Terry Francona has yet to make it official but it certainly appears that he will retire and move on from the game of baseball once the 2023 regular season comes to an end.
Ahead of Cleveland's matchup with the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday Tito was asked about what likes about managing. He admitted this question caught him off guard and he "wasn't ready" for it. He truly had to stop to think about how he wanted to answer it which is rare.
This evolved into something different but revealed why Francona has stuck around the game for so long:
"I don't think it's just managing, I love the game of baseball. Since I could crawl that's all I've really ever done ... I just like baseball. I don't ever think I felt like I had to be a manager. I mean, I like being a bench coach. I love being a third-base coach. I actually loved managing in the Minor Leagues. That's what I think is more important to me than being a manager."
Francona has been managing in baseball since 1997 and he switched to this role shortly after retiring from being a player. He spent four seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, moved on to the Boston Red Sox for eight seasons, and is currently in his 11 season in Cleveland.
That's a lot of different places to be and along with a lot of different connections have been made. Francona also went on to say that one of his favorite parts about the game of baseball is the people and relationships he's made along the way.
Francona said he wasn't exactly sure what he'll miss about the game once he reties but, "I guarantee I will miss the people."
All good things must come to an end and it appears Tito's time as a manager will come to an end sooner rather than later. There's no doubt that the fans, players, and everyone else will miss him when he's gone and will be there when he inevitably is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
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