Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora is reluctant to push for foreign substance checks on opposing pitchers for a very interesting reason.
Cora was singled out as one of the main proponents of the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing operation in the 2017 season when serving as the team’s bench coach. With that in mind, he said Wednesday that it would be difficult for him to make a request to umpires to check for foreign substances given his personal history.
However one compares the two scandals, it’s understandable that Cora feels awkward here. He’s closely identified with one major cheating scandal. There is something hypocritical about going after opponents for something in the same general category.
Cora’s comments come in light of another manager not shying away from going after opposing pitchers with substance checks. It sounds like we won’t see Cora replicating that anytime soon unless he absolutely has to.
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