Alex Cora

Alex Cora
Cora with the Washington Nationals
Houston Astros – No. 26
Infielder / Bench coach
Born: (1975-10-18) October 18, 1975 (age 41) Caguas, Puerto Rico
Batted: Left Threw: Right
MLB debut
June 7, 1998, for the Los Angeles Dodgers
Last MLB appearance
September 28, 2011, for the Washington Nationals
MLB statistics
Batting average	.243
Home runs	35
Runs batted in	486
Teams
Los Angeles Dodgers (1998–2004) Cleveland Indians (2005) Boston Red Sox (2005–2008) New York Mets (2009–2010) Texas Rangers (2010) Washington Nationals (2011) As coach Houston Astros (2017–present)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion (2007)

As coach

José Alexander "Alex" Cora (born October 18, 1975) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball coach and former infielder who currently is the bench coach for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was a baseball analyst for ESPN and played college baseball at the University of Miami.

Cora was drafted in the 12th round of the 1993 Major League Baseball draft by the Minnesota Twins, but did not sign a contract and decided instead to play collegiate baseball at the University of Miami. While there, Cora was named to the College World Series all-tournament team in both 1995 and 1996. He led the team to the title game in 1996, a game they lost to Louisiana State University.

Having been rated by Baseball America as the best collegiate defensive player going into the 1996 draft, Cora was once again drafted, this time by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the third round. Cora made his major league debut on June 7, 1998 for the Dodgers, and spent the next seven years in Los Angeles, batting .246 with 27 home runs and 173 RBIs. During his time with the Dodgers, he played at second and shortstop. During the 2000 and 2001 seasons, Cora mostly played shortstop as the Dodgers moved the aging Mark Grudzielanek to second base. With the emergence of César Izturis in 2002, and the trade of Grudzielanek to the Chicago Cubs in December of the same year, Cora spent the rest of his stint with the Dodgers as their primary second baseman.

On May 12, 2004, Cora had an 18-pitch at-bat against Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Matt Clement. Facing a 2–1 count, Cora fouled off 14 straight pitches before finally hitting a home run. It is the third longest documented at-bat since baseball statisticians began keeping track of pitch counts in the mid-1980s. So much time elapsed that Cora's brother Joey joked that he and Jay Fritz were watching the game at a restaurant ordering their first beer during the first pitch, and, by the time Cora homered, Cora and Fritz were "so drunk that we had to call a cab to take us home."