In a city starved for sports controversy after the Celtics’ playoff exit, Boston media found their next target: Red Sox manager Alex Cora’s absence from a single game to attend his daughter’s college graduation. This manufactured outrage — dubbed “Graduation Gate” by the Fenway Rundown podcast — reveals far more about media desperation for content than any actual crisis within the Red Sox organization.
“Did not think it would be, you know, the biggest story line for two days running in Boston media,” MassLive Red Sox beat reporter Chris Cotillo remarked on the podcast, “but the Celtics are out, people can only (complain) about Don Sweeney so much and Drake Maye’s four picks and OTAs didn’t rise to the level. So here we are with ‘Graduation Gate 2025.’ I think it’s an insane storyline.”
The facts are straightforward: Cora attended his daughter Camila’s graduation from Boston College. This wasn’t a spontaneous decision — it had been planned “for weeks, if not months, if not years,” according to Cotillo. The Red Sox organization fully approved his absence.
“I don’t fault him one iota for missing the day to celebrate Camila’s graduation,” Cotillo continued. “There was a party. They had a ton of family members in from Puerto Rico. She asked him, ‘Can you take the whole day?’ And he said, ‘Yes.’”
What’s most telling about this non-controversy is that the only people who seem concerned are certain media personalities, not anyone within the Red Sox organization. As MassLive Red Sox columnist Sean McAdam pointed out, “The Red Sox are fine with it. And in my mind, if they are, everybody else should be.”
The team’s leadership — whether it was Craig Breslow, Sam Kennedy, or both — approved Cora’s request. They understood what some media figures seemingly cannot: That family milestones matter, even for professional sports managers.
“If they didn’t want to give him the full day,” McAdam said, “they would have said, ‘Well, I mean, there’s plenty of time with the 10 or 11 (a.m.) ceremony to be there at the ballpark by game time or late afternoon.’ They were OK with giving him the full day.”
The irony of the situation is compounded by the fact that the Red Sox won both games under acting manager Ramon Vazquez. Rather than acknowledging this as evidence of organizational strength and depth, some tried to use it as ammunition against Cora—a laughable perspective when you consider how baseball teams actually function.
“Do we not think that 90% of that stuff is pre-ordained or that they had a plan heading into Monday?” Cotillo asked rhetorically. “In this situation we’re going to Justin Wilson. In this situation, we’re going to (Brennan) Bernardino. In this situation, it’s (Justin) Slaten.”
McAdam called out the absurdity directly: “This is manufacturing a controversy when there is none.”
The “Graduation Gate” saga demonstrates a troubling aspect of sports media culture—the expectation that coaches, managers, and players should prioritize games over significant family events. It reflects an outdated and unhealthy view of work-life balance, especially when the organization itself supports the employee’s decision.
As McAdam correctly assessed, this is a case of certain media members “pushing people’s buttons and eliciting reaction and starting controversy.” The ultimate question he posed cuts to the heart of the matter: “Who appointed him as the arbiter of what’s right and what to do for your family?”