Terry Francona re-engergized by youthful Guardians

Mar. 28—No current manager in the Major Leagues has been on the job with the same team as long as Terry Francona has guided the Indians/Guardians. His pilot light burns as brightly as ever.

The season ahead will be Francona's 11th in Cleveland, and when Mariners opening day starter Luis Castillo throws the first pitch to Steven Kwan on March 30 to get the 2023 campaign underway, "Tito" will have been on the job 3,827 days.

That breaks down to 81,848 hours and too many hotel rooms and too many air miles to count since he was hired on Oct. 6, 2012.

"Everybody says, 'Do you have perspective?'" Francona told reporters covering the Guardians in spring training. "I hate when we lose. I really enjoy it when we win. But I love doing what we do, and I always have. I've always enjoyed it. If I wasn't in baseball, all I'd be doing was wishing I was in baseball."

Coincidentally — but not really — the manager with the second-longest tenure is Kevin Cash of the Tampa Bay Rays. Cash, a former catcher, played for Boston in two stints when Francona managed the Red Sox.

Francona hired him to be the Indians bullpen coach soon after being named the Tribe's manager. Cash learned well under Francona and was hired to manage the Rays in December of 2014.

Francona is 63 and the sixth oldest of the 30 managers in the majors. He's also third in total wins (1,874) among active managers behind Dusty Baker of the Astros (2,093) and Bruch Bochy (2,003) of the Texas Rangers. Francona managed the Phillies from 1997 to 2000 and the Red Sox from 2004 to 2011.

One thing is almost certain: Once he decides he doesn't want to manage the Guardians any longer, Francona will be ready to move onto the next phase of his life. He is the Indians/Guardians all-time leader in victories.

He is credited with 845 wins, though 25 of those were earned by Sandy Alomar Jr. in 2020 and 30 were earned by DeMarlo Hale in 2021 when each served as interim manager when Francona experienced major health problems. Even so, Francona's 790 actual wins are 62 more than Lou Boudreau posted as Indians manager from 1942 to 50.

The reason the above paragraph begins with the caveat "almost certain" is Francona tried stepping away from a dugout in 2012 when he worked in the ESPN booth as an analyst. That did not work well. He was loath to second-guess his managerial brethren and he missed that daily grind — the camaraderie with coaches and players, the lure of the ballpark and everything that goes with it.

Francona in 2022 was healthy for the first time since 2019. The 2020 season didn't begin until July 23 because of COVID-19. Francona was stricken with gastrointestinal problems and blood-clotting that landed him in the Cleveland Clinic intensive care unit. That year, he managed only 14 of 60 games. Alomar managed the rest of the season.

Different health problems, centered on a staph infection in his foot and a nagging hip, forced him to step away from the team on July 29, 2021. Hale finished as interim manager.

Francona's return to health last season coincided with the Guardians surprising the baseball world by finishing 92-70 and winning the Central Division by 11 games over the White Sox. It was Cleveland's first division title since 2018. The Guards beat the Rays in a wildcard playoff but were eliminated by the Yankees in Game 5 of the best-of-five ALDS.

The success from last season has created high expectations for 2023. Kwan for one, is happy Francona is back for another season

"I think just him being in the clubhouse, it breeds confidence, first of all," Kwan told reporters in spring training. "I mean, you kind of just feel a little easier when he's walking around. You know that the big dog is at the top, at the helm."

Francona is sincere when he says if he weren't in baseball he would be wishing he were in baseball, but the truth is his health issues have been a burden.

"I probably gave thought to how long I wanted to do this more than maybe I had in the past," said Francona. "Sometimes it can be tough, and I put a lot on the coaches. I think I'm fortunate that we have coaches that whether I'm in the room or not, I trust it's getting done just like it's supposed to, and I'm thankful for that.

"I would also be lying if I said this group of players didn't energize me. You don't have a heartbeat if you show up and watch these guys play and not enjoy the way they play. That would be hard to understand."

Mentioning the fire that still burns within Francona would not be complete without the relationship he has with president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti and general manager Mike Chernoff. It is one of unqualified mutual respect.

"There's probably a ton of reasons (why I continue to manage the Guardians)," Francona said. "One, I love where I'm doing it. If I had been anywhere else, I'd probably already be home. I love the fact that we have something, I think, that could be pretty special here moving forward.

"I enjoyed the heck out of our players last year. I want to see that group grow and I'd like to be a part of that. I still get nervous. We talked about being nervous during the playoffs. I was nervous on the last day of the (2022) season when we had a lead. I think that means I still care. When the day comes that losses don't affect you, then it's probably time to hang it up. I'm not there."

Francona is on a one-year contract. He joked in a wrap-up news conference in October about how he and Chernoff negotiated his 2023 contract last September.

"I don't even know how to explain it," Francona said. "So we talked for all of about five minutes. I told Chernie when we were in Kansas City, he was actually trying to help me and I said, 'Chernie, I'm sweating. My armpits are soaked.'

"This is the only place that could ever get done like it did. It wasn't a negotiation. We just talked about things that are important to me. Things that are important to them and then they tried to help me. That's the best way I can put it. I think we're just going to kind of go year-to-year. It's just the way it should be. With my health, and the way things ... the organization's been too good to me."

Antonetti smiled when Francona mentioned working year-to-year. Some players, coaches or managers work on one-year deals to prove themselves. That is not the situation here.

"For clarity, I wouldn't want anybody to read into the year-to-year," Antonetti said. "We want Tito to manage as long as it makes sense for him, on his end, to continue to manage here. I'm confident with the relationship we have that we'll be able to figure that out as we move forward."

Antonetti is very content about not having to conduct a manager search.