On Sunday night, the Boston Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 to win the World Series in five games.

This finished an 11-3 play-off run in which the Red Sox dispatched the New York Yankees, the Houston Astros and the Dodgers. They were widely recognised as the three best non-Boston teams in baseball, so much so that the Red Sox were underdogs for most of their postseason games. And that came after a stellar 108-54 regular-season record, the highest win total in team history. There are serious debates about whether this is one of the best teams in baseball history. The data suggests that the 2018 Red Sox are, at a minimum, the best baseball team of the 21st century.

How did the Red Sox do so well this year? As my Washington Post colleague Dave Sheinin writes, talent and resources are the biggest reasons. The team from Beantown had the largest payroll, signing high-priced free agents such as J.D. Martinez and David Price in recent years. The team cultivated home-grown talent as well, such as likely MVP Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts and Andrew Benintendi. They used their farm system to trade for perennial Cy Young candidates Chris Sale and Craig Kimbrel.

For a social scientist, however, it is worth noting that most of these causal factors existed in 2016 and 2017 as well. The Red Sox won the American League East both those years but were then eliminated in the first round of the play-offs. What, besides luck, made 2018 different?

At Over the Monster, a Red Sox blog, Matt Collins noticed something about this year that I had, too, as a devout Sox fan:

“Watching some of the post-game coverage, one theme stood out among all of the player interviews,” Collins wrote. “The way these guys talk about Alex Cora is unlike any way I’ve heard players talk about a coach in my life. Every single one of these guys felt a strong, personal connection to Cora and talked about how great his communication skills were. We already knew this, but it really hammered home that the Red Sox have a special manager.”

It’s not just sports bloggers and sportswriters who feel that way. The players were very upfront about it. Red Sox owner John Henry said about Cora: “We have a unity that was unlike any I’ve ever seen. And it was Alex. Alex brought that. He did everything right, on every level.”

What did Cora do, exactly, that made him so special? It is worth considering this seriously because there are ways in which Cora faces an environment just as hostile as elected officials in Washington. If you think the political media is tough, let me introduce you to Boston sports talk radio.

Indeed, this season I used to listen to WEEI at times, just to laugh at the new and innovative ways some of the hosts would find to rag on this team. So anyone who can thrive as a Red Sox manager probably has developed some leadership tools that apply to other arenas, including politics.

What did Cora do that was so special? Based on my close six-month observations, here are three traits that stand out:

1, He knew when to prioritise the long term and the short term

Beginning in spring training, Cora made sure to prepare his team for October baseball, holding back his starters from throwing aggressively in March and April. As the regular season started, Cora also made sure to give his regulars multiple days off, so that they would still have something in the tank come the play-offs. It says something that, by October, all of his key players, save Dustin Pedroia, were healthy enough to contribute.

Cora also showed tremendous patience with players who struggled in the first few months of the season. Jackie Bradley Jr was hitting below .180 well into May, and Cora stuck with him. He rewarded Cora with tremendous fielding and above-average offence for the second half of the season.

At the same time, once the play-offs started, Cora did not hesitate to be more aggressive. After rarely pinch-hitting in the regular season, Cora pinch-hit frequently during the play-offs, which led to this and this and this. More important, he compensated for a taxed bullpen by using his starters as “rovers” in key relief situations. Sale, Price, Rick Porcello and Nathan Eovaldi all pitched in relief, and pitched brilliantly. That they bought into the concept speaks volumes about Cora’s leadership skills.

2, He was transparent with his team and with the media

As The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn noted this month, Cora’s experience as an ESPN commentator prepared him well for handling the media during his first year as manager. Despite the harsh nature of Boston media, I cannot think of a single stretch during the season when Cora faced a barrage of media criticism. Part of that was because the Red Sox were winning, but part of it was also because he was honest when he made the occasional mistake. Even during the World Series, Cora admitted when he had messed up, such as keeping Eduardo Rodriguez in Game Four for a batter or two too long.

That kind of candour buys a lot of goodwill from reporters, fans and players. All of the Red Sox players talked about how Cora kept them in the loop for their responsibilities, which meant that even if they were not starting, they might be asked to contribute at the right moment. Cora’s Puerto Rican background also helped, as it allowed him to communicate fluently with both the American and Latino players on his roster. And it also meant that in those rare moments when a motivational speech might have been called for, he could deliver.

3, He never succumbed to recency bias

It is easy, particularly in play-off baseball, to try to ride the hot hand, the streaky hitter or up-tempo reliever, and ride him until the magic wears off. I have seen many a baseball manager make tactical decisions in the play-offs such as that.

Cora, if anything, did the opposite. Reliever Ryan Brasier was clearly not himself in his first post-season relief appearance, walking batters left and right. Undeterred, Cora sent him out the very next day, and it is safe to say that Brasier responded well, pitching high-leverage innings the rest of the way. The day after second baseman Brock Holt hit for the cycle against the New York Yankees in Game Three of the division series, he started Ian Kinsler at second. He kept relievers such as Joe Kelly on the play-off roster despite a wildly inconsistent regular season. As SBNation’s Whitney MacIntosh noted, Kelly rewarded Cora with some of the best pitching of his career.

Cora did something amazing. He took a team that by most preseason projections were considered among the play-off favourites, and then exceeded expectations. He did so by being a good leader as well as a decent human being. It is not too much to ask that our elected officials consider emulating him.

• Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University