BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- Members of the Red Sox organization including new manager Alex Cora are flying to Puerto Rico with Boston Mayor Marty Walsh to aid in hurricane relief efforts.
This trip is a big deal for Cora, a native of Puerto Rico. He told WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Ben Parker he's tried to help as much as possible.
"It's been tough for us this last four-and-a-half months back home," he said. "Throughout the end of the season, I felt like I wasn't able to do enough to help our countrymen because of work."
The new manager said he got support right out of the gate from the entire team organization.
Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy said they were all too happy to assist in relief efforts.
"When we made the agreement to have Alex come join us this past offseason, the first thing he asked us about when the deal was done was can we go down to Caguas to his hometown and bring some attention to what's going on down there," Kennedy said. "Mayor Walsh found out about it, and he was the first person who volunteered to join us."
Walsh said there's a huge connection to the island, with 200 schoolkids from Puerto Rico in Boston schools, and many more with ties there.
"Boston Puerto Ricans are a big number of people," Walsh said. "I think people want to see what's happening, what can we do and how do we do more."
In addition to tons of relief supplies being flown down by JetBlue, the trip includes baseball equipment for youngsters in Caguas.
"We're just trying to help them to get back to what they used to do," Cora said. "I think this is a good way for them to keep moving toward the right direction."
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Ben Parker reports