Alex Cora’s apology made Astros’ Kenley Jansen want to cry

MLB

by Eric Richter

June 28, 2023 | 3:19 p.m

Alex Cora’s cheating skeletons from the 2017 Astros still haunt him.

“We’re ready,” Cora told Red Sox newcomers Justin Turner, Keke Hernandez, and Kenley Jansen, who were also members of the 2017 Dodgers team that lost to Cora’s Astros in the World Series, during a spring training meeting in Fort Myers, Florida.

“I felt like I wanted to cry in that moment when he said that,” Jansen told WEEI.com. “Because I felt like this was the best season I had in my entire career because I dominated the whole year, I dominated the playoffs, and the Houston Astros were the only ones to put the ball in play. It’s over, and you can’t change things, but what we can do is appreciate When someone steps up and steps up and is responsible for what they did.

Jansen had a career year in 2017 when he established himself as an elite closer with a 1.32 ERA and a league-best 41 saves.

But this postseason, things took a turn.

Jansen allowed only two hits and zero runs scored in seven games against the Cubs and Diamondbacks in the NLDS and NLCS.

But that World Championship, things took a turn.

The Astros had his number, hitting two home runs and getting three runs in high leverage situations, contributing to two more losses.

Houston would end up winning the World Series in seven games, though it was later revealed that the team used cameras to steal the signs and pass them on to hitters by tapping the trash can in the dugout.

Other Astros players have apologized for their actions as well, notably pitcher Charlie Morton in 2020, now a member of the Atlanta Braves.

He told the media that he regretted “not doing more to stop it”, while Colin McHugh felt sorry for his opponents.

“It was hard to watch,” he said. “You feel for the guys who work on the outside, whether they’re on your team or against you.”

But Cora didn’t do much to stop him.

He served as bench coach for the Astros before leaving for the position of Red Sox manager the following year.

He was suspended for the 2020 season before returning to the Fenway Park dugout full-time.