BOSTON - All right, Philadelphia, what do you think of Terry Francona now?
The man dismissed as a managerial lightweight when he was fired by the Phillies in 2000 has led the Boston Red Sox to the World Series for the second time in four years.
By this time next week, he could find himself being measured for his second World Series ring.
Sure, we're assuming a lot here, especially with the rugged Colorado Rockies standing in the way, but two World Series rings might just put Francona on course for election to the Hall of Fame someday, depending on how the rest of his career goes. And at age 48, he has many good years remaining.
Despite all his successes in Boston, Francona still is viewed by some in Philadelphia - fans, media, even prominent baseball people - as a schnook.
That's a mistake.
"Nobody that matters or knows what they're talking about sees him that way," said Curt Schilling, who has spent eight of the last 11 seasons pitching for Francona, first in Philadelphia, now in Boston.
"Unfortunately, there are some people in Philadelphia that have the ability to shape opinions. There are some people in the media there that are the most ignorant sports people I've ever met.
"Terry's really not any different than he was in Philadelphia. He just has an organization that understands winning and is committed to winning."
Francona knows he has critics in Philadelphia, but he's too busy winning games in October to wonder if they've changed their minds about him.
"Regardless of what job I've had, I've never made it about myself," he said after his team won the American League pennant Sunday night. "Really, I don't care what people in Philadelphia think, especially from Woodhaven Road on down."
Francona managed low-budget, low-talent Phillies teams from 1997 through 2000. His time in Philadelphia was dominated by losing, not that it rankled his bosses all that much, because winning wasn't the Phillies' priority in those days. Getting financing for a new stadium and finding a place to build it was.
Francona was hired to nurture young players and absorb the blows everyone knew would come with losing. If the Phillies were ready to win in 1997, they wouldn't have hired a 37-year-old rookie manager.
"We all know why I got to be manager there," Francona said. "I was brought in to be patient, and I understood my job. I don't know if other people understood it, but I did.
"In some ways, my job was to [take heat], be patient with young players, and deflect criticism. In some ways, it's the same here. We just have better players, and everything in this game comes down to having good players."
In four seasons in Boston, Francona's teams have played in the postseason three times. His teams have won seven consecutive postseason games when faced with elimination, dating from the 2004 American League Championship Series.
It's right about now that critics will howl about Francona's having a star-studded team with a $143 million payroll. Those types of teams are supposed to succeed! Righto. But based on that logic, shouldn't Francona get a pass for not having had success with low-talent, low-payroll teams in Philadelphia?
"Talent is the reason people win," Schilling observed. "But Joe Torre had talent. Eric Wedge had talent.
"Terry is a huge part of this. Managing today is a lot different than it used to be. It's not so much about strategy and X's and O's. It's about understanding people. It's about putting those 25 players in the best position possible to have success. Terry does that better than anyone I've ever seen."
There are 30 big-league managers, and every one of them gets second-guessed. The only good move that a manager makes is the move that works. In other words, if the player executes, the manager looks good. If the player does not execute, the manager is a dog.
Too often, managers don't get credit for the moves that work - especially when it comes to handling a bullpen. Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon made Francona look pretty good with those four shutout innings Sunday night, didn't they?
Francona's strength is his player-relation skills. He showed them in 2004 when he persuaded pitcher Derek Lowe not to get down, that he still would be a vital piece in the team's championship effort, even though Lowe's pride was wounded after he was left out of the rotation to start the playoffs. Eventually, the Red Sox needed Lowe, and he won three clinching games that postseason.
Francona says that it's never about him, that it's always about the players. He proves that when he takes the blame for a move that doesn't work because a player fails to execute.
"He always has your back," pitcher Josh Beckett said.
That's important to a player. Gone are the days when a Billy Martin can publicly browbeat a player. Do that and you risk losing your team. Old-schoolers might have difficulty accepting that, but it's reality today.
And here's another reality in today's baseball: Terry Francona is one heck of a manager.
Jim Salisbury |
World Series Game 1
Rockies (Francis) at Red Sox (Beckett),
tomorrow at 8:35 p.m. (Fox29)