BOSTON — Terry Francona may be in Cleveland, but he's
still keeping his tabs on the state of the Red Sox.
When John Farrell accepted the job to become the
franchise's 46th manager last Saturday, he called Francona — he served as Francona's pitching coach with the Red Sox from 2007 to 2010 —
to share the news.
Turns out, the Indians skipper is pretty pleased that his
protégé is following in his footsteps.
"[Francona] was pumped up that this had a chance to
come to fruition, almost with his blessing in a way," Farrell said.
"It was a neat conversation. We’ve shared a lot over time."
But Farrell also inherited Francona's mess, a team in
disarray with a slide that started when the Red Sox went 7-20 in September 2011 — under Francona's watch. While Farrell is still identifying the
organization's woes over the past 13 months, the skipper insisted he never
discussed those issues with Francona.
"They weren’t about that," Farrell said of
their conversations. "He’s very positive, he reflects upon his time here
in a very positive way."
And it sounds like Francona hopes Farrell will experience
the same positive sentiment.
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