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The Spectacle Blog
On September 13th I speculated that if the Boston Red Sox were to collapse and miss the post-season that manager Terry Francona would be out of a job.
Well, thirty-six hours removed from their nadir, it appears that the Red Sox will not be picking up Francona’s option for next season following a meeting he had this morning with Red Sox owners John Henry and Tom Werner and Red Sox GM Theo Epstein. The club held options on his contract for both 2012 and 2013.
However, Francona might not be out of a job for long. In fact, it might only be a question of putting on a new pair of Sox. Now that Ozzie Guillen has left the South Side of Chicago for South Beach to become the new manager of the Miami Marlins, the White Sox are a viable option. Indeed, after the end of his playing career in 1990, Francona began his minor league managerial career with the White Sox organization in 1991 and would remain with them until 1995 before he was hired as the third base coach for the Detroit Tigers in 1996. While with the Chisox organization, Francona managed NBA legend Michael Jordan with the Double A Birmingham Barons in 1994.
If the White Sox were to hire Francona, he would present a stark contrast to Guillen. While both men are comfortable engaging the media their content of their commentary differs sharply. While Guillen doesn’t hesitate to rip players in public. Francona generally maintains an upbeat demeanor and keeps that sort of thing behind closed doors.
There had been discussion about hiring Sandy Alomar, Jr. however he has opted to remain with the Cleveland Indians as their bench coach. Tampa Bay Rays bench coach Dave Martinez has also been mentioned as a potential successor to Guillen in Chicago.
So who might take over the helm of the Red Sox? Former Texas Rangers and New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine seems to be the first name to pop up. But then again he’s always at the top of someone’s list until teams decide they don’t want to deal with his drama. Valentine hasn’t managed in the big leagues since 2002. He spent six seasons managing in Japan before taking a job with ESPN in 2010. Valentine spent this past season on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. He is far from my favorite color commentator but under the circumstances I’d prefer he remain in the broadcast booth.
If Francona has managed his last game with the Red Sox, he will be the second winningest manager in the team’s history with 744 victories over eight seasons. Only Joe Cronin won more games at the helm of the Bosox with 1071 over 13 seasons including the AL pennant in 1946. The Red Sox retired Cronin’s number along with that of Ted Williams in 1984.
It bears worth repeating that during his first year managing the Red Sox in 2004, Francona led the team to their first World Series title in 86 years and proved it was no fluke three years later. But all things must come to an end. It’s not the end Francona would have liked but I’m sure after some time has passed he will appreciate the years he spent here and so too will Red Sox Nation.
UPDATE: It’s official. Tito is out. For his part, Francona says the decision was reached mutually and that the Red Sox need “a different voice.”
View all comments (14) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Aaron Goldstein
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/09/30/could-francona-be-wearing-new
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Cpm| 9.30.11 @ 6:26PM
I'm sure White Sox fans would welcome him with open arms. A little stability would be nice on the South Side.
The Intermediary| 9.30.11 @ 6:48PM
White Sox don't need Boston's sloppy seconds.
Cpm| 10.1.11 @ 9:12AM
They need something, and it ain't Bobby Valentine, MLB's sloppy sixths.
Michael L. Smith| 9.30.11 @ 6:58PM
I wonder how Tito likes CHICAGO? I sure wouldn't consider him sloppy seconds, you? Would prob. be a good fit for either team there. HAve a gr8 week-end gorgeous! That would be for Kandyse not you other hair-legs.
Interested Conservative| 10.1.11 @ 2:28PM
Terry, not Tito, though I make the same mistake often.
Aaron Goldstein| 10.1.11 @ 6:52PM
Tito is his nickname. Yes, it is also his father's name.
Sam C| 10.3.11 @ 7:19AM
Sloppy Seconds? Vulgar. Of course, you took (seconds) before with Carlton Fisk!
astorian| 10.3.11 @ 8:24AM
Speaking as a Yankees fan who had a lot of respect for Terry Francona...
I'm reminded of something Sparky Anderson used to say: Five or six years is about as long as any coach or manager should stay with a team. After that, the players KNOW all your pep talks, they've ehard all your speeches, they know all your motivational tools, and they just start to tune you out.
Francona did absolutely nothing wrong in 2011, and it sure wasn't his fault the Red Sox pitchers were so bad in September. But he could tell that he wasn't reaching the players the way he once did. Maybe it was just time for him to move on.
Aaron Goldstein| 10.3.11 @ 12:28PM
It's a curious comment from Sparky given that he spent nearly a decade at the helm of the Reds and more than fifteen years with the Tigers. Yet I don't doubt the veracity of his statement.
astorian| 10.3.11 @ 4:34PM
But remember that Sparky was speaking in hindsight.
He had a great run with the Reds, but by 1977, his magic had worn off. He didn' t suddenly become stupid or lose the ability to manage. He just couldn't motivate the players any more.
Given a new team in Detroit, he did very well... for a while. But over time, he found that the Tigers were tuning him out, too.
Remember Jules Pfeiffer's old cartoon about a frazzled school principal? The teacher says something like, "WE used to do a lot of rote memorization, and that worked very well for a while, but then it failed. So, we tried innovative, learn-at-your-own-pace programs. That worked for a while, but then it failed. Then we tried modern, computer based learning. It worked for a while, but then it failed." Then the teacher sighs, "After a while. everything fails. Kids develop antibodies."
It was only AFTER he'd left baseball that Sparky started wondering, "I was the same manager I'd always been. I was doing the same things I'd always done. Why did it stop working?" And MAYBE he finally hit upon the answer: no matter how good a coach or manager you are, your methods have a shelf life.
yisong| 10.25.11 @ 8:46PM
Slewing bearing is also called slewing bearing, some people called: rotary support, swing support.