Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora is defending himself for missing one of the team’s games to attend his daughter’s college graduation.
Cora skipped Monday’s game between the Red Sox and the New York Mets at Boston’s Fenway Park in order to watch his daughter, Camila, participate in a graduation ceremony at Boston College.
“I made the best decision for my daughter, and for those who don’t understand, I’m not gonna try to convince them,” Cora told reporters on Tuesday in a video NBC Sports Boston shared on TikTok.
Cora came under fire in local media for skipping the game, which the Red Sox won 3-1.
Mike Felger, a popular radio personality at 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston, slammed Cora’s decision, noting that Boston College’s graduation ceremony took place in the morning while the Red Sox game started at 6:45 p.m.
“They were, I believe, done by noon, which means you can have a nice big party in the middle of the day,” Felger said, according to the Boston Herald. “Just cab down the street and manage the game.”
“It’s just the leadership and optics of the whole thing,” Felger added. “It’s a very easy chance for him to say, ‘Nothing’s more important than tonight’s game.’”
In NBC Sports Boston’s video from the follow-up press conference, Cora could be seen shaking his head in disagreement as one reporter suggested he could have “rushed out” of his daughter’s graduation to attend the game.
“(Camila) wanted me to be with her and it was her day so this is second,” Cora responded.
“You know, we’re in this world for a purpose, right, and for me, it’s to raise her, try to do the best we can. Obviously it wasn’t perfect, but right now, it’s perfect,” he said.
“I wasn’t going to miss it,” he later added.
