FORT MYERS, Fla. – Red Sox manager Terry Francona is lauded for the way in which he handles his players, especially those with singular personalities that could cause another clubhouse to fracture.
One of Francona’s mentors in that regard, longtime manager Chuck Tanner, passed away Friday at the age of 82.
Tanner managed four different teams in a 19-year career, but is best known as the skipper of some very talented and character-driven Pittsburgh Pirates teams in the late-1970s, including the world champion 1979 edition. It was a team loaded with strong personalities, each of whom seemed to adore their manager.
“Chuck had an amazing way of making you feel like you were the most important person in the world,” said Francona, who was raised near Tanner’s home in western Pennsylvania and whose father was friendly with the longtime skipper. “He’d come into a room or a field and he’d put that arm around you and you’d feel like the most important person.”
Francona was often fortunate enough to tag along with his father on trips to old Three Rivers Stadium, where Tanner would sometimes throw batting practice to the boy. Years later, after Francona became manager of some pretty strong-willed teams in Philadelphia and Boston, he sought out Tanner for some advice on how to handle so many personalities.
“He had a crazy crew in Pittsburgh. I used to ask him, ‘How do you differentiate between where to draw the line?'” Francona said.
Borrowing from scenes inside team flights, Tanner offered up a metaphor for his managing ways.
“Sometimes you’ve got to know when to look forward,” Tanner would tell Francona.
The Red Sox manager would ask Tanner when it’s right to look back. He told Francona: “If I thought the plane was crashing, I’d turn around.”
Even now, a seasoned veteran of the role and no longer surprised by the passion surrounding Red Sox baseball, Francona relishes the guidance.
“There’s a point to it,” he said. “I loved him … he was just such a likable guy.”
Francona recalled one other instance. It was at a family funeral, a time of mourning, when Tanner pulled him aside and began to talk hit-and-run. Some people might’ve been given a second look or a cold shoulder for such an act, but not Tanner. Francona loved it.
“Who could pull that off?” Francona said.
The Red Sox clubhouse figures to have plenty of character again this season. In a way, because of Tanner, it will be in good hands.
