Who's underrating Terry Francona?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.