Scooter belonging to Guardians manager Terry Francona recovered, returned
The story of the missing scooter belonging to Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona has a happy ending.
Tom Withers of the Associated Press reported Wednesday that Cleveland police recovered the scooter on Tuesday night.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Guardians tweeted out the reunion between the skipper and his special ride:
The Guardians previously had some fun at Francona's expense, while a certain condiment that experienced a rough 2022 season is apparently on the case:
It was learned on Tuesday that somebody stole Francona's scooter from outside his downtown Cleveland apartment this past weekend.
Cleveland police spokesperson Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia had said that surveillance footage was being used to track down the culprits and the ride.
Francona routinely rides his scooter to and from Progressive Field, also located in downtown Cleveland, during seasons and is often spotted by fans.
The then-Cleveland Indians once released a bobblehead that featured Francona on what's become a well-known mode of transportation.
Francona typically spends the colder parts of the offseason in Arizona but was in Northeast Ohio this past weekend for the Guards Fest fan convention held downtown.
"It's nice to have this event because it's hard to have this over Zoom, and I think we're all tired of Zoom anyway," Francona said on Saturday, per Henry Palattella of the club's website. "It's nice to see people. I'm glad people are excited — that's good — but what I want to do now is take what we learned from last year and springboard into this year."
Francona earned his third American League Manager of the Year Award after he guided the Guardians to a 92-70 regular-season record and the AL Central Division title.
Cleveland defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in the wild-card round of the playoffs but then fell to the New York Yankees in the division series.
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