Francona reflects on time in Cleveland: ’11 of the best years of my life’
CINCINNATI — During his season away from managing last year, Terry Francona did his best to keep some distance from the Guardians, though he did find himself rooting for Cleveland from afar. While the task at hand is different this weekend, that doesn’t change what the 66-year-old accomplished with his now-former organization.
“I had 11 of the best years of my life there,” said Francona, who’s in his first season as Reds manager. “I love the people there. I’m here now and I’m supposed to be as good a manager as I can be. … But that doesn’t take away any of my feelings for the guys over there.”
Friday’s series opener of the Ohio Cup at Great American Ball Park marked Francona’s first time managing against the Guardians since he stepped away from Cleveland due to health reasons following the 2023 season. Cincinnati hired him on Oct. 7 last year.
Francona’s tenure with Cleveland was one of the most successful stretches in franchise history. From 2013-23, the organization made the postseason six times, which included a World Series berth in ‘16. Individually, Francona is Cleveland’s all-time winningest (921) and longest-tenured manager (11 seasons).
Francona’s tenure with the Reds and Guardians followed his eight seasons with the Red Sox, when he won a pair of World Series titles.
“I feel like he’s had two Hall of Fame careers,” catcher Austin Hedges said before the Guardians’ 5-4 loss on Friday. “He’s a Hall of Famer in Boston and he’s a Hall of Famer in Cleveland. All of the things that he’s done for an organization that’s been around as long as Cleveland has, to have all those records that he has says a lot to what type of winning manager he is.”
Hedges played three seasons for Francona (2020-22) and acknowledged it’s “definitely weird” going against his former manager this weekend. He and the Guardians know how strong of a competitor Francona is.
Of course, the simple aspect of it all is Francona and the Cleveland organization shared countless memories over their decade together. Looking back on it, the day-to-day stands out most to Hedges
“He’s going to be ready, and he’s going to keep it light, and he just believes in all his players,” Hedges said. “When you have someone like that believing in you, you end up playing a lot better.”
Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan echoed that sentiment. Kwan made Cleveland’s Opening Day roster in 2022 at 24 years old and went on to finish third in AL Rookie of the Year Award voting that season, when he racked up 168 hits in 147 games (.298 average), compiled 5.7 bWAR and won his first Gold Glove Award. But it wasn’t a linear rookie campaign.
Kwan hit .354 in April and .173 in May that season, but Francona maintained confidence in him, which Kwan said was “huge.”
“I was never a top prospect, never a big highly touted guy, and he believed in me from Day 1, which I thought was huge,” Kwan said. “I was just trying to make a name for myself, just trying to survive. He told me he trusted me. He told me that he believed I could do really well in this league. I owe a lot of my confidence to him.”
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt had a very successful debut season last year, when he led Cleveland to 92 wins and the ALCS en route to earning the AL Manager of the Year Award. Vogt obviously has his own managerial philosophies, ideas and way of doing things. But he also respected what preceded him and meshed those concepts.
“The word I like to use is ‘enhance’,” Vogt said. “We’re not changing, we’re enhancing things. Cleveland has had success even before Tito was there. They’ve been great for a long time. But what they did under Tito for those 11 years is special.
“You have to be pretty egotistical and not a good human being to come in and try and change everything right away. So we tried to learn everything and how things were done and just made enhancements along the way.”
While Francona has embarked upon a new endeavor, his legacy with Cleveland will sustain.
“He’s going to be a Cleveland great for a long time,” Kwan said.