José Manuel Cora Amaro (born May 14, 1965) is a former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player with an 11-year career in

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

spanning the years 1987 and 1989–1998 and current third base coach for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

. He played for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

and the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

and

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

of the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

. He primarily played as a second baseman.

Career

Playing career

Cora attended

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

and played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

for the

Commodores Commodores are an American funk and soul band, which were at their peak in the late 1970s through the mid 1980s. The members of the group met as mostly freshmen at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in 1968, and signed with Motown in ...

. In 1984, he played collegiate summer baseball for the

Chatham A's The Chatham Anglers, more commonly referred to as the Chatham A's and formerly the Chatham Athletics, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Chatham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in t ...

of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL). He hit .373 with 28 stolen bases, and was named the league's most valuable player. In 2017, he was inducted into the CCBL Hall of Fame. The

selected Cora in the first round (23rd overall) of the 1985 MLB draft. As a member of the

Beaumont Golden Gators The Beaumont Golden Gators were a minor league baseball team in the double A Texas League from 1983 to 1986. Owned by insurance man Ted Moor, the team was an affiliate of the San Diego Padres for their entire tenure. Future Major League Baseball ...

, Cora was stabbed after a game in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, on June 22, 1986. Cora was waiting outside the team bus following the game against the San Antonio Missions at V.J. Keefe Stadium when two men called his name and then assaulted him. He was stabbed once in the stomach and once in the arm. Cora was quickly rushed to the hospital and later made a full recovery after spending six weeks on the disabled list. A man named Jose Puente, 29, was caught at the scene and was later charged with attempted murder. Cora had exchanged words with fans outside of the visitor's dressing room, resulting in the fans returning with more men later on. Cora debuted in the major leagues on April 6, 1987 as a 21-year-old rookie. In his first career game, he started at second base and finished the game 2-for-5 in a 4–3 loss to the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

. After spending parts of three seasons with the Padres, Cora was traded to the

along with Kevin Garner and Warren Newson in exchange for pitchers Adam Peterson and Steve Rosenberg on March 31, 1991. Cora spent the next four seasons with the White Sox before becoming a free agent. On April 6, 1995, Cora signed with the

. His 24-game

hitting streak In baseball, a hitting streak is the number of consecutive official games in which a player appears and gets at least one base hit. According to the Official Baseball Rules, such a streak is not necessarily ended when a player has at least 1 pla ...

was a Mariners record (later broken by Ichiro Suzuki) and was an AL record for switch hitters (until broken by Kansas City's Jose Offerman in 1997). In 1997, he was elected to the AL All-Star team and went on to hit .300 with 11 home runs and 54 RBI in 149 games. In the bottom of 11th inning of the deciding Game 5 of the

1995 American League Division Series The 1995 American League Division Series (ALDS), the opening round of the 1995 American League playoffs, began on Tuesday, October 3, and ended on Sunday, October 8, with the champions of the three AL divisions—along with a "wild card" team—p ...

, Cora bunted and dove into first base, narrowly avoiding the tag, kicking off the game-winning rally in which he scored on Edgar Martínez's walk-off double. Cora spent most of the 1998 season as a Mariner, but with the team falling out of contention, he was dealt to the

in exchange for David Bell on August 31. He finished the season batting a combined .276 with six home runs and 32 RBI in 155 games. Cora signed a free-agent contract with the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

during the off-season, but retired without playing a game.

Coaching career

Following his retirement from play, Cora was hired in 2000 with the Chicago Cubs minor league team, the

Daytona Cubs Daytona refers to the city of Daytona Beach, Florida, or things named after it. Daytona may also refer to: Locations * Daytona Beach Shores, Florida * South Daytona, Florida * The Daytona Beach metropolitan area * Halifax area, also known as ...

. He was later hired by teammate and good friend,

Ozzie Guillén Oswaldo José Guillén Barrios (; born January 20, 1964) is a former professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a shortstop for 16 seasons, primarily with the Chicago White Sox, from 1985 to 2000. During tha ...

as a coach in 2003 for the Chicago White Sox. His responsibilities included facilitating the role of third base coach and organizing the team's spring training camps prior to his promotion to bench coach following the 2006 season. He occasionally served as an interim manager whenever Guillen was suspended or ejected from a game, or was unable to attend for any other reason. He managed the

Venezuelan Winter League The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League or Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP) is the professional baseball league in Venezuela. The league's champion takes part in the Caribbean Series each year. History Early years Baseball exp ...

baseball team

Tiburones de la Guaira The Tiburones de La Guaira ( en, La Guaira Sharks) are a baseball team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. Based in the city of La Guaira, they play their home games in Estadio Fórum La Guaira and have won seven national champions ...

in the 2005–2006 season with a record of 31–31. Cora was interviewed by the Milwaukee Brewers for their managerial opening in October 2010. He was believed to be a finalist along with

Bob Melvin Robert Paul Melvin (born October 28, 1961) is an American former professional baseball player and coach, who is the manager of the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has been named Manager of the Year three times. Selected in t ...

Bobby Valentine Robert John Valentine (born May 13, 1950), nicknamed "Bobby V", is an American former professional baseball player and manager. He also served as the athletic director at Sacred Heart University. Valentine played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1 ...

, and

Ron Roenicke Ronald Jon Roenicke ( ; born August 19, 1956) is an American former professional baseball outfielder, coach, and manager. During his playing career, Roenicke played eight seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle ...

. Cora was dismissed by the White Sox on September 27, 2011, the day after they released Guillén from his contract, despite initially tabbing Cora to manage the final two games of the season. Cora was named bench coach of the Miami Marlins on November 1, 2011, reuniting with Guillén. Cora took over as interim manager for the Marlins on April 10, 2012 in the wake of Guillén's five-game suspension for comments related to Fidel Castro. In 2016, Cora became the manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates Double-A club, the

Altoona Curve The Altoona Curve are a Minor League Baseball team based in Altoona, Pennsylvania, named after nearby Horseshoe Curve (but also alluding to the curveball, a type of pitch). The team plays in the Eastern League and is the Double-A affiliate of th ...

. He became the ninth manager in franchise history. He was promoted to third base coach for the major league team for the 2017 season. Cora was dismissed from his role following the 2021 season on October 9, 2021. On January 5, 2022, Cora was hired by the

to serve as the team's third base coach for the 2022 season.

Broadcasting career

Cora served as a guest analyst on

MLB Network The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox C ...

2013 World Baseball Classic The 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, held from March 2 to March 19, 2013. This was the third iteration of the WBC, following the two previous tournaments, held in 2006 and 2009. Unlike t ...

coverage and subsequently joined the network as an analyst. He debuted on ''MLB Tonight'' on May 6, 2013.

Personal life

Cora is the elder brother of former MLB player and current

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

manager

Alex Cora Jose Alexander Cora (born October 18, 1975) is a Puerto Rican baseball manager and former infielder who is the manager of the Boston Red Sox in Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for 14 seasons with the Red Sox, Los Angele ...

. Both brothers have been part of at least one World Series-winning team. Joey was a third base coach for the 2005 World Champion Chicago White Sox. Alex was a shortstop and second baseman for the 2007 World Champion

, a coach for the 2017 World Champion Houston Astros, and the manager of the 2018 World Champion Boston Red Sox.

References

External links

: {{DEFAULTSORT:Cora, Joey 1965 births Living people Altoona Curve managers American League All-Stars Beaumont Golden Gators players Chatham Anglers players Chicago White Sox coaches Chicago White Sox players Cleveland Indians players Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players Major League Baseball bench coaches Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball shortstops Major League Baseball third basemen Major League Baseball third base coaches Miami Marlins coaches MLB Network personalities People from Caguas, Puerto Rico Pittsburgh Pirates coaches San Diego Padres players Seattle Mariners players South Bend White Sox players South Bend Silver Hawks players Spokane Indians players Stabbing survivors