Terry Francona has all but confirmed that this will be his final season as a manager. Though he has not said so officially, the Cleveland Guardians came prepared on Wednesday.
The Guardians played a tribute to Francona prior to Wednesday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds. The game marked what is expected to be Francona’s final home game as the team’s manager.
The 64-year-old is so well loved in Cleveland that he had to come out of the dugout twice for curtain calls.
Francona began with Cleveland in 2013. They turned things around from 68-94 in 2012 to 92-70 in Francona’s first season, which helped him win AL Manager of the Year. He took them to the World Series in 2016 and ended up winning two more AL Manager of the Year awards during his tenure (2016, 2022).
In his 11 seasons with the organization, Francona’s teams have had nine winning seasons, won the AL Central four times and made the playoffs six times. He is the franchise’s leader in managerial wins.
Francona also had a highly successful stint as Red Sox manager that included two World Series titles.
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