Alex Cora has message for ESPN over ‘Sunday Night Baseball’
Aug 1, 2021; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora (13) looks on against the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have a rivalry that some would argue is the greatest in all of sports. Even when the two teams aren’t at their best, fans always tune in when they play. However, that comes at a cost and it’s one Red Sox manager Alex Cora is a bit tired of.
The Yankees and Red Sox squared off on Sunday Night Baseball on June 11 and ESPN has them scheduled to do the same this coming Sunday, June 18.
The back-to-back games are too much, Cora argues.
“I think it’s too much sometimes. Back-to-back Sunday night games, with all due respect to ESPN, come on. There’s other teams out there and people want to watch them,” Cora said, via Jen McCaffery of The Athletic.
Currently, the Yankees (39-31) sit in third place of the AL East while the Red Sox (35-35) reside in fifth place. Neither team is playing particularly well and with Aaron Judge on the IL, the matchup has lost some of its star power. Still, baseball fans traditionally put more eyes on Sox-Bombers games than any others, which is why ESPN, FOX Sports and others often vie for their primetime broadcasting rights.
As for Cora, he understands the significance of the rivalry and recognizes how intense it can be. However, he also acknowledges that key games between the two clubs have been few and far between in recent years.
“When it’s the last four or five years people might be down, but we have played in two playoffs since ’18,” Cora told NESN on Friday. “Before that, I don’t know. It happened in ’04 and then after that, we didn’t play them in ’07, ’13 they didn’t play, right? When they won the World Series in ’09, they didn’t play us. It all depends how you see it, but since ’18, played in two series already and that was cool. . . It was very intense.”
ESPN knows that same level of intensity will be lacking on Sunday night but to Cora’s dismay, they intend to milk that Yankees-Red Sox cow as much as possible. Ratings, ratings, rating.
