cora cora cora the ex-doyer

he's a super cool ex-doyer, cora.

alex cora also turns double plays expertly, according to the back of his 2004 topps total card

which also features a tiny photo of him doing just that.  it's the same photo as the front of the card

i realize now that i was remiss in last night's final post by not mentioning that johnny evers was responsible for giving us the merkle boner.  had he not realized that fred merkle never touched second base, we probably wouldn't be able to say 'boner' in mixed company today.  i apologize for the oversight.

back to cora - he is shown turning two on his 2001 topps card

which means he is also shown turning two on his 2001 topps chrome card

and the same goes for 2004, although i will only show the chrome card here.

i'm glad topps started to vary the photos in their chrome sets, but at the same time, i've stopped buying chrome.  i used to buy boxes of the flagship and chrome every year, but it's been a few years since i've done that.

here's cora's 2005 upper deck card

which is the same as his 2005 upper deck first edition card (not shown).  cora turned 646 double plays in his career (or at least was involved in that many, according to baseball reference) including 116 in 2003 alone.

by the time that 2005 card was released, cora was in cleveland with the indians.  his time in cleveland was short, however, as the indians dealt him to boston during the 2005 season where he continued to make the turn at second base, as seen on his 2007 upper deck card

and his 2007 upper deck first edition card

i guess he learned a thing or two from his older brother, shown making the pivot on this 1998 pacific card

even with all that double play turning, alex cora is probably best remembered (at least by me) for his 18-pitch at bat in 2004 against matt clement of the cubs.  with the count at 2 balls, 1 strike, cora fouled off 14 consecutive pitches before hitting the 18th pitch of the at bat into the stands for a home run.  it was one of only 35 home runs he would hit during his career, although he did hit 10 of them in 2004.

not all of the cards i have of cora show him turning the double play.  i recently picked up a couple such specimens.  here's a 2001 mlb showdown card showing him running the bases presumably

and here is his 2004 mlb showdown card which shows him tracking a pop-up

either that or cesar izturis has lobbed the ball to second while trying to start a dp.

there are more actual double play cards on the way, so don't fret.