Name: Joey Cora
Rank: 48
Position: 2B
Years With White Sox: 1991-1994
Joey Cora was acquired by the White Sox from the Padres, along with Warren Newson, for Adam Peterson and Steve Rosenberg on March 31, 1991. Cora appeared in 100 games for the White Sox, splitting time at second base with Scott Fletcher. He hit .241 with only 18 RBIs.
With the acquisition of Steve Sax prior to the 1992 season, Cora was pushed to the bench, starting only 21 games at second base. Again, his production was meager, hitting .246 with no home runs and only 9 RBIs.
Cora became the everyday second baseman in 1993, taking over for Sax. He set a career high with 153 games played, he hit .268 with a career high 20 stolen bases as the White Sox won their final AL West crown. Cora struggled in the ALCS, hitting an anemic .136 as the White Sox fell in 6 games to the Blue Jays.
In 1994, Cora continued to improve. He raised his average again to .276 and had 2 home runs and 30 RBIs when the season came to a premature end due to the player’s strike.
When baseball resumed in 1995, Cora became a free agent and his White Sox playing career came to an end. He rejoined the organization as third base coach for the 2004 season, when Ozzie Guillen was hired as manager. Following the 2006 season, he became the bench coach. Cora was initially named interim manager after Guillen was relieved with 2 games left in the 2011 season, but was fired by text message by GM Kenny Williams before he could assume the role.
Cora’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:
