Story by
Red Sox’ meeting theme brought ‘tears’ to eyes of some players ‘for the first time ever’
- Story by
- Red Sox’ meeting theme brought ‘tears’ to eyes of some players ‘for the first time ever’
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Manager Alex Cora took a different approach to the Red Sox ' annual organization meeting that kicks off spring training.
“I’ve never seen tears in a spring training meeting coming out of the eyes of our players, but we got it this year for the first time ever,” team president Sam Kennedy said at JetBlue Park on Sunday. “It was awesome to watch.”
Advertisement
Cora had a video produced in which players’ and coaches’ spouses, children and parents shared messages.
“Alex Cora told me last night at dinner it was going to be a show, and it was a show,” Kennedy said. “He absolutely nailed it. Theme was obviously family. And it was just incredible to see players, what their families mean to them.”
Kennedy said Cora’s daughter Camila, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow ’s daughter Livia and hitting coach Pete Fatse’s son Bryce were “the stars of the show.”
“If you could buy a stock in a family member of the Red Sox , Camila Cora, boy, watch out,” Kennedy said. “Watch what she’s gonna do next. Her message was incredible.”
Advertisement
Camila graduated from Boston College last May . She’s now a graduate student at the University of Miami, her father’s alma mater.
Principal owner John Henry and chairman Tom Werner were both in attendance. Henry “talked to the players at length,” Kennedy said.
It marked the 25th year that the team has held an organizational meeting under Henry’s ownership.
“Not recency bias, this was the best one we’ve ever had,” Kennedy said. “It was remarkable.”
John Carter, Red Sox senior vice president of productions, produced the video.
“It’s one of those that we take this for granted sometimes and we don’t put ourselves in their shoes,” Cora said. “The sacrifices and the time they spend alone and how hard it is, this whole thing. And we kind of like switched the whole script from their perspective.”
Advertisement
Cora said it’s difficult for coaches and players to leave their families to head to spring training. But it’s also difficult on the family members back home.
“Sometimes it’s hard to communicate,” Cora said. “And I wanted to do it that way and then see their perspective, how they see it, how they feel. And it was a good one.”
Sunday marked the first full-squad workout.
“A lot of kids, a lot of good messages,” Cora said. “I thought we nailed it. The message that I wanted to send, it was right on point.”
Kennedy said Cora “gave an incredible speech.”
“He talked about the season being a marathon. He talked about what it was like in mile 15 in the New York Marathon,” Kennedy said. “Some woman turned around to him and said, ‘OK, we’re now at the start. Now we’re at the start, and we have to go from here.’ And I think that was very appropriate for today. This is such a marathon. It’s such a grind. There’s nothing like 162. You guys know that better than anybody. So getting back to the postseason and taking that next step in October is the goal. That should be our goal each and every year.”
Advertisement
More Red Sox coverage
Read the original article on MassLive . Add MassLive as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
