What’s this? Aaron Boone isn’t an idiot?
Game 1 of the Wild Card Series between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox produced an all-too familiar narrative. Alex Cora, genius. Boone, dummy. Yankees fans, with their team one loss from elimination, were ready to bare their fangs again.
Now look at those fans after the Yankees’ 4-0 victory in the best-of-three clincher Thursday night, flashing toothy grins from ear to ear. Boone finally gained the upper hand on his nemesis Cora, who in back-to-back games made confusing, conflicting decisions with his starting pitchers. At least until Boone pulls his first head-scratcher in the Division Series against the Toronto Blue Jays, all is forgiven. Or should be.
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The margins between good and bad managerial moves in the postseason often are thin, with outcomes heavily influencing opinions. The shocking thing about Cora’s maneuvering in Games 2 and 3 of the Wild Card Series is that he showed a rare, almost shocking lack of feel.
Cora was too aggressive pulling right-hander Brayan Bello after 28 pitches in Game 2.
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