Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Francona found success elsewhere, but knows Phils gave him his break
PHILADELPHIA >> Wherever Terry Francona’s baseball-managing journey ends, and it is headed in the general direction of Cooperstown, N.Y., he will remember a long drive through New Mexico and a phone call that changed his direction.
He had just finished a season as the third-base coach for the Detroit Tigers, who had just lost 109 games, third most in franchise history. And as he was driving back to his home on the West Coast, Francona was wondering what it would be like to be fired, and what he would do next. He was 37.
“Randy Smith called me,” Francona said, of the Tigers’ general manager. “He was like, ‘Who do you know in Philadelphia?’ And I said, ‘Nobody.’ Well, he said, ‘They called me and they want to interview you to be the manager.’ I never even thought about it. Buddy Bell was our manager and he said, ‘Go ahead, it will be good for you. You won’t get the job. You’re not ready. But it will be a good experience for you.’
“Three weeks later,” Francona said, “I was a manager.”
That was 20 years ago, and one Philadelphia ballpark ago, and three managing jobs ago for Francona, who was seated in the Cleveland Indians’ manager’s office Sunday afternoon, talking baseball, talking nostalgia.
“Well,” he said, “I don’t know if ‘nostalgia’ is the right word.” With that, he leaned back and laughed, aware that his four seasons managing the Phillies were not good for many souvenirs. At the time, he was trapped in a decrepit baseball-footballcombo stadium and working for an organization that seemed to know that the only way to a new ballpark was to lose so often that no one would come to the old one. He had decent everyday players, little pitching, and a front office not willing to spend the way a franchise in baseball’s largest monopoly market should spend.
“I was 38 that first year,” Francona recalled. “The next year, I was 48.”
Francona managed the Phillies to 68 wins, then 75, then 77 and then back to 65, the front office finally buckling to fan pressure to start building something, which it began to do by trading away, among other useful players, Curt Schilling. So he was fired, recycled through the Texas and Oakland coaching staffs, and given a second chance to manage with the 2004 Red Sox. By 2007, he’d twice won the World Series, reversing that Bambino Curse and assuring his place in baseball history.
Francona lasted eight seasons in Boston and is in his fourth year with the Indians, which means he rarely has a chance to return to Philadelphia, not that he necessarily has that on his bucket list. But he knows that without that phone call when he was 37 he might not be managing at 57.
“It really came kind of fast,” Francona said. “But I remember funny stuff like coming in to interview with Lee Thomas and Ed Wade and wearing my only sport coat. They told me later that it had a hole in it. I didn’t even know that.
“I wouldn’t say it was fun here. We lost a lot of games. And we took a beating sometimes. But it reinforced how I felt about things and players, and when I got to a place where they had better players, I think the experience did help me.”
Francona had a managerial record of 1,297 and 1,153 as he arrived Sunday to Citizens Bank Park. Two world championships, one after rallying from a 3-0 ALCS deficit to beat the Yankees, would have his blue cap with a stylized “B” on it in the Cooperstown ring. That 285363 entry-level effort in the Vet won’t brighten that resume, but to him, that’s OK too.
“It’s really different here now,” he said. “It’s a different ballpark. The one nice thing is that you don’t spend years in a place without getting really close to people. (Phillies clubhouse manager) Frank Coppenbarger came over this morning and we must have laughed for an hour and a half. Mr. (Bill) Giles came down yesterday. You get really fond of people that you are with, even though you are kind of going through the tough times.”
Francona left the Phillies after the 2000 season, and it wouldn’t be until 2007 that they would finish a season in first place, in a different environment, literally and otherwise. He just spent the weekend managing against the Phillies, and while he was impressed by some young pitchers, he was not likely to dwell on whatever his former franchise was trying to accomplish.
“I don’t know enough about it,” he said. “I do think the ballpark somehow changes things. They have hit the reset button, or however they are saying it. I think the biggest thing when I got here is that the fans wanted to be a big market and the Phillies probably weren’t acting like it. But with this ballpark, when these guys are ready, they will probably go out and get players.”
The Phillies never fit Francona with players, at least not the expensive kind. But at 37, who was he to start rhubarb?
“Back then, I was leaning on the run,” he said. “I was young and inexperienced and we didn’t have a very good team. And this city is not a good place to not be very good. So I learned a lot.
“And I think I knew at the time that I was pretty fortunate.”
He took a phone call. The Phillies took a chance. It took a while, but it eventually worked out for both.
To contact Jack McCaffery, email him at jmccaffery@21stcenturymedia.com; follow him on Twitter @ JackMcCaffery