LONDON — In his book “Francona: The Red Sox Years,” written with Dan Shaughnessy, former Red Sox skipper and current Indians manager Terry Francona recalled his dread in taking the team to Japan to open the season with a two-game series against the Athletics. Francona could barely generate any enthusiasm about the trip’s greater goal of promoting Major League Baseball. He just wanted to manage baseball games.
For Alex Cora, a player on those 2008 Red Sox, appreciating the bigger picture comes far more easily.
“I’m a big fan of international baseball,” Cora, now the Red Sox’s manager, said Friday at London Stadium.