It’s all starting to come together for the Mets, who got closer to announcing the newest member of their coaching staff Wednesday.
Joey Cora, who had an 11-year playing career and spent the last five seasons as the Pirates’ third base coach, likely will be appointed to the same position for the Mets. When he does, the 56-year-old will replace Gary DiSarcina, the Mets’ third base and infield coach for the last three years. DiSarcina will be waving runners home for the Nationals in 2022.
Before he settles into his expected new role in the National League East, get acquainted with Cora and his winding path to this point.
EARLY LIFE
Cora was born in Puerto Rico in 1965, ten years before his younger brother Alex, the current Red Sox manager. Joey left Puerto Rico after high school and enrolled at Vanderbilt University. In his sophomore season, the compact infielder batted .361 and stole 24 bases in 45 games. That caused the Padres to select a 19-year-old Cora with the 23rd pick in the 1985 draft, a draft that also included Barry Bonds, Randy Johnson, Barry Larkin and Rafael Palmeiro.
During his amateur career, Cora also played in the Cape Cod Baseball League. Like Showalter, Cora is a member of the league’s Hall of Fame. Playing for the Chatham A’s in the summer of 1984, he hit .373 and was named MVP. Cora’s Vanderbilt accomplishments made him an honoree in the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame as well.
His first year as a professional came with a much more harrowing experience. In his second year in the minor leagues, playing for the Double-A Beaumont Golden Gators, Cora was stabbed outside the team bus following a game in San Antonio. He suffered wounds to his small intestine, abdomen and forearm. After an immediate trip to the hospital and a six-week stint on the disabled list, Cora made a full recovery. The assailant, Jose Puente, was charged with attempted murder. The incident began when Cora was surrounded by a group of men after exchanging words with them earlier in the evening.
MLB PLAYING CAREER
Less than a year after the stabbing, Cora made his MLB debut. On April 6, 1987, Cora batted eighth and manned second base in the Padres’ Opening Day loss. He remained with the Padres until 1991, when he was traded to the White Sox just days before the season started.
Cora had a fine but unspectacular career in Chicago, where he helped the team win the American League West in 1993. His claim to fame from that year was leading the American League in sacrifice bunts. Listed at 5-foot-7 and 150 pounds, Cora had a higher on-base percentage than slugging percentage in his four years on the South Side. A staggering 80% of his White Sox hits were singles.
At 30 years old, Cora joined the Seattle Mariners as a free agent before the 1995 season. The Mariners had never made the playoffs in the first 18 years of their existence, but finally broke through by capturing the division title in Cora’s first year. By hitting safely in 24 straight games, Cora set a then-record for longest hitting streak by an AL switch hitter.
In the decisive Game 5 of the American League Division Series, Cora led off with his trademark bunt single, angering his new boss Showalter, who claimed that he veered out of the base path to avoid Don Mattingly’s tag. Cora later scored the tying run ahead of Ken Griffey Jr.’s iconic series-clinching sprint around the bases.
Cora’s three years and change in Seattle were the best of his career. He hit .293 in over 2,000 plate appearances, making his lone All-Star team in 1997, a year when he muscled up for 11 homers and 40 doubles. A trade to Cleveland during the 1998 season essentially ended his career, as Cora played just 24 games for them down the stretch while battling injuries.
MLB COACHING CAREER
It did not take long for Cora to jump back into the game post-retirement. His first professional coaching gig actually came with the Mets, who hired him to manage a rookie league team in 2001, playing a role in the development of 18-year-old David Wright.
After two years with the Kingsport Mets, the Expos pried Cora away to manage their Single-A team in Savannah. When his former teammate Ozzie Guillen got the White Sox’s managerial job in 2004, he brought Cora on to be his third base coach. The White Sox’s World Series victory in 2005 gave Cora his first and only ring.
Following Guillen’s dismissal in 2011, Cora was also let go. He’d reunite with Guillen when he was named manager in Miami, again serving as third base coach. When the Marlins suspended Guillen for stating his public support for Fidel Castro in 2012, Cora was interim manager for five games.
Cora got another chance to manage in the minors in 2016 when the Pirates tabbed him to lead the Altoona Curve, their Double-A outfit. He became third base coach for the big club in Pittsburgh in 2017 and held that job until being fired in October.
FUN FACTS
Cora is one of 16 Puerto Rican born players to accumulate 1,000 hits and 100 steals in the big leagues. When he gets to the Mets, he will work in close proximity with another member of that list, Francisco Lindor.
Cora is one of 28 players in MLB history to hit at least 30 career home runs while weighing 150 pounds or less, according to Baseball Reference. Jose Cardenal leads the pack with 138.
