Terry Francona

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Terry Francona

First Baseman/Outfielder, Manager

Born: April 22 1959 (1959-04-22) (age 50)
Batted: Left	Threw: Left
MLB debut
August 19, 1981 for the Montreal Expos
Final game
April 19, 1990 for the Milwaukee Brewers
Career statistics
AVG	.274
Hits	474
RBIs	143
Teams
As Player Montreal Expos (1981-1985) Chicago Cubs (1986) Cincinnati Reds (1987) Cleveland Indians (1988) Milwaukee Brewers (1989-1990) As Manager Philadelphia Phillies (1997-2000) Boston Red Sox (2004-current)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion: 2004, 2007 College World Series champion: 1980 College World Series: Most Outstanding Player 1980

Terry Jon Francona (born April 22 1959, in Aberdeen, South Dakota), nicknamed "Tito," is a Major League Baseball manager. As of 2007, he manages the Boston Red Sox in the American League.

1 Youth
2 Early career
3 First base
4 Journeyman years
5 Minor League coaching career
6 Major League coaching career
7 Red Sox manager
8 Managerial record
9 Personal
10 See also
11 External links

[edit] Youth

Francona grew up outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and got his start in baseball at New Brighton, Pennsylvania High School, where he excelled under the coaching of Greg "Faz" Fazio. His father is Tito Francona, who played in the majors from 1956 to 1970.

[edit] Early career

Francona was drafted out of the University of Arizona in the first round of the 1980 amateur draft by the Montreal Expos, using the 22nd overall selection. That season, his team won the College World Series and Francona was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. The left-hander wasted no time rising through the minor leagues, first appearing in a Montreal uniform August 19, 1981, a week after the end of that summer's player strike. He appeared mainly as an outfielder that first year, and he went 4-for-12 in the National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies, an extra playoff round utilized that year because the season was conducted in two halves as the result of the strike. The Expos won that series, three games to two.

[edit] First base

As the seasons went on, Francona shifted to first base, where he ultimately played one hundred games more than he had in the outfield. He also developed a reputation as a contact hitter, with very few home runs, walks, or strikeouts.

[edit] Journeyman years

The Expos released Francona after the 1985 season, during which his batting average had slipped to .267 after posting a .346 average in limited action in 1984. He went on to sign one-year contracts with the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, and Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers re-signed Francona for 1990, but he only played in three games for the Brewers that year, the last on April 19. In ten seasons and 708 games, he posted a .274 career average, with 16 homers and 143 RBI. He also made an appearance as a pitcher with Milwaukee on May 15, 1989, throwing 12 pitches and striking out one batter on three pitches (Stan Javier).

[edit] Minor League coaching career

Francona then entered coaching, spending several years in the Chicago White Sox organization. In 1991, he managed the rookie league Sarasota White Sox of the Gulf Coast League. In 1992, he ran the South Bend White Sox of the mid-level Class A Midwest League. As manager of the AA franchise Birmingham Barons from 1993-1995, he posted a 223-203 record and won two distinctions: Southern League Manager of the Year in 1993, Baseball America's Minor League Manager of the Year in 1993, and top managerial candidate by Baseball America in 1994, the same year Michael Jordan played for Birmingham. Birmingham won the Southern League championship in 1993.

[edit] Major League coaching career

Francona became third-base coach for the Detroit Tigers in 1996, working under their new skipper, Buddy Bell, a former teammate of Francona on the Reds. After the season ended, he was hired as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies (with Michael Jordan's endorsement), who had won the NL pennant in 1993 but then experienced three consecutive losing seasons. In Francona's four seasons (1997 through 2000) as the Phils' skipper, the club never rose above third place in the National League East Division. His best finish with the Phillies was 77-85 in 1999. He was fired following the 2000 campaign, and spent the following season as a special assistant to the general manager with the Cleveland Indians (2001), which was followed by two one-year terms as a bench coach for the Texas Rangers (2002) and Oakland Athletics (2003).

[edit] Red Sox manager

The Red Sox hired Francona to manage their club in 2004, after Grady Little's contract was not renewed as a result of the Red Sox loss of the 2003 American League Championship Series.

Francona led the Red Sox to a 98-64 record in 2004, the second-best record in the American League behind the division-rival Yankees. Under Francona's leadership, the club gelled in the second half and was the hottest team in baseball after the All-Star break.

Image:WorldSeriesRing.jpg

A 2004 Boston Red Sox World Series Ring. Ring courtesy of Red Sox Vice-Chairman Les Otten

As the American League wild card, the Red Sox dispatched the AL West champion Anaheim Angels, three games to none, in the Division Series. In the 2004 American League Championship Series, the Red Sox fell behind the Yankees, three games to none, including a 19-8 loss in Game 3 at home in Fenway Park. However, under Francona's guidance, the club regained its composure and won the last four games of the series, the first time in Major League history that a team rallied from an 0-3 deficit to win a playoff series (and only the third team to even make it as far as Game 6). Francona's management of his bullpen staff in the four victories was generally regarded as outstanding. The Red Sox then swept the St. Louis Cardinals, four games to none, in the 2004 World Series.

Three years later, the Sox won the American League East Division, finishing two games ahead of the New York Yankees. Under Francona's leadership, the Sox swept the Angels in the Division Series before dropping three of the first four games to the Cleveland Indians in the ALCS. The Sox, facing elimination, went on to win their next three games, defeating Cleveland to advance to the 2007 World Series, where they swept the Colorado Rockies in four games. Terry Francona 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 who led Boston to back-to-back championships in 1915 and 1916.

As of 28 October 2007 Francona's career regular-season managerial record is 660-636 (.509), while his post-season record is 22-9 (.710). Amongst managers who have managed at least 20 post-season games, he has the highest winning percentage. Francona is the first manager in MLB history to win his first 8 games in the World Series.[1].

[edit] Managerial record

(updated thru Oct. 8, 2007)

Team	Year	Regular Season				Postseason
Team	Year	Won	Lost	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
PHI	1997	68	94	.420	5th in NL East	-	-	-
PHI	1998	75	87	.463	3rd in NL East	-	-	-
PHI	1999	77	85	.475	3rd in NL East	-	-	-
PHI	2000	65	97	.401	5th in NL East	-	-	-
BOS	2004	98	64	.605	2nd in AL East	11	3	.785	Win World Series
BOS	2005	95	67	.586	2nd in AL East	0	3	.000	Lose in ALDS
BOS	2006	86	76	.531	3rd in AL East	-	-	-
BOS	2007	96	66	.593	1st in AL East	11	3	.785	Win World Series

[edit] Personal

Terry married Jacque Lang on January 9, 1982 [2], and they have four children: son Nicholas, and daughters Alyssa, Leah, and Jamie. They now live in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. The oldest of the four, Nick, currently attends and plays baseball for the University of Pennsylvania, while Alyssa currently attends and plays softball for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Baseball-Reference.com - career playing statistics
Baseball-Reference.com - career managerial record
Francona's tenure in Birmingham

Sporting positions
Preceded by Jim Fregosi	Philadelphia Phillies manager 1997-2000	Succeeded by Larry Bowa
Preceded by Grady Little	Boston Red Sox manager 2004–current	Succeeded by current

v • d • e

Boston Red Sox 2004 World Series roster

v • d • e

Boston Red Sox 2007 World Series roster

v • d • e

Boston Red Sox current roster

v • d • e

Philadelphia Phillies managers

Ferguson • Purcell • Reach • Allen • Wright • Irwin • Nash • Stallings • Shettsline • Zimmer • Duffy • Murray • Dooin • Moran • Coombs • Cravath • Donovan • Wilhelm • Fletcher • McInnis • Shotton • Wilson • Prothro • Lobert • Harris • Fitzsimmons • Chapman • Sawyer • O'Neill • Moore • Smith • Sawyer • Mauch • Skinner • Myatt • Lucchesi • Owens • Ozark • Green • Corrales • Owens • Felske • Elia • Leyva • Fregosi • Francona • Bowa • Varsho • Manuel

v • d • e

Boston Red Sox managers

Boston Americans (1901-1907)
Collins, J. • Stahl, C. • Young • Huff • Unglaub • McGuire

Boston Red Sox (1908-present)
McGuire • Lake • Donovan • Stahl, J. • Carrigan • Barry • Barrow • Duffy • Chance • Fohl • Carrigan • Wagner • Collins, S. • McManus • Harris • Cronin • McCarthy • O'Neill • Boudreau • Higgins • York • Jurges • Baker • Higgins • Pesky • Herman • Runnels • Williams, D. • Popowski • Kasko • Popowski • Johnson • Zimmer • Pesky • Houk • McNamara • Morgan • Hobson • Kennedy • Williams, J. • Kerrigan • Little • Francona

v • d • e Current Major League Baseball managers
AMERICAN LEAGUE
EAST DIVISION 47 Trembley (Baltimore) 47 Francona (Boston) 27 Girardi (N.Y. Yankees) 70 Maddon (Tampa Bay) 5 Gibbons (Toronto)	CENTRAL DIVISION 13 Guillén (Chi. White Sox) 22 Wedge (Cleveland) 10 Leyland (Detroit) 22 Hillman (Kansas City) 35 Gardenhire (Minnesota)	WEST DIVISION 14 Scioscia (L.A. Angels) 53 Geren (Oakland) 8 McLaren (Seattle) 38 Washington (Texas)
NATIONAL LEAGUE
EAST DIVISION 6 Cox (Atlanta) 33 González (Florida) 12 Randolph (N.Y. Mets) 41 Manuel (Philadelphia) 14 Acta (Washington)	CENTRAL DIVISION 41 Piniella (Chi. Cubs) 12 Baker (Cincinnati) 15 Cooper (Houston) 3 Yost (Milwaukee) 7 Russell (Pittsburgh) 10 La Russa (St. Louis)	WEST DIVISION 3 Melvin (Arizona) 13 Hurdle (Colorado) 6 Torre (L.A. Dodgers) 20 Black (San Diego) 15 Bochy (San Francisco)