Some people might have been caught off guard Aug. 22 when Terry Francona strongly hinted this will be his last season managing the Cleveland Guardians. Team president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti wasn’t surprised at all.
Francona was named Indians manager in 2013. Antonetti has been with him every step of the way, first as general manager and then in his current position since 2015. Their relationship extends far beyond the way they work closely together. Their friendship is genuine and will continue after Francona leaves the dugout for the final time. It will be the same way with Francona and Guardians general manager Mike Chernoff.
“Tito, Mike and I talk all the time,” Antonetti said during a news conference Aug. 23. “We talk about things that are on his mind every day — how he’s feeling, what he’s thinking. So there was nothing surprising to me or us yesterday.”
President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti on Aug. 23 said he wasn’t surprised Terry Francona is talking about retiring. Antonetti wouldn’t reveal plans to replace Francona. His main concern is Tito’s wellbeing after baseball. @CleGuardians pic.twitter.com/6hA2A6p48G
— Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) August 23, 2023
Eleven years with one team is an eternity for a baseball manager. Francona has led the Indians/Guardians to the playoffs six times and the World Series once. His 905 wins managing the team are the most in franchise history.
Antonetti was asked what it will be like to not have Francona around. Francona could be back at his home in Arizona seven weeks from now, never to return in his current capacity.
“I don’t want to think about that yet,” Antonetti said. “The most important thing and the thing I and we care about the most is Tito’s life after this and beyond baseball. And we want to make sure he’s well positioned to enjoy every moment with his kids and his grandkids and everyone for a long time.”
Antonetti said he has no specific plans to replace Francona. He won’t limit his search to someone already in the Guardians organization.
Francona met with reporters Aug. 23 before Antonetti did. He seemed even clearer that this, his 23rd season managing his third team, will be his last. He revealed he has to have his right shoulder replaced and needs surgery to repair two hernias.
Terry Francona: “Who loves baseball more than me? Nobody.” Nevertheless, he says “I’m in a pretty comfortable place” now as he prepares to retire because he has given everything he could to managing the @CleGuardians. pic.twitter.com/JjoZHVQXVp
— Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) August 23, 2023
“It’s like every winter I’ve been trying to get healthy for the season, then I get beat up,” Francona said. “I need to get healthy for a life and this lifestyle is just too difficult. I went to see the doctor this morning, just trying to set these things up. Just trying to be logical. (Another season) just doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
Baseball has been Terry Francona’s life for his entire life. His father, Tito Francona, played in the Majors from 1956-70. He played for the Indians from 1959-64. Terry Francona played in the Majors from 1981-90.
Terry Francona and Buddy Bell were teammates on the Cincinnati Reds in 1987. Bell was working in the White Sox organization when Terry retired as a player. Bell called and offered him a job managing Sarasota in the rookie league in 1991. By 1992 Francona was managing South Bend, the Single-A White Sox farm team, and a year later was managing Double-A Birmingham. He got his first job managing in the Majors with the Phillies in 1997.
“When I got done as a player, I remember vividly thinking — because you hear the horror stories — and I’m like, ‘Man, who loves baseball more than me? Nobody.’ And I put my Puma bag in the closet in my house.
“I can’t find it now, but I never opened it. My point being like, I never looked back, never missed playing and I think I had given everything I could and I knew it and it was getting hard. And I never looked back and I remember thinking, ‘OK, that’s pretty cool because you hear stories (about guys not being able to let go).”
The day he tossed his equipment bag in the closet after being cut by the Cardinals’ minor-league camp after giving his all as a player — that’s how he feels about the way he has managed for nearly a quarter century.
“I think that’s probably where I’m at now,” he said. “I’m in a pretty comfortable place.”
