The stage was set during this past off-season when the most storied rivalry in Major League Baseball each named former players from their respective teams to be their new rookie managers.
Red Sox skipper Alex Cora’s 2007 postseason contributions with Boston paled in comparison to Yankee counterpart Aaron Boone, whose walk-off home run in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS derailed the Bosox from reaching the Fall Classic.
How fitting and fortunate for baseball fans that Boone and Cora added another dash of competitive flavor by calling the shots from their separate dugouts.
I don’t need any other reasons to love baseball, but the destiny that brought these journeymen together at the same time off the diamond made for a more compelling series. And the history of how both of these teams have broken each other’s hearts repeatedly throughout the years enhanced Tuesday night’s thrilling outcome.
With Boston holding a commanding 4-1 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth, there was never a doubt in my mind that this game was over. But after getting ripped a new one the day before, the Yankees weren’t going quietly.
Boone may have kept starting pitcher CC Sabathia in too long, but Cora took ace Chris Sale in relief out too soon, reminiscent of so many postseason managerial mishaps between them. One of the most egregious was Grady Little’s decision to keep a diminishing Pedro Martinez on the mound after tossing over 120 pitches in that fateful 2003 Game 7 11th inning loss off the bat Boone borrowed from teammate Mickey Rivers.
Cora came close to rueing the day he replaced Sale with 42 regular season saves closer Craig Kimbrel, who allowed the Yankees to crawl within one via a host of broken breaking balls.
But this time, the cards were in Boston’s favor as first baseman Steve Pearce had the holy grail of stretches, retrieving an errant throw from Eduardo Nunez, after charging a dramatic dribbler at third, for the final out.
And the incestuous Major League Baseball story continues on Saturday when the Astros ex-bench coach Cora attempts to dethrone his former reigning World Series Championship team.
