Terry Francona

Did You Know?

• Francona was born in Aberdeen, South Dakota, and grew up in New Brighton, Pennsylvania.
• He worked as a substitute color analyst for Fox during the first two games of the 2011 American League Championship Series, filling in for Tim McCarver.
• In 2012, he joined ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball telecast, replacing Bobby Valentine, who had replaced Francona as Red Sox manager.

Playing career

Terry Francona played college ball at the University of Arizona, where his Wildcats won the 1980 College World Series and he was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. That same year, he took home the Golden Spikes Award, and he had already represented the United States at the 1979 Pan American Games. The Montreal Expos picked him 22nd overall in the 1980 MLB draft. He debuted in the majors on August 19, 1981, just after that season's player strike ended.

Mostly an outfielder as a rookie, he went 4-for-12 in the National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies—an extra playoff round that strike-shortened year—and the Expos won that series three games to two. Later, Francona moved to first base, where he ended up playing over 100 more games than he did in the outfield. He built a reputation as a contact hitter, rarely hitting home runs, drawing walks, or striking out. After the 1985 season, the Expos let him go; his average had dropped to .267 that year after he hit .346 in limited time in 1984.

Baseball writer Bill James once called him a "worthless player." He then signed one-year deals with the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, and Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers brought him back for 1990, but he appeared in just three games that year, his last on April 19. Over 10 seasons and 708 games, he finished with a .274 average, 16 home runs, and 143 RBIs. He also pitched once for Milwaukee on May 15, 1989, striking out Stan Javier on three pitches.

Coaching career

Once his playing days ended, Francona moved into coaching within the Chicago White Sox system. He managed the Sarasota White Sox in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League in 1991, then the South Bend White Sox of the Class A Midwest League the following year. From 1993 through 1995, he led the AA Birmingham Barons, compiling a 223–203 record. The Barons won the Southern League championship in 1993, earning Francona both Southern League Manager of the Year and Baseball America's Minor League Manager of the Year honors.

The next season, when Michael Jordan played for Birmingham, Baseball America rated Francona the top prospect to become a big-league manager. He also managed the Águilas Cibaeñas in the Dominican Winter League, taking the championship and the Serie del Caribe in 1995–96. In 1996, Francona became third-base coach for the Detroit Tigers, working under manager Buddy Bell, a former teammate from their Cincinnati Reds days.

Managerial career

Francona was hired as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies after the 1996 season. The Phillies had won the NL pennant in 1993 but then had three consecutive losing seasons. In his four seasons (1997–2000), the club never rose above third place in the National League East; his best finish was 77–85 in 1999. He was fired after the 2000 season with a 285–363 record.

He spent 2001 as a special assistant to the general manager with the Cleveland Indians, then served as bench coach for the Texas Rangers (2002) and Oakland Athletics (2003). The Boston Red Sox hired him to manage in 2004 after the team lost the 2003 American League Championship Series and manager Grady Little's contract was not renewed. Francona led the Red Sox to a 98–64 record in 2004, the second-best in the American League. As the wild card, they swept the Anaheim Angels in the Division Series.

In the 2004 American League Championship Series, the Red Sox fell behind the New York Yankees three games to none, including a 19–8 loss in Game 3, but won the last four games—the first time in MLB history a team rallied from an 0–3 deficit to win a playoff series. They then swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series to win their first title since 1918. In 2005, the Red Sox posted a 95–67 record, tied with New York for first in the AL East, but the Yankees won the division due to a 10–9 head-to-head record. Boston again entered the playoffs as the wild card and was swept in the ALDS by the Chicago White Sox.

Personal life

Terry Francona and Jacque Lang were married on January 9, 1982, and raised four children: a son named Nicholas and daughters Alyssa, Leah, and Jamie. Nick played college baseball at the University of Pennsylvania and in the Cape Cod Baseball League, later serving as a lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps; the Boston Red Sox drafted him in 2003. Alyssa and Leah both played softball for the University of North Carolina—Alyssa as a senior in 2009, when Leah was a freshman.

Jamie graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2016. In October 2011, news broke that Francona and Lang had recently separated, with Francona living in a hotel during the season; he later confirmed they were finalizing a divorce. He is well-known for his habit of chewing tobacco. Francona has been close friends with Reds bench coach Brad Mills since their college playing days, and they have coached together for the Phillies, Red Sox, Indians, and Reds.

His mother, Roberta, passed away in 1992; his father, Tito, died in 2018. During the 2005 season, Francona was hospitalized with severe chest pains; doctors found significantly clogged arteries but determined he had not suffered a heart attack. That episode, combined with a life-threatening pulmonary embolism in 2002, chronic knee pain, and ongoing blood clot treatment, has caused circulation problems that require him to wear extra layers, including two pairs of tights, and a pullover that covers his regular uniform top.

In June and July 2017, he missed games due to lightheadedness and was admitted to the Cleveland Clinic for tests. On July 7, 2017, he underwent a catheter ablation to correct an irregular heartbeat, which forced him to skip the 2017 All-Star Game he was scheduled to coach. He was released from the hospital on July 8 and rested until the Indians resumed play on July 14. Francona missed most of the 2020 season and all of the postseason because of a blood clotting issue.

On July 29, 2021, the team announced he would step away from managing for the rest of the 2021 season to focus on his health, after leading the team to a 50–49 record in the first 99 games; DeMarlo Hale took over as acting manager.