Terry Francona

Lore & Background

After a four-year stint as the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, Francona was hired to manage the Red Sox in 2004 and led the team to their first championship since 1918. He won another World Series with Boston in 2007 and continued to manage the team until the end of the 2011 season. In 2013, Francona became the Cleveland Indians’ manager, leading them to an American League pennant in 2016, a 22-game win streak during the 2017 season (the longest in American League history and the second-longest in MLB history), and became Cleveland's all-time leader in wins by a manager.

Reader's Guide

Francona was born on April 22, 1959, in Aberdeen, South Dakota, to Tito Francona (1933–2018), who played in MLB from 1956 to 1970, and Roberta Jackson (1932–1992). He is of Italian descent. He grew up in New Brighton, Pennsylvania, attended New Brighton Area High School, and played for the baseball team. He attended the University of Arizona, played for the Arizona Wildcats, and represented the United States at the 1979 Pan American Games.

The Wildcats won the 1980 College World Series and Francona was named Most Outstanding Player. He won the 1980 Golden Spikes Award. The Montreal Expos selected him in the first round of the 1980 MLB draft (22nd overall). He made his MLB debut with Montreal on August 19, 1981.

He played mainly as an outfielder that first year, went 4-for-12 in the NLDS against the Phillies, and the Expos won that series. He shifted to first base and developed a reputation as a contact hitter. The Expos released him after the 1985 season. He signed one-year contracts with the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, and Milwaukee Brewers.

The Brewers re-signed him for 1990, but he played only three games that year, the last on April 19. In 10 seasons and 708 games, he posted a .274 average, 16 home runs, and 143 RBIs. He made one pitching appearance for Milwaukee on May 15, 1989, striking out one batter. After retiring, he managed in the Chicago White Sox organization (Sarasota White Sox in 1991, South Bend White Sox in 1992, Birmingham Barons in 1993–95), winning the Southern League championship in 1993 and being named Southern League Manager of the Year and Baseball America's Minor League Manager of the Year.

He managed in the Dominican Winter League with Águilas Cibaeñas and won the championship and Serie del Caribe in 1995–96. He became third-base coach for the Detroit Tigers in 1996. He managed the Phillies from 1997 to 2000 with a 285–363 record. He then served as a special assistant to the GM with the Indians in 2001, and as bench coach for the Texas Rangers (2002) and Oakland Athletics (2003).

He managed the Red Sox from 2004 to 2011, winning World Series in 2004 and 2007. He is the only manager in Major League history to win his first eight consecutive World Series games and just the second manager to guide two Red Sox clubs to World Series titles (the other being Bill "Rough" Carrigan).