The New York Mets and the Milwaukee Brewers played a crazy game on Thursday night that saw the Mets score four runs in the top of the 9th inning to advance in the playoffs. That was the biggest baseball news in Cincinnati for about 15 minutes. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com just reported that the Reds are hiring Terry Francona to be their next manager and they could announce it officially as soon as Friday.
It sounded like Terry Francona has been the dream hire for a bit of time now, but there were always some questions as to whether he was truly available after having left his previous gig due to some health concerns. Apparently he’s in good enough condition and ready to get back in the dugout.
On one hand the Cincinnati Reds are doing that thing that they almost always seem to do – go after someone who used to be a Red or has some connection to the Reds. Francona played with the Reds back in 1987. It was his only season with Cincinnati out of his 10-year big league career.
On the other hand, the Reds went out and got someone with a long track record of winning as a manager. Francona got his first big league managerial job with the Phillies in 1997. In his four years in Philadelphia he never had a winning season. From 2001-2003 he didn’t manage in the big leagues, but he was hired in 2004 to take over the Boston Red Sox. He spend the next eight seasons there, never had a losing season, and only twice did he win fewer than 90 games.
After not managing in 2012, Terry Francona returned to the dugout and took over in Cleveland. He managed there for the next 11 seasons and went 921-757. He did have a losing season in two of his last three years with Cleveland. In 2023 the Guardians went 76-86. That was the worst record he had as a manager over the previous 19 seasons.
The now 65-year-old will be returning to Cincinnati, but this time it won’t be as a player. With 1950 big league wins to his name, he’ll look to turn things around for the Reds. He’s 13th all-time in wins and is only 58 behind Leo Durocher for the next spot on the list. He’s won two World Series titles – both with the Red Sox. Francona has been named the Manager of the Year three times, but never in a year in which he won the World Series (he finished 5th and 4th in the voting in the American League those years).
