Red Sox manager Alex Cora empathizes with reliever Liam Hendriks following offensive messages

BOSTON (AP) — One day after Red Sox reliever Liam Hendriks took to social media to condemn offensive messages made against him and his family, manager Alex Cora empathized with his player.

Cora spoke Friday ahead of the first game of a doubleheader against Baltimore at Fenway Park.

“We’re in the public eye and people feel they have the right to say whatever they want,” Cora said. “Sometimes, it comes from real people. Other times, it comes from burner accounts … fake people. It puts everyone in a tough spot.”

On Thursday, Hendriks expressed his displeasure about death threats he says he received following Boston’s most recent loss to the New York Mets.

Posting on his personal Instagram account, Hendricks wrote: “Threats against my life and my wife’s life are horrible and cruel. … I think I speak for all players who have had to deal with this in their career when I say enough is enough.”

Hendriks is in his second season with the Red Sox and is 0-1 with a 5.56 ERA in 11 games. In 2023, he underwent treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Last year, after signing with Boston as a free agent, he missed the entire season with an elbow injury he picked up during spring training.

“I understand what he’s trying to accomplish,” Cora said. “We have to protect our players and we have to voice what we think.”

Though not on the same level as what Hendriks dealt with, Cora found himself in the middle of a social-media storm on Monday after attending the graduation of his daughter from Boston College and missing that night’s home game against the Mets.

“If it’s up to me, I’ll bring my daughter here and go through every account and filter it,” Cora said.

Cora has more than 78,000 followers on the X social-media platform. From time to time, he will post a brief message. His most recent post was made in tribute to his daughter graduating from college — #perfectday accompanied by a graduation emoji.

Cora noted that he reached out to Major League Baseball’s security division after getting suspended in 2020 for his role in the Houston Astros’ cheating scandal in 2017.

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“I put my family in a tough spot, especially when the news came out. It was dangerous and we were afraid, to be honest,” Cora said. “I don’t want to go into details, but they did an amazing job.”

In an era where sports gambling comes into play, Cora noted the “dangerous path” that crops up when fans look to take out their frustrations on players via social media.

“A decision, a pitch, a play, it puts them in a bad spot and they take it personally,” Cora said. “That’s not my fault. You have to be responsible with what you’re doing.”

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb