Alex Cora spent this season rewarding the support of Jackie Bradley Jr., David Price and the rest of the Boston Red Sox organization with a record-breaking year and a run deep into the playoffs. The rookie manager’s accomplishments go further than the baseball diamond, too.

Having seen his homeland of Puerto Rico devastated by Hurricane Maria, Cora remains at the forefront of helping the island rebuild.

“It’s been a year since the hurricane and Puerto Rico is still recovering. We all have families over there and we know that the situation remains difficult,” Red Sox assistant general manager Eddie Romero said.

“Alex has that always in mind. I admire that. We are always talking about it. Hopefully, this can bring a little bit of relief to the people, that they have a Puerto Rican hero in such a big state, so important.”

Romero grew up on the island and his dad, Ed, played in the World Series for the Boston. So Cora’s efforts especially resonate with him.

“Alex is always thinking about them. That’s very nice,” Romero said.

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Cora had his mind set on aiding those in need from the very beginning of his first stint as a big league manager. While negotiating his contract last October, he made a request that the Red Sox front office supply aid to Puerto Rico, which the club eagerly accepted.

Then, Cora flew to his hometown of Caguas with team president Sam Kennedy to deliver food and supplies.

Boston catcher Christian Vazquez, whose walk-up song is “Vamos Pa’ La Calle” by a fellow Puerto Rican, popular artist Bad Bunny, later joined Cora to help.

Last year, Vazquez dyed his hair blonde to pay homage to the team that made a run to the championship game against the United States in the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Cora was the general manager for that club and played infield for Puerto Rico in 2006 and 2009.


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