Swing And A Miss

Not sure how this one got past me; it's four days old, but it's classic Shank!

Alex Cora gets our unofficial vote for rookie of the year

Alex Cora might be Boston’s best “rookie” since Fred Lynn in 1975 or Larry Bird in ’79.

It wasn’t like this for Bill Belichick in Year 1. The Hoodie went 5-11 in his first year as head coach of the Patriots. Red Auerbach? In 1950-51, Auerbach got the Celtics over .500, but they were swept in the first round of the playoffs. Brad Stevens? He didn’t make the playoffs in his first season on the bench.

No Shank column is complete without a Fred Lynn or Larry Bird reference, right?

We don’t know what’s going to happen to Cora’s American League East champs in the playoffs,

This is the same guy who's all but openly rooting for a Red Sox loss in the playoffs all freaking year.

...but he just completed the second-most successful rookie year of managing in the history of major league baseball, winning a whopping 108 games. Only Ralph Houk (109-53 with the 1961 Yankees) won more games than Cora in his first season and Houk had Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, and Whitey Ford.

Cora has a pretty good roster, too, but nothing like the ’61 Yanks.

The 42-year-old field boss of the Local Nine has been everybody’s favorite since Day 1 in spring training. Players, owners, team staffers, and media members all love him. And fans have spared him the slings and arrows traditionally aimed at any man who sits on the hot seat on the street formerly known as Yawkey Way.

You and I both know what's going to happen should the Red Sox bow out in the first round, don't we?