CLEVELAND, Ohio - In what will be their final home game of the 2023 regular season, the Cleveland Guardians will dole out a special message to their longtime manager.
“Thank You, Tito” messages were plastered along Progressive Field ahead of the Guardians' Wednesday night game against the Cincinnati Reds. Promotional ticket deals and giveaway T-shirts, as well as signs on the ballpark's scoreboards and playing surfaces, sported the message in honor of Francona, who is expected to step down following 11 seasons as the head of Cleveland’s professional baseball franchise.
Francona was born on April 22, 1959, in Aberdeen, South Dakota - just as his father, Tito, began a six-year stint with the Cleveland Indians. The elder Francona, who played in the major leagues over 15 seasons, was a two-time All-Star during the 1961 season and watched his son later turn into a budding prospect. Terry helped the Arizona Wildcats win the 1980 College World Series, with Francona earning the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player honor, as well as that year’s Golden Spikes Award. Francona was a first-round draft pick by the Montreal Expos later that year, and soon began a 10-year run that included stints with the Expos, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, and Milwaukee Brewers.
Sep 27, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; A promotional T-shirt reading "THANK YOU TITO" that will be given out to fans attending Wednesday's game between the Cleveland Guardians and Cincinnati Reds.Mitch Spinell
Following the end of playing career in 1990, Francona worked his way through multiple major and minor league coaching jobs before earning his first managerial role in 1997, with the Philadelphia Phillies. Though Francona was fired after three losing seasons in Phila, he later resurfaced with the Boston Red Sox, helping snap the franchise’s 86-year World Series drought in 2004 while winning another in 2007.
After being dismissed by the Red Sox at the end of the 2011 season, Francona was hired by Cleveland on October 6, 2012, after the Indians had suffered their fourth consecutive losing season. Francona helped the team post a 24-game improvement in his inaugural Cleveland season, going 92-70 and clinching a spot in the AL Wild Card Round.
Francona’s run in Cleveland would end as one of the franchise’s most consistently successful stretches. Since Francona’s hiring ahead of the 2013 season, the Indians/Guardians made the playoffs in six of the last 11 years. The club won four AL Central Division titles, earned the 2016 AL pennant (its first since 1997), and came within a game of winning the franchise’s first World Series championship since 1948. Francona also won all three of his AL Manager of the Year honors (2013, ’16, ’22) with Cleveland.
Going into Wednesday’s game, Francona’s record with Cleveland sits at 919-755 (1,948-1,670 overall), which places him atop the all-time wins list for Indians/Guardians managers. His 16 postseason victories rank second among Cleveland skippers, behind Mike Hargrove’s 27 playoff wins.
