The MLB Won't Do the Right Thing.

By Ethan Semendinger

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Rob Manfred has a history of hiding in the face of adversity, and he showed it again by not suspending Alex Cora.

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The "Rafael Devers" Incident:

On September 14th, 2024 the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox faced off in the Bronx. And, just 5 pitches into the game, we get to a pivotal moment: Gerrit Cole hit Rafael Devers in the back on a 0-1 cutter. (Video here.)

As far as if the hit by pitch was intentional or not, I don't know. But, if it was- as Alex Cora would have you believe (and more on these comments later)- it was the done perfectly. The ideal spot to get hit by a pitch is in the meat of your body, mainly on your thigh or the side of your body. Gerrit Cole's slider was headed directly for the meaty Devers' body, but he turned and had it him on his back.

On the other hand, no pitcher would ever intentionally hit a batter with a 0-1 cutter in the first inning of a game. It makes little sense.

Later, in the 4th inning, Gerrit Cole then threw up four fingers to intentionally walk Rafael Devers with nobody on and one out in the inning. Who made the call to intentionally walk him with a 1-0 is disputed, but it is clear that he is a kryptonite to Cole. Both statistically (40 AB's, 8 HR's, and a .350/.435/.975 triple-slash) and mentally.

With all that context, let's flash forward to the bottom of the 6th inning.

Aaron Judge led off against Brayan Bello. Immediately, Bello threw a pitch behind Judge's legs. Judge would ultimately flyout to end the at-bat, and Bello was then pulled after 5.1 innings of work.

And that's where everything ended on the field.

But, afterwards, Alex Cora told the media, "We had our shot in the 6th inning and it didn't happen".

Let's think about that comment with the context from above.

We have a manger who believes his player (Devers) was thrown at, who then got even more frustrated when that same player got walked later on. Then his pitcher threw at a player on the other team (Judge) and missed. Immediately afterwards, he pulled his pitcher from the game. He then told the media that his team missed their chance in the same inning his pitcher missed an intentional hit-by-pitch.

...

Now, I understand the game of baseball has a lot of nuance to it. There are many unwritten rules that players, coaches, and teams have to know. And, one of those unwritten rules is that- sometimes- teams will retaliate when their players get hit by pitches. And, when that happens, the other team's best hitter is often the one who will be at risk.

And, I have no problem with this way that baseball self-controls. Sometimes it's the right thing to send a message (when done in the right way, of course). The same thing happens in hockey: If your team feels plighted from an opponent not following the unwritten rules, your team will often send out a player to go fight the guy who did wrong.

However, I do have a problem with this happening, clearly intentionally, and the other manager saying the following after the game: (Starting at 0:41 in this video, the same as I referenced earlier.)

"We don't want to hit people on purpose, right? I mean, he can get hurt. Especially in the situation they're in...we hit somebody and somebody gets hurt, puts us in a bad spot. We want the best players to be playing every single day out there. I want Aaron Judge to be out there every single day.

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Rafi got hit. They can say whatever they want, but the intentional walk was loud and clear, 'I don't want to face him', so, the second pitch of the game against Rafi, you see it, it was intentional. I'm not going to back out. It was intentional."

When a manager makes a comment like this, vilifying a team for hitting a player (on a pitch that very well could have been a mistake) in order to take some moral high ground, then that same manager cannot, in good faith, also make comments about "missing their shot" to retaliate.

If he really wants Aaron Judge out there, every single day, then he should be able to be the morally superior manager he thinks he is, and not instruct his pitchers to throw behind him.

The next day, Judge responded to questions about the first pitch in the 6th inning from the media, saying, "I think the biggest thing is just don't miss when you do it."

It's a prime example of two guys showing their true colors.

Alex Core is the epitome of "Rules for thee, not for me."

Meanwhile, Aaron Judge is an all-around good guy who doesn't get involved in nonsense.

I am so happy the Yankees have a player, and person, like Judge as the captain of the their team.

i am also so happy the Yankees never got involved with trying to hire Alex Cora.

Now, a manager openly admitting to intentionally throwing at other players is a definite no-no in the baseball world.

So, what was the consequence that Alex Cora faced for all of this?

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Rob Manfred is Weak:

To answer my question from above: NOTHING!

And, this doesn't come as a surprise at all.

Alex Cora has been heavily involved in some of the biggest scandals in recent MLB history, while Rob Manfred was the commissioner of the league.

Alex Cora was implicated in the Houston Astros cheating scandal of 2017 when they were stealing signs.

Alex Cora was not given any penalty by Rob Manfred for his role in allowing this to happen. Two other people (Jeff Luhnow and AJ Hinch) were suspended for 1 year each, but Cora was let go scot free by the MLB.

Instead of Rob Manfred doing anything about it, the Red Sox and Cora agreed to mutually separate ahead of the 2020 season.

At the same time as the Astros scandal was being investigated, Alex Cora was also implicated in the Boston Red Sox cheating scandal of 2018, when they were using prohibited technology to stealing signs.

However, instead of going after the only man involved in both sign-stealing scandals, one year apart from each other, the MLB found that Red Sox replay system operator, JT Watkins, was entirely responsible.

Manfred would go on to say the following about Cora,

"Alex Cora will be suspended through the conclusion of the 2020 Postseason for his conduct as the bench coach of the Houston Astros in 2017. While I will not impose additional discipline on Cora as a result of the conduct engaged in by [the Red Sox' replay operator] (because I do not find that he was aware of it), I do note that Cora did not effectively communicate to Red Sox players the sign-stealing rules that were in place for the 2018 season."

Alex Cora- who was already fired by the Red Sox, and not given any penalty from the MLB- was suspended solely through the remainder of the 2020 postseason. (A postseason that the Red Sox didn't even sniff, after finishing 5th in the AL East.)

Even though he was involved in two of the biggest scandals in the history of the MLB, Alex Cora got to walk with nearly no punishment.

So, it was no surprise the MLB wouldn't do anything about him admitting to having his pitcher throw at another player.

What a joke.