BOSTON --- Sunday marked the first time in nearly three months where the Red Sox were forced to share the city’s sporting stage.
The Patriots were back in action for their regular season opener against the Steelers at Gillette Stadium. The defending Super Bowl champions shocked the NFL by signing controversial wide receiver Antonio Brown on Saturday, news that sent a ripple of energy through Fenway Park while Boston hosted the Yankees.
"People were excited, like [...]
BOSTON --- Sunday marked the first time in nearly three months where the Red Sox were forced to share the city’s sporting stage.
The Patriots were back in action for their regular season opener against the Steelers at Gillette Stadium. The defending Super Bowl champions shocked the NFL by signing controversial wide receiver Antonio Brown on Saturday, news that sent a ripple of energy through Fenway Park while Boston hosted the Yankees.
“People were excited, like when they put the hockey scores during the Stanley Cup,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “I was like, ‘Oh, that’s what happened.’”
Game 7 of the Bruins-Blues series was played on June 12, a 4-1 Boston loss that denied the city yet another championship. The Red Sox walked off on the Rangers that afternoon, 4-3, when Mookie Betts drew a base on balls. Boston had strong hopes of reaching a fourth straight postseason with 93 games to play, but the Red Sox entered Sunday 7 games off the American League wild card pace with just 20 left.
“Where we’re at right now, that’s not the stage where we want to be,” Cora said. “But it is what it is.”
Bill Belichick and New England were set to unveil their sixth title banner prior to kickoff with Pittsburgh, and nearly two decades have passed since the Patriots won their first Super Bowl in February 2002. Cora has transitioned from Red Sox utility infielder to Red Sox manager in that time, but Belichick remains at the helm of a well-oiled machine in Foxboro.
“They’re so consistent at what they do,” Cora said. "I saw (Celtics coach) Brad Stevens two days ago, and he always says it’s unreal 11 guys do it the right way on every play.
“It’s like a pickoff play. We run it, and the timing – boom, boom – and it’s right every day. Every play is right.”
Brown was ineligible to play against the Steelers – his former team – after signing a one-year deal with the Patriots on Saturday. His tumultuous time with the Raiders lasted just a few months, as Brown publicly feuded with team executive Mike Mayock and escalated the situation with a handful of incendiary posts on social media. Brown’s name is likely to appear alongside those of Randy Moss, Corey Dillon, Chad Ochocinco and more among talented Belichick reclamation projects.
“We were talking about a guy playing on another team, and he doesn’t behave – he’s a troublemaker,” Cora said. “All of a sudden he signs with the Patriots. I get the culture. You have to have a culture that way. It has to be that way. But going into it, are you intimidated? Like, ‘I don’t want to mess this up. I signed with the Patriots.’
“And you go the first day and it’s like, ‘This is what we do.’ And you’re like, ‘Okay.’ And all of a sudden you become a great guy.
“(Brown is) a great talent anyway. We were like, ‘What is it? The chicken or the egg?’”
Cora played college baseball at the University of Miami and crossed paths with football players Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. The future Baltimore Ravens and New England rivals generally had Cora’s backing before he returned to Boston in November 2017. Interacting with Belichick on a few occasions and being hosted by the Patriots after winning the World Series last season has softened Cora’s stance a bit on New England.
“Just to watch what they do is impressive,” Cora said. “It seems like we’re going to be watching another Super Bowl here in Boston.”
bkoch@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @BillKoch25