Boston Red Sox: 5 things to know about our new manager Alex Cora

3. Cora will be the first former Red Sox player to manage the club since Butch Hobson

While former players have managed the Boston Red Sox, no former Red Sox player has done so since Butch Hobson.

Hobson was a player for the Red Sox from 1975-1980 and then managed the team from 1992-1994 upon his retirement. In a Red Sox uniform, Hobson appeared in 623 games as a third baseman. He hit .252 with 94 home runs and 358 RBI over parts of 6 seasons. As a manager, Hobson went just 207-232 with a career-high of 80 wins in 1993. In 1994, Hobson’s Red Sox won just 54 games.

Cora, of course, will want to perform better in his tenure as the Red Sox manager. His playing career though was pretty similar in Boston. He hit .252 — The same batting average as Hobson in Boston — while also hitting 6 home runs and bringing in 61 RBI. Cora was not known as a great hitter, but he had a solid approach at the plate and his fielding kept him in the game. His play in the middle infield with Dustin Pedroia in 2007 and 2008 was great, and I can’t wait to see Cora and Pedey get together again.