On Sunday, after spending hours answering notes from friends and family, that pursuit continued.
"The prevailing thought seems to be that people are surprised I'm still here," he said.
As he did before and after his 1,000th victory, Francona stressed he would rather discuss his players and the rest of the organization. Part of what makes that desire so strong is a quick glance at the wins leaderboard.
Francona is the 57th manager in the game's history to reach the milestone. Of the 56 in front of him, seven are still active and some are approaching levels of success that Francona said he can only dream of.
For instance, Tony LaRussa enters Sunday with 2,691 victories. Francona said that his lifespan, much less whatever time he has left as a manager, would never allow him to reach such a stratosphere.
"[One thousand wins] is a round number, but then you start looking at some of those other guys, you better hush up," he said. "There's some guys with some big numbers that are still managing, so it's actually kind of humbling a little bit. Makes you realize how long they've been doing it, and how hard it is to win.
"I would be willing to bet if you see my name with 2,300 there's going to be an asterisk. I'll be dead. It'll be a big accomplishment."
In a fashion befitting someone who is taking the milestone in stride, Francona made sure to not go overboard with any celebrations. In fact, he kept his postgame routine on par with the other 999 wins, as well as the 880 losses.
"I had a grilled cheese sandwich," he said. "I always have a grilled cheese sandwich."
