Another friendly foe
There’s nothing but love between Alex Cora and Dave
Roberts, the former Dodgers teammates who will manage against each other in this World Series.
It’s the first time ever that both managers in the World Series have played for both teams, according to Elias Sports Bureau. And it’s the first time since Mike Scioscia and Dusty Baker in 2002 that both managers also won a World Series as players.
“I know it’s going to sound bad, but not really: I love the guy,” Cora said. “He means a lot to me, but at the same time, we have a job to do. And you start looking at my postseason this year, we had
(Aaron Boone) with the Yankees, A.J. (Hinch) with the Astros, and now we’ve got Dave. And at the end of the day we like each other, we’re friends and we respect each other, but they want to win four to win the World Series and we feel the same -- we want to do the same thing.”
Cora joked that Roberts has been living off his fame for stealing second base against the Yankees in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 4 in the 2004 American League Championship Series.
“And now he comes here and he makes a lot of money signing autographs,” Cora said, smiling. “I know he puts, ‘The greatest stolen base in the history of the game.’ He makes a lot of money in an hour. Probably he’s making money right now.”
Roberts said signing autographs in Boston is “probably not as lucrative as Alex made it sound. But it is great coming back to this great city. I’ve got nothing but great memories, even flying into Logan and just this time of year, this city, the leaves changing. And then you drive up to Fenway Park and it all just kind of comes back to you, 2004.”
Price up for Game 2
Cora announced David Price will start Game 2 of the World Series tomorrow night.
Starters for Game 3 and 4 have yet to be announced, since Nathan Eovaldi and Rick
Porcello are likely to be in the bullpen again in Games 1 and 2.
The Dodgers will throw
Hyun-Jin Ryu against Price in Game 2 and budding ace
Walker Buehler in Game 3. The Red Sox were still unsure if knuckleballer Steven Wright will be ready to pitch. He threw a simulated game Sunday.
“He was OK,” Cora said. “He’s moving well. We’re going to meet after the workout (yesterday) to make the decision and to see where we’re at roster-wise. And we’ll announce it.”
Kershaw lesson
Sandy Leon will catch Chris Sale in Game 1 tonight, Cora said.
They’ll be opposite Clayton Kershaw, who is pitching on just two days rest after throwing a relief outing in Game 7 of the NLCS on Saturday.
“That’s why I came here yesterday to make sure everything was good, and should be good,” Kershaw said.
It’ll be his first career start at Fenway Park for the future Hall of Famer.
“I don’t really think about that stuff,” he said. “I appreciate the history and everything that goes along with Fenway Park. But I came here, I don’t know how long ago, 2000 something and got to at least see it, got to be here, got to appreciate the stadium and things like that.
“Check this one off as far as pitching tomorrow, but I don’t really think about the history part of it too much, honestly.”
Kelly: J.D. underpaid
Joe Kelly said the Red Sox expected, back in the spring, to win the American League East again, but it wasn’t until
J.D. Martinez was signed that expectations grew.
“When you add a player like that, it’s like, alright, now we’re going to be able to make some noise in the playoffs too,” Kelly said. “He’s like an on-field coach with most of our hitters. That’s something that, if I was a GM, I’d be kicking my (expletive) for, because I get the part about contracts and money, but a lot of people don’t see the underlying factors until they actually play withaguy.
“He’s helped numerous guys on the team with hitting, how they think, their swings, and that in itself, I think he should make another $100 million on top of that because of what he brings to the table for everybody else on the team. I think a lot of people don’t realize that. I think there are probably 29 other G Ms out there who are saying, wow, J.D. Martinez. If you look at it he’s probably technically underpaid right now for the numbers he’s put up.
“And to have a guy like that to help our young, veteran hitters -- guys that have played in the league 10-plus years are coming to JD and asking him for help. You can’t put a price tag on that.”
115 and counting
Cora said he has plans for the 115 photos, one for each win this year, on the wall in his office.
“The plan is to get them down and next year for the Jimmy Fund we’re going to auction them off,” Cora said.
“I know we’re going to make a lot of money for that, and it’s for the right reason and that’s what we’re going to do. There’s other stuff that I want to do with the pictures, like I have other ideas, but we’ll get to that hopefully when we win four games.”