“It’s crazy that I owe so much to him for how he helped me and what he’s done for me,” Pedroia said. “To be able to play for him is going to be awesome. He was always managing me when I was playing with him. He’d be telling me what to do every minute of the day. It won’t be anything new.”
Pedroia took responsibility for not being a better leader last year and said he’s hoping to help the young players feel more comfortable stepping into leadership roles this year.
Pedroia laid out a plan for a better mental approach. He said last year’s club was too focused on the results of each day and not the entire season. Too much pressure was then put on a single day’s events and it made it difficult for some guys to enjoy the game.
It was Cora who taught Pedroia how to think about the game in a more productive manner over a decade ago.
“I did feel he would be a manager,” Pedroia said. “His locker was right next to mine. He kind of, his job was to teach me everything, basically: How to be a professional, how to look at the game, how to understand other players, teammates, seeing things during the game. I always knew he would be a manager, just the way he views everything. I’m thrilled that he’s here. It’s going to be fun for a lot of guys to experience.
“I’d always tell them, basically everything I do in baseball he showed me how to do, believing in the process of the season. It’s not 10, 20 at-bats that make a player. It’s 600 over the course of the year. If you do the right things in your work before the game, whether it’s taking groundballs, everything is going to pay off at the end. If you’re a .300 hitter and the last day of the year you’re hitting .270, you’ll probably play a 30-inning game and go 30for-30. You are who you are. But you’ve just got to stick to the process and understand that, at the end, you’ll be right where you need to be.”
Rivalry is on
Cora spent some time Friday in Tampa, where managers from all over the Grapefruit League met for a few hours.
While he expects the rivarly between the Red Sox and Yankees to be heated once the season starts, he and new Yankees manager
Aaron Boone go way back.
“We talked about a lot of stuff,” Cora said of Boone, his former colleague at ESPN. “How are you handling the media, are you meeting before the workout or after the workout, how are you dealing with the players, with schedule, when you come into this situation schedule is the talk now?
“This is a rivalry, we know. At the end of the day, he wants what we want. He knows we want what he wants. Doesn’t matter how friendly we are, but at the end I want to beat him 19 times this season and if we face him later on we want to beat him.” . . .
David Price was wearing a sweatshirt that said “We need leaders” on the back, perhaps in reference to the talk about the Red Sox not having enough leadership in 2017 . . . .
Eduardo Nunez’ one-year agreement with the Red Sox is still not finalized. The deal was pending a physical, which is no slam dunk considering he finished the 2017 season with a knee injury. Nunez was spotted at JetBlue Park yesterday but the Sox have yet to comment on the impending signing.