Earlier this week Alex Cora won his 600th game as the Red Sox manager. He was already third all-time for managerial wins in Boston, having passed Pinky Higgins (560 wins) earlier this season. He now trails only Terry Francona (744) and Joe Cronin (1071) on the all-time list. That’s some good company. In fact, Joe Cronin’s clubs managed a .539 winning percentage for him over 13 years while Cora is sitting at .538.
Cronin, who managed from 1935-1947, also managed his club to 20 ties. That’s a bit of
a weird addition to his record considering Tito and Cora managed in an era without ties. But then again, he also did the job for 13 years. Cora has two more years on his contract and would need another three year extension after that to match him for longevity, although he’d hit the same number of total games managed before the end of that season. (Or, depending on what happens with the labor negotiations after the 2026 season, maybe he wouldn’t.)
In the first year of Cronin’s management the Sox went 78-75 (and, uh, 1 tie) which at first glance looks like a losing record until you remember that they only played 154 games. He went on to have some success for about a decade. There were no playoffs, of course, only the World Series. But with Lefty Grove, Jimmie Foxx, and Ted Williams, the Sox are often in second place, just out of the World Series. In 1946 Cronin’s Sox won 104 games (50 losses, 2 ties because apparently that was a 156 game season) to make the Series, only to fall 4-3. Which, if you’ve been following Red Sox, comes as no surprise to you because of 2004 etc. etc. etc. That’s a .675 winning percentage by the way. Topped in Boston history only by the 1912 team that won 105 games with a .691 winning percentage over the 154-game regular season. That club did win the World Series. In third place all-time by winning percentage, finally, is Alex Cora’s 2018 club, clocking in at 108 wins, .629.
Terry Francona, who managed the club from 2004-2011, guided the team to 744 wins over 8 seasons. Cora should be in his 8th season as well but he missed 2020 while suspended for his role in the Houston Astros’ trashcan banging scheme. It’s hard to think that Cora has been around the team for the same amount of time. We’re almost as far removed from Cora’s hiring to present day as Francona’s hiring to the day he left — which was still a mistake. And yet, when you think of the Francona Era it seems to stretch for ages. You have two World Series titles. You have the 2008 ALSC run where I remain convinced those Red Sox would’ve beaten the Phillies had they advanced. You have Big Papi’s home run surge in 2006. Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz anchoring the staff.
Thanks largely to Chaim Bloom, Alex Cora’s on his third team of the decade. There was the Super Team of 2018, which continued into 2019. There was the 2021 ALCS team leading to a run of mediocrity. And now there is a new team, maybe the Craig Breslow All-Stars (title is being work-shopped, they are not literally all-stars yet). He’s starting over team wise but with the most talent he’s had since that 2018 squad — especially with the promise we saw in spurts from the Big Three plus Payton Tolle and Connelly Early. If you’re looking for job security like, say, an extension for the 2028-2030 seasons, that’s a nice core to imagine penciling into the roster.
There are 15 games left in the season. Cora is sitting on 602 wins. Say they win 8 more games to get him to 610 (and the 2025 Sox to 89? I guess that’s still ballpark possible) that puts him 134 wins behind Tito. He might be lucky to win 134 games in 2026 and whatever remains of 2027 combined. Although with a full season from Roman Anthony…maybe that Mariners record is up for grabs!
