Although longtime Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona has not officially announced plans to retire at season’s end, the crew seems to be tipping his hand for him. According to MLB.com’s Mandy Bell, the Guardians intend handy out T-shirts bearing the message “Thank you, Tito” forward of their ultimate house recreation of the season on Wednesday towards the Cincinnati Reds. (The Guardians may just technically nonetheless make the playoffs, but that is a extremely not going result.)
Francona, 64, has been Cleveland’s skipper since 2013. He’s controlled in portions of 23 big-league seasons general, together with earlier stints with the Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Red Sox. Francona has advanced a host of well being problems in contemporary seasons that experience, every now and then, required him to step away.
“I want to enjoy what I’m doing. It’s getting harder to do that, just because physically it’s harder. I just want to be careful. And at the same time, I want to be fair to the team,” Francona informed newshounds about his standing closing fall.
Should this mark the end for Francona, he will be remembered as one of the maximum a hit and in style managers of his era. To date, he is received 53.9% of his steady season contests and has compiled a occupation 44-34 postseason file. He’s a two-time World Series champion, a three-time pennant winner, and a three-time Manager of the Year Award recipient.
Francona ranks thirteenth all-time in managerial regular-season victories and 7th in postseason wins. His 11 postseason berths rank 5th as smartly. (We’ll notice that that class is skewed towards trendy managers since they have benefitted from having extra playoff spots up for grabs.) He’s one of 25 skippers to win more than one World Series.
Francona additionally garnered a name as a prankster, as detailed by Sports Illustrated in 2018:
Francona regularly enlists lend a hand from others. He and Rays manager Kevin Cash had been pals since each have been with the Red Sox in 2007, so for Tampa Bay’s annual go back and forth to Cleveland, Francona works with the Indians scoreboard operator to welcome Cash to the town. “Kevin Cash: A tribute to a legacy,” it learn. “.183 AVG .248 OBP .273 SLG.” Last 12 months he put the numbers in context: “How bad is Kevin Cash at the plate? Cash’s career batting stats: .183/.248/.273. In the history of Major League Baseball, among all non-pitchers with at least 650 plate appearances, Kevin Cash is the 5th worst OPS+ of all time.”
Prior to changing into a trainer, Francona gave the impression in 707 big-league video games as a participant, collecting a .274/.300/.351 (81 OPS+) slash line. He suited up for 5 other groups, but he spent maximum of his time with the Montreal Expos.