Alex Cora Defends Decision to Skip Red Sox Game, Attend Daughter's College Graduation

Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora is standing by his decision to skip Monday's game against the New York Mets to attend his daughter's graduation from Boston College.

"People have their own opinions," Cora said Tuesday, per Chris Cotillo of Mass Live. "I bet those people have families, too, and at one point, they have to make decisions, too. I bet they made decisions for the best of the family. I made the best decision for my daughter. For those who don’t understand, I’m not gonna try to convince them. It is what it is. I made the best decision for my girl."

Cora's daughter Camila's graduation ceremony was scheduled for 10 a.m. at Alumni Stadium. While the game against the Mets didn't start until 6:45 p.m., he chose to attend the subsequent celebration rather than joining his team. The Red Sox won the game 3-1 while being managed by bench coach Ramón Vázquez.

Cora explained that it was important for him to be with his daughter for the entire day and not just the graduation ceremony.

"She wanted me to be with her, and it was her day. So this was secondary," Cora said, per Ian Browne of MLB.com. "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. Everybody contributed. And for her, she was very anxious having the whole family in town. But like we told her, anything for her."

He continued: "Just to be able to listen to her, how she thought about the whole day, the whole week, and the whole four-year experience, there was a lot of emotions. And like I said on my own Instagram, it's just the beginning. Now we go to Miami [for grad school], and she's gonna be fine over there, and we're very excited about it."

Cora praised his players and the job done by Vázquez filling in for him. The Red Sox improved to 24-25 and rank second in the AL East.

"The guys played well. Ramón did an outstanding job. He has it. He has it in him. It’s just a matter of time. I truly believe that," Cora said. "For him to have that experience, it was great. Honestly, didn’t call him during the day because moves because I trust him. He’s my bench coach. He understands how we do it. It was a good one. It was a clean one."