Francona: Farrell will be fine

Six years ago, Terry Francona was in John Farrell’s shoes.

After the Red Sox fell apart at the end of the 2011 season, the club parted ways with Francona, who took a year off before becoming the Cleveland Indians manager.

Yesterday, Francona spent time talking with Farrell, who was fired as manager of the Red Sox.

Francona said Farrell told him he was at peace with the decision.

“I talked to him today,” Francona told reporters in Cleveland before Game 5 of the Division Series against the New York Yankees. “I talked to him today a little bit. It’s one of those things where it’s your friend. I do think, for whatever reason, that place is a little crazy. I think he felt like he probably had a target on his back for a while. He said he was at peace with it. And I think he’s done some amazing things. He won a World Series there.

“I think he’ll probably end up feeling like he’s in a better place, because I think that place can age you a little bit sometimes. I saw what it was doing to him. He’ll be fine. He’s got too good a reputation. He’s too good a guy. He’ll be just fine. I think on a day like today, he knows he has a lot of people that care about him.”

Farrell alluded to the difficulties of managing in Boston in his official statement, which was released by the Red Sox.

Francona said he understood that. “There’s just so much passion and so much interest that, with that comes, it can’t help but come with headaches,” Francona said. “And unlike New York, it’s got a little bit of a smaller-town atmosphere to it. I think in New York you get lost a little bit, it’s so big. Not in Boston. Like, when somebody gets called from Triple A, they know who it is. There’s just a lot of interest and sometimes you go home with a headache. That’s just kind of the way it is. I mean, it’s a great baseball town.”

Farrell finished his tenure with the sixth-most wins in franchise history while winning 53 percent of his games. Francona won 57 percent of his games as the Sox manager.

“I just told John, I said, ‘You know, John, a couple years from now, you’ll go back there and they’ll love you,’ ” Francona said.