Chad Tracy recounts a ‘whirlwind’ weekend: a surprise phone call, a sleepless night and first MLB win

BALTIMORE — It was the fourth inning and Chad Tracy was busy managing the Worcester Red Sox Saturday afternoon at Polar Park when he got a message in the dugout from Red Sox director of player development Brian Abraham to call Craig Breslow. “My initial reaction was that maybe there was a player move we needed to talk about or something like that,” said Tracy. “I went inside and called Bres.

The content was fairly simple. He told me what was happening, what had gone down and said they were going to make me the interim manager of the Boston Red Sox. ” What had gone down, of course, was the firing of Alex Cora and more than half of his coaching staff.

That meant that Tracy, who had managed at Worcester since 2022 and spent years in the minors, was getting his opportunity to manage in the big leagues. “I was silent for a second,” said Tracy, recalling his conversation with Breslow. “My immediate thought was of Alex, Rámon (Vázquez) and some of the people that I’ve gotten to know very well.

But also, the excitement and the heart gets going. I’m like, ‘What an amazing opportunity. ’ But even in that moment, toeing the line between happiness and internally battling, (thinking) about people I care about.