Alex Cora is the current Red Sox manager and also led the team to its 2018 World Series championship. But before that, he was the Astros bench coach for the 2017 season and we know by now the connection with that team and the sign-stealing scandal.
According to Evan Drellich's new book, "Winning Fixes Everything," Cora would boast about the Astros' sign-stealing exploits to members of the Red Sox once he changed jobs. Notably, he'd reportedly get a little loose with the lips once he started drinking.
When Cora arrived in Boston to manage the Red Sox in 2018, he would "occasionally talk about the Astros' sign-stealing from 2017, even brag, sometimes in a late-night setting," Drellich wrote.
"Especially when they started drinking," a member of the Red Sox reportedly said.
"We stole that (expletive) World Series," Cora allegedly said.
While many teams were accused of illegally stealing signs during those years, Cora's acts were seen as particularly egregious.
"We knew the Astros did [steal signs]," another member of the Red Sox told Drellich, "because Alex Cora told us. He said that when they played the Dodgers, 'We already knew what everybody was throwing before we even got on base. We didn't have to get on base.' And everybody was like, 'What the hell does that mean?' "
The book details much more than simply the Astros' sign-stealing operation in 2017, including habits of teams like the Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers.
The focus, though, is heavily on the 2017 Astros and 2018 Red Sox, who both won championships and were punished for breaking the rules during those runs.
The fallout included eventual firings of Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch in addition to Cora from his Red Sox job and Carlos Beltán from his Mets managerial post before he ever managed a game. No active players were punished, as they were granted immunity from the commissioner's office in exchange for honest testimony.
