Triple Play:
1. This is our third straight player with a younger sibling who also played in the majors! Alex Cora, ten years Joey's junior, was a glove-first infielder for the Dodgers and five other teams between 1998 and 2011.
2. While playing with the AA Beaumont Golden Gators in 1986, Cora got involved in an argument with a few opposing fans while waiting outside the team bus. The men came back with reinforcements and Cora was stabbed once in the stomach and once in the arm. He was rushed to the hospital and made a full recovery, spending six weeks on the disabled list.
3. After retiring as a player, Joey spent a few years managing in the Mets and Expos farm systems before joining ex-teammate Ozzie Guillen's coaching staff in Chicago. He served as third base coach, then as bench coach. He also hired on as Guillen's bench coach with the Marlins. He's since been picked up by the MLB Network as an analyst.
11-Year-Old Kevin Says: I always liked Joey Cora. He was just a scrappy little guy who looked kind of like an easily-startled puppy.
Bill James Said: "If he stays healthy, will hold his job for several years, and will score more than 100 runs in his best seasons." Right on the mark - he started at second base for the White Sox, Mariners, and Indians for the following five seasons, and crossed the plate 105 times in 1997 and 111 in 1998. In the former season, he was named to the All-Star team and also batted .300/.359/.441 with 40 doubles
On This Date in 1993: December 6. Elian Gonzalez is born in Cuba. He will be at the center of a heated custody and immigration battle around the turn of the century after attempting to defect to the United States with his mother.
I had never heard Joey Cora speak until I saw him on the MLB network. Talk about a voice that does not match his face. He sounds like a Latino James Earl Jones and looks like, as you said, "an easily-startled puppy."
ReplyDeleteI've been waiting for you to get to this one! Joey is my favorite player ever. I have about a dozen copies of this card along with a bunch of the gold parallel ones and the micro version.
ReplyDeleteMax - The biggest disconnect for me is still Tony Gwynn. The guy who sounds the most like he looks is probably John Lackey, and that is not a compliment.
ReplyDeleteTTG - I'd like to think that this blog offers something for everybody.