The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Francona on brink of Indians record
Manager on track to become Cleveland’s all-time leader in victories
Terry Francona was hired on Oct. 8, 2012, as the 42nd manager of the Indians.
The message he delivered at his introductory news conference embodies the approach he takes to his job every spring.
“If you’re an Indians fan, I want you to be proud to be an Indians fan,” Francona said.
No bragging about his taking the Red Sox to the World Series in 2004 and 2007 while he was in Boston and winning it both times — ending an 86-year drought with the ’04 championship — or promising to do the same in Cleveland.
Look closely at his words. Francona did not say, “If you’re an Indians fan, I want to make you proud to be an Indians fan.” He never talks about himself in that way, but to even link “pride” and “Indians fans” in the same thought in 2012 seemed bold considering the four seasons before Francona took over they were 65-97 in 2009 in Eric Wedge’s last season as manager and then 69-93, 80-82 and 68-94 in three seasons under Manny Acta.
They were 92-70 in 2013 in Francona’s first season — a 24-game turnaround. The pride Tribe fans felt in the magical run of 1994 to 2001 was rekindled.
This is Francona’s ninth season in the third-base dugout at Progressive Field. He has guided the Indians to eight straight winning seasons, including the pandemic shortened 2020 season when health issues restricted him to managing only 14 games. Sandy Alomar Jr. managed 46 games on the way to a 35-25 finish.
Francona is 673-519 managing the Indians. At some point this season, he will pass Mike Hargrove (721-591 from 1991 to 1999) and then Lou Boudreau (728-649 from 1942 to 1950) to become the Indians’ alltime winningest manager.
Breaking a record that has stood for 70 years is no small feat.
“I didn’t know that,” Francona said during a Zoom call from spring training in Goodyear, Ariz. “I get so caught up in what we’re doing, and you guys know me well enough by now about staying in the moment and things like that. I’d prefer to enjoy what we’re doing and to see how good we can get as opposed to what number of wins we’re at or I’m at.
“That just doesn’t do a whole lot for me. The reason I do this job is because I like being in it with the guys, even sometimes when it’s not good, but you feel like ‘OK, we’re pulling in the right direction.’ That’s part of it. I get a lot of enjoyment out of that.”
The 2021 season figures to be one that is going to require a lot of pulling in the right direction if the Indiians are to make the playoffs for the sixth time under Francona’s leadership.
All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor was traded to the Mets because the Indians couldn’t afford him. A battle between Bobby Bradley and Jake Bauers lasted most of spring training because they couldn’t afford the $17.5 million option Carlos Santana was owed. And for the first time in many years, there are cracks in the Indians’ starting rotation.
So if Francona likes challenges, he is going to love 2021.
“Whoever handles adversity the best, gives themselves a better chance to win,” Francona said. “That’s how we feel about everything.”
What has made Francona successful for such a sustained period? Going back to his time in Boston, he has managed teams to winning records in 16 consecutive seasons, excluding 2012 when he took a year away from managing. As any “proud” Indians fan knows, his success in Cleveland has come with teams on the low end of the payroll spectrum.
“There are so many things — first and foremost is who he is as a leader, how deeply he cares about players,” Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said. “He always puts players first in how he seeks to build relationships with them and the positions he puts them in to be successful. He does that on an individual level, and he does an extraordinary job of building team identity in getting guys to believe in themselves but also to believe and lean on each other. He is extraordinarily adept at building that team identity.”
Players love playing for Francona, but he is the boss. Trevor Bauer embarrassed himself and the Indians during a meltdown in 2019 in Kansas City when he threw the ball over the center field wall in frustration as he was about to be pulled. He never pitched for the Indians again and was quickly traded to the Reds.
“We’ve had a lot of different teams with different players, but the consistency has been Tito and his leadership and the way he helps shape teams,” Antonetti said. “When you look up at the end of the day, they’ve been very competitive.”
Francona revolutionized the way managers use their bullpen. He used lateinning setup man/closer Andrew Miller successfully in the middle innings in the 2016 World Series with the Cubs, and now other managers are copying that
strategy.
Francona many times has said the outs a pitcher is asked to get in the seventh inning might be more important than a closer walking to the mound with a two-run or three-run lead in the ninth. That’s why this season James Karinchak won’t always be in the traditional closer’s role.
“Even being on the other side, competing against him when I was with other organizations, you know he’s prepared,” Indians bench coach Demarlo Hale said. “He has a good feel — and I’ve seen it first hand when I worked for him in the past — he had a good feel for how the game may progress.”
Hale was Boston’s thirdbase coach from 2006 to 2008 and the bench coach from 2009 to 2011 when Francona was managing the Red Sox.
“He might hold a guy he could use in the fifth inning until the eighth because he feels another situation is going to come around again when the game is on the line and a little tighter,” Hale said. “He has a number of strengths, but the ingame situations come out very strongly and he’s good at it. That’s why he’s about to break the record.”
Why stop at the Indians record?
Twenty-two managers are in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Francona, with a career record of 1,702-1,434 managing the Phillies, Red Sox and Indians has won more games than nine of them, including Tommy Lasorda (1,599-1,439 managing the Dodgers from 1976 to 1996) and Al Lopez, who was 1,410-1,004 managing the Indians and White Sox over 17 seasons.