McAdam: As Alex Cora dealt with exile and suspension, his brother served as his rock

At this point of spring training, the games have become a bit monotonous, one blending into the next with the focus on the start of actual games and the regular season.

But Sunday was not just any other Grapefruit League contest for Alex Cora. It was a chance for a mini-family reunion as he got to visit with his older brother, Joey, a coach with the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates, for the first time in 15 months.

The Cora brothers share both a familial and baseball bond and have always enjoyed a close relationship. But when the pandemic struck in 2020, Alex was home in their native Puerto Rico, serving out his one-year suspension and Joey was in Pittsburgh with his family. He remained there and Sunday offered the first chance for them to meet in person since both attended their mother's birthday party in Puerto Rico in January, 2020.

Of course, just because they hadn't met in person didn't mean they were out of communication. As Alex notes, they talk almost every day. And even from a distance, Joey's counsel and support was essential as Alex went through a most challenging year -- exiled from the game he loves due to his participation in the Houston Astros' sign-stealing scandal in 2017, embarrassed by his actions and struggling with the aftermath.

"He stuck with me last year, not surprisingly,'' said Alex Cora. "Some people thought about how people were going to treat him because of what I did. But that was one of the things that bothered me throughout the whole thing, that people would point at him because of what I did. That's not fair. That wasn't going to be fair. And hopefully, he doesn't have to hear stuff that is not about him. We're different guys. What I did, I did; he didn't.

"To see him today is going to be great. To see him is going to be cool, cool."

It would be difficult to find a pair of siblings in the game who are closer than the Coras. Joey, eight years Alex's senior, has always been a mentor and more.



"He's everything for me -- he's my brother, my best friend, he's my dad,'' said Cora. "We never got into that -- how proud or not proud. But one thing for sure, he was there, he was there the whole time. Throughout the process, just talking to me, checking in on me. He was very important.

''Joey has been amazing for all of us (during this). Yeah, my mom is the greatest. The way she handled the whole process was eye-opening. But talking to my brother, how he handled things.....I bet it wasn't easy in a sense. He really helped me through this. When the whole process starter, we talked a lot about what might happen. I'm here because of people like him, the family, the people who stuck with me with the whole process.

"People make mistakes and you need people around you who are going to pick you up and they're going to help you get back to it. My family, I put them in a bad spot, but at the same time, I'm still the little kid of the family. I'm the youngest one. There's a lot of love, a lot of teaching throughout the process and they still teach me and I'm still learning. I'm glad I have them around me in good times and bad times.

"This has been a roller coaster -- the highest of highs and lowest of lows. They're my team. They're my real team.''

For Alex Cora, there's an understanding that even though his suspension has been served and he's back in the dugout, doing what he loves, his complicity is still a topic. To that end, he's patiently answered questions when the topic has been broached this spring.

"If I don't talk about it, there's some books coming out that are going to talk about it,'' he said. "It's not going to go away. I'm ready for it. This is part of the process. I'm not one that hides from making mistakes or admitting mistakes. I've been doing that. I've been saying all along that this is something that is going to follow me for the rest of my career.

''But at the same, time, I have a job to do and my job is to help this team get back to where it belongs. But it's my life, something that really happened and I paid the price. Maybe this is the way for me to get it out of my system and maybe someone who is watching, (it) helps them to be better.''

Cora knows that some may never think of him the same way and his misdeeds will stay with him forever, coloring how people regard him.

"We all make mistakes,'' he said. "My mistake was on another stage, but it's still a mistake. I'm who I am and that's what I'm more proud of -- that I haven't changed, hopefully. When people saw me winning in '18, they didn't say, 'This freaking guy, what a punk.' I'm still the same guy, man. From the highest of highs and lowest of lows. I'm still here. I just made a mistake, that's it. I'll keep saying if  people are going to keep asking me.''

And with the scheduled publication of at least two upcoming books on the sign-stealing scandal, the topic isn't going away anytime soon. But Cora is prepared to meet the questions head-on.

"I know this season that's part of the equation,'' he said. "Like I told Chaim (Bloom) in Puerto Rico, I'm ready for it. If I wasn't ready to talk to you guys about this, I'd be home right now, playing with my kids. But I'm ready. It happened and I have to live with it. But at the same time, I'm pretty good about separating things. This is my story; it's not (the team's) story. And their story is about to be written, starting April 1.''