Who's underrating Terry Francona?

Posted By Daniel W. Drezner Sunday, October 5, 2008 - 1:51 PM Share

Both the Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy and the New York Times' Jack Curry devote their columns today to Red Sox manager Terry Francona.  They have similar themes -- Sox fans underappreciate Francona, but not true baseball insiders.  Shaughnessy first: 
Francona is never going to get the Red Auerbach or Bill Belichick treatment around here. In the eyes of some old-school Red Sox watchers, he's not even on a par with Dick Williams. But when do we start looking at what is happening with the Red Sox and assigning some credit to the man in the corner office? Just because Francona doesn't intimidate people or try to portray himself as a genius, is that any reason to diminish what the man has done?
And now Curry: 
Although Francona has more World Series rings as a manager than Lou Piniella,  Bobby Cox or Jim Leyland, he is not routinely mentioned as one of baseball’s elite managers.... Stop fans on any street that is not in New England and ask them to pick baseball’s best managers. Not many would select Francona. When Francona was presented with this theory, he said, “My dad would.”
OK, enough -- do Shaughnessy and Curry have some secret bar where they meet a few guys named Sully once a month so they can write this kind of "fan-on-the-street" crap with a clear conscience?  As a Red Sox fan who talks to other Sox fans, I have rarely, if ever, heard an unkind word directed at Francona during his tenure as manager here.  In fact, most Sox fans think Francona excels at the three biggest challenges a Red Sox manager faces:  a) keeping the players on the same page; b) handling the media; c) never panicking during the season. If anything, it's the national media -- I'm looking at you, BBWAA -- that underrates Francona.  Consider that he's never won Manager of the Year.  In the miracle year of 2004, he finished fifth in the voting, receiving zero first-place ballots.  In 2005, he managed to get a team without a true #1 or #2 starter and no established closer into the postseason and finished sixth in the voting, receiving zero first-place ballots.  Last year, despite helming the team with the best record, he finished fourth in the voting and received zero first-place ballots.   Oh, and he's not going to win it this year, either -- Joe Maddon will.  Why is this?  The MOY tends to go to the guy who's team exceeeds expectations -- and since Francona's been around, the Red Sox have been expected to go in the post-season.  GM Theo Epstein (deservedly) gets a lot of credit that might otherwise go to Francona.  It's a regular season vote as well, so Francona's post-season success doesn't count.  And Francona really is pretty self-effacing -- if it's an act, then it's a very convincing one.  So, to use a poker metaphor, Francona usually holds better cards than the other guys.  His skill at playing those cards, however, is underrated.  If the Red Sox win the World Series again this year, however, my bet is that Francona's reputation goes sky-high.  By some metrics, the Red Sox are still the best team in the league, but they've had to deal with a lot of injuries plus the whole Manny brouhaha.  Unlike last year, they're not expected to win this year.  Joe Torre is no longer in New York City.  If he can exceed expectations again, then maybe the national baseball media elite will catch up to what Red Sox fans have known for quite some time -- Terry Francona is a damn fine manager. 
EXPLORE:SPORTS, BASEBALL
 

JOE KLEIN'S CONSCIENCE

4:23 PM ET

October 5, 2008

Dan: I suggest you talk to

Dan:
I suggest you talk to some Phillies fans. There was a reason people here called him Tito(Yes, that is his father's name, and yes, it was meant as an insult to Terry). He's learned a lot about media relations it seems. It also helps when you have one of the best clubs in baseball. When Francona was in Philly, it was a disaster all around. He was a bad manager. Because of the Philly ownership(and their cheap ways at the time), it was assumed that Francona got the job because Michael Jordan said nice things about him(If you remember, Francona was the manager of the White Sox minor league team that Jordan played for during his short baseball career). For the record, I am not a Phillies fan, but live there.

 

NS

1:45 AM ET

October 6, 2008

Joe Klein's conscience,

Joe Klein's conscience,
Do you have any shame about being an Obama shill :-) Just kidding !

Tito has now won 2 WS rings in 4 years and quite possibly win a third one this year - in a city that was defined by the year 1918 and the "Curse of the Bambino".

I don't think this has happened mostly due to the talent on the team. And i say this as a Yankee fan. Francona has managed the team pretty well to say the least.

It really hurts to watch Joe Torre wearing Dodger blue and break the record for most post season wins by a manager in a non Yankee uniform.

The Steinbrenners cannot be forgiven for this and closing down of the "old" Yankee stadium.

 

ALLAN

4:03 AM ET

October 6, 2008

I have to admit - when

I have to admit - when Francona was first hired, I was dismayed. Then I watched him through many tactical mistakes and felt even worse about him. But now I have a deep appreciation for Francona. Yes, he's still prone to making dumb management decisions, but the players really seem to like him and he keeps the clubhouse relatively strife free. This is a huge departure from the Red Sox of old who took separate cabs to the ballpark.

 

SMK

3:51 PM ET

October 6, 2008

JKC - while I agree that

JKC - while I agree that having better players makes Francona look like a better manager (amazing how that works!), maybe it's also possible that he's learned a few things since he was in Philly. Francona's biggest strength is putting guys in a position to succeed, and I think some of the evidence of that is the Sox' ability to integrate young players into the lineup: Youkilis, Pedroia, Ellsbury and Lowrie were good prospects but by no means projected stars, and the first two are viable MVP candidates this year. The Sox have also developed Lester, Masterson and Delcarmen into key contributors on the pitching staff - Lester is probably one of the five best pitchers in the league at this point. While most of the credit for their success goes to the players, Francona and his coaches' confidence that the players could do the job was a key factor as well.

 

JOE KLEIN'S CONSCIENCE

1:06 AM ET

October 7, 2008

SMK: Yeah, it is obvious

SMK:
Yeah, it is obvious Francona has learned from his time in Philly. I'd have to guess that keeping the clubhouse drama free(as an MLB clubhouse can be) is probably one of his best accomplishments. Torre did that in NY and it worked wonders.

 

RED SOX FAN

6:28 PM ET

October 7, 2008

No matter what your opinion

No matter what your opinion is of Francona is he has brought two World Series title to Boston and has an opportunity to bring three, he should be given the benefit of the doubt and deserves the respect as one of the top managers in baseball and one of the best the Red Sox have ever had.

As far as Francona being a bad manager in Philly you can make the same argument for Bill Bellicheck when he was with the Browns now he is considered a genius and on the greatest coaches in football.

I do agree he has one of the best teams in baseball but the 86' Red Sox were the best team that year and came away empty handed due to bad managing.

 

Daniel W. Drezner is professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

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