Terry Francona
Terry Francona
Terrence Jon "Terry" Francona, nicknamed "Tito", is the current manager of the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball. He was a first baseman and outfielder in the majors from 1981 to 1990. After retiring as a player, he managed several minor league teams in the 1990s before managing the Philadelphia Phillies for four seasons. In 2004, Francona was hired to manage the Boston Red Sox, and that year he led the team to its first World Series championship since 1918...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth22 April 1959
CityAberdeen, SD
CountryUnited States of America
Yeah, that was much needed. We got deep enough into the game where we didn't have to overextend somebody. It ends up being a great day.
It's different. You've got to win today's game. It's almost like every game's an elimination game. I think it's a compliment to the teams the U.S. played against, and also it's the timing, so you don't get a true read of the teams. How many games of consequence do you have where a catcher plays half a game?
We won 95 games in a season where things didn't go right. I'm not going to apologize for that.
After all these games we've played, we've played ourselves into a situation where it comes down to two games. That's just the way it is.
This was one of those things where Theo thought to himself that if we found ourselves in a 12-inning game at some point this weekend and a situation arises where we could use him and we didn't have him . . . he'd be kicking himself.
It's hard to be a clubhouse guy without being a great guy. I mean, the nature of the job is, you know, you're picking up dirty clothes and you're doing all the tasks that the players - that nobody else wants to do.
In Boston I got to a point where I thought I was putting out fires more than being a baseball coach. And some of it was my fault. I was getting stubborn. My fuse was a little shorter than it needed to be. And that helps nobody.
I think in any organization you want your manager to have a strong opinion. You don't want them to just say, 'Yes, sir' to things they don't believe in.
There's so much passion and so much interest in the Red Sox in Boston.
I think the outside world can learn a lot about how to act by watching a major league clubhouse. I don't think you want to do everything the same, but there's a lot of things I think people could learn from.
As a manager, the more consistent you are, the better off you are. It's easy to be up when things go well. When things don't go well, the players will follow your lead. So you have to be consistent and upbeat, which takes some work sometimes.
I like information. I love when smart people make me think of something in a new way.
We also told him that if he can't (pitch in relief) then he won't do it. But I think because of the kind of guy he is, he's shooting for it.
I think he felt like somebody might have pushed his buttons a little bit. I try to speak in generalities, because I don't want to ever communicate through the media. I think he felt like maybe I did that a little bit. I certainly don't ever want to do that.