Terry Francona is a very divisive figure among Indians fans. Many in the more emotional crowd follow his every move blindly as the works of the genius who brought Boston their first World Championship in nearly 100 years. Other, more statistically inclined fans find fault in the Tribe’s manager daily. In particular, his love of at least tolerance of sacrifice bunts, his favoritism of players that might not be talented enough for the Major Leagues and his penchant for leaving pitchers in to deal with their own messes rather than going to a reliever at the first sign of trouble. No matter how you feel about Francona’s in game management or line-up construction, you have to appreciate what he has done for the Tribe, now fresh off his 300th win with the team in less than three and a half seasons.
Every situation in baseball is far from a sure thing, however, and even when the smartest guys in the room disagree with a move, there is still a decent chance it works out. This has often been the fuel to the fire in these arguments. For example, statistics over the history of baseball have shown that an average team is better off with a runner on first and no outs than a runner on second with one out. This forms the basis for the anti-bunt argument, but it doesn’t mean that a team with a runner on second and one out is incapable of scoring or even being the start to a big inning, it is just less probable.
To the same effect, there have been times when Francona has left in a starting pitcher (or Bryan Shaw) too long as fans beg for relief while a lead or close game is flipped the other direction. There have certainly been just as many times, however, when that pitcher worked through the difficulty, possibly with better effects than the bullpen would have and in doing so, saved the bullpen for another day.
In fact, nearly everything any manager who has a decent understanding of the game can’t do all that much to affect the on the field performance. Even the much debated batting order doesn’t make a whole lot of difference outside of the fact that the first three hitters get to bat more often than those who bat after. As far as wins and losses are concerned, talent will have a far greater effect on games and everyone knows this deep down. If you need more concrete evidence, look at Joe Maddon, largely considered one of the best in the game, and his record with an average team in Tampa compared to his current group of All-Stars in Chicago.
The point being, even if Francona was the worst in game manager of all time, which he is nowhere near, he would still be valuable for other reasons. Francona has always been known as a players manager and was even chastised in the media for being too relaxed at the end of his tenure in Boston. He cares about winning and each player putting their best effort forward, but is not a strict authoritarian like many managers in the past have been. While the exact value of team chemistry has been greatly debated, it is Francona’s loose attitude that has allowed the Indians to have a team that gets along together, has fun together and plays well together.
Francona’s hands off approach may be most obvious in the play of Francisco Lindor. While many, including myself, loathed to see him bunting in every situation with runners on during 2015, Francona said that it was the short stop, not the manager, who was choosing to do so. Lindor was doing what he thought was best for the club at the time, something admirable if a little foolish considering that he was the Indians best hitter during the second half of the season. Since then, Lindor has realized this, whether through Francona or on his own, and stopped with the constant sacrifice bunts.
There is no question that Lindor loves the game and enjoys every minute on the field. His excitement feeds directly into the fans’ and if anyone is capable of bringing the Indians back to the forefront of Cleveland sports, it is Lindor. This is complete conjecture, but I wonder if he would be anywhere near as happy and loose if he had a strict manager, constantly telling him how to work his at bats and run the bases. By the time Lindor and the rest of the team have made the Major League roster, they should already know how to play the game without constant needling from the manager.
One thing that can’t be questioned are Francona’s results. In just three and a half seasons, Francona has already hit 300 wins, placing him 9th in Indians history behind such greats as Hall of Famers Lou Boudreau, Tris Speaker, Al Lopez and Nap Lajoie. His .536 winning percent marks him as a near equal of the player/manager Lajoie and ahead of Boudreau, Eric Wedge, Roger Peckinpaugh and Lee Fohl. One thing Francona doesn’t have in common with anyone above him on this list, however, is that he has only managed four seasons while the rest averaged 7, the top two, Boudreau and Hargrove, managing nine apiece.
Making his work more impressive is the fact that he isn’t doing this with a roster full of Hall of Famers. There are many above average players on the current roster and all are fully capable, but even while carrying the albatrosses of the players who used to be Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn and Justin Masterson, Francona always managed a record above .500. The teams managed by Boudreau and Lopez in particular were as full of Hall of Famers as any team every, featuring as many as seven at one time and a pitching rotation that carried three for many years. While Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar are all among the best in baseball today, they are from from consideration at this point. After spending most of the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s below .500 even with a pitching staff that rivaled today’s during much of the 1960’s, credit has to go to Francona for making the most with what he has, even if he does so unconventionally.
Francona is not the perfect manager, but he is certainly the best one the Indians have had since Hargrove and the best option available today. While there are things he could work on, like trusting more than two members of his bullpen and not trusting Chris Gimenez so much, he has the intangibles that make a manager great. His ability to keep the dugout loose and his players happy gives them the best chance to compete at the highest level every day. Even with all the gripes myself and others have had about Francona, I’d be extremely happy to see him stick around for as long as the best managers in team history.
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