Crying in baseball? Kenley Jansen wanted to when Alex Cora apologized to ex-Dodgers for Astros cheating
Kenley Jansen had moved on.
He had been angry when he first learned about the Houston Astros sign-stealing scheme that many feel cheated Jansen and his then-Dodgers teammates out of the 2017 World Series title.
By the time he joined the Boston Red Sox before the 2023 season, however, Jansen had long since let it go.
But that didn’t stop the veteran closer from getting emotional when his new manager, Alex Cora, pulled aside Jansen and fellow former Dodgers Justin Turner and Kiké Hernandez to address his role in the scandal.
“I’m going to be 100% honest with you — I just felt like I wanted to cry at that moment when he said that,” Jansen told WEEI-FM (93.7) in Boston. “I felt like a weight came off, by him stepping up and saying we f— up as the whole group.”
Former Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen, who recently earned his 400th career save, has quickly embraced a leadership role in his first season with the Red Sox.
Cora was the Astros bench coach during the 2017 season, which ended with their seven-game World Series win over the Dodgers, and became the Red Sox manager the following season. In January 2020, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred released a report that said the Astros had illegally used electronic equipment to steal signs during the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
Named as one of the main people behind the planning and execution of the scheme during his season with the Astros, Cora was fired by the Red Sox the day after the report was released and later suspended by MLB for the 2020 season. Cora was rehired as Boston’s manager after serving his suspension.
Jansen was dominant in 2017 during the regular season and the first two series of the postseason. But his fortunes changed against the Astros in the World Series.
Time has not healed the anguish the Houston Astros caused by cheating the Dodgers out of a World Series title. They still deserve to be booed by fans.
“I feel like that was my best season that I ever had in my career,” Jansen said. “I dominated the whole year, I dominated the playoffs and the Houston Astros were the only ones who put the ball in play. And it’s over with, you know, you can’t change stuff, but what we can do is appreciate when someone steps up and comes forward and is accountable for what they did.”
According to WEEI, Cora did just that “the minute” Turner, Hernandez and Jansen arrived for spring training in Fort Myers, Fla. Cora told WEEI that Turner approached him afterward and said, “I’m glad you did this.”
“I think it meant a lot,” Turner told WEEI of the meeting. “It was good to hear and good to wipe our hands clean and move forward.”
Justin Turner quickly adjusted to Boston. And yet the visual — him in a Red Sox uniform, his signature pine tar stain above the No. 2 on his back — remains jarring.
Jansen said: “To me, it’s respect. I will respect AC forever for that and I will appreciate him forever for that. ... We all make mistakes in this world. You learn from it and get better, and he learned from it and got better. I learned from it, too.”
Jansen also addressed recent comments by Manfred, who has expressed regret over giving the Astros players immunity for their cooperation with the sign-stealing investigation. While Cora, general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch received seasonlong suspensions, the players went unpunished. And while the organization was fined and had to give up draft picks, it was not stripped of its World Series championship from that tainted season.
“That’s why I love soccer,” Jansen said. “That would have never happened in FIFA. That trophy would have been taken off. [Manfred] should’ve done a better job.
“But it’s over with, man. We love this game and you keep playing. There’s no hard feelings with any, any, any of the 2017 Houston Astros guys. I respect all of them.”
The MLB commissioner admitted mistakes in his handling of the investigation into the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal that led to them beating the Dodgers in the 2017 World Series.
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