WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- For Red Sox manager Alex Cora, Thursday's reunion with the defending World Series champion Astros left him with a mixture of nostalgia and determination.
Cora will forever be grateful for the lessons he learned and the relationships he built in his one season as bench coach under manager A.J. Hinch. In fact, he admits that he probably wouldn't be ready to manage the Red Sox right now if not for that memorable year.
But what Cora wants to do this season is beat the Astros when it counts most, because that will likely mean the Red Sox are playing deep into October.