Setting the standard
Much of the talk in Red Sox camp this spring has involved the positive vibe, the supportive structure and the all-for-one, one-for-all mindset that permeates throughout the clubhouse, even one that contains players that may not even be in a Boston uniform next week.
It takes every man on his own to follow through on abiding by the mission, but the foundation is established by just one. And with every year that Terry Francona remains at the post, that foundation becomes stronger.
"We want to have an atmosphere around here where guys want do the right thing," Francona said this week in camp, echoing one of his favorite catch phrases.
Francona has now had seven solid years in which to establish that atmosphere, and while some will always try, it is hard to argue with the results. He enters his eighth year at the helm with a 654-480 record (8-0 in the World Series, of course), good for the second-highest winning percentage among Red Sox managers behind Joe McCarthy. The length of his tenure is second only to Joe Cronin, McCarthy's predecessor who ran the club from 1935-47.
To rehash, the organization has not had a more successful manager in terms of wins and losses in 51 years, and nobody has held the job longer than Francona in 54.
Although the 2010 season was just the second in which the Red Sox did not make the playoffs under Francona, it may have been his masterpiece. When the family feel was threatened by injury after injury, the father figure stood firm. If there was ever an ounce of panic, nobody ever saw it, and the result was a pesky bunch that never allowed physical maladies to detract from the mission. The fact that the club overcame the losses of several key players, an inconsistent starting rotation and a shaky bullpen that gave Francona very few options some nights to win 89 games and hang in the race until the final weeks of the season is a testament to the leadership.
While the season itself offered up an opportunity for all to see the merits of Francona's measured guidance, the offseason showed another example of the two-time World Series-winning manager's influence.
Like another famous head man in Boston, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, Francona has developed somewhat of a "coaching tree," from which premium managerial candidates are falling on a regular basis. A year after bench coach Brad Mills left to become the manager in Houston, pitching coach John Farrell received the same post in Toronto, beating out Mills' replacement and current Red Sox bench coach DeMarlo Hale, among others. Hale and third base coach Tim Bogar figure to remain candidates for any openings that might open up next offseason, even though there may not be many.
With each departure, players in Houston and Toronto and wherever some of the others eventually wind up are ushered into an atmosphere in which they "want to do the right thing." Once that atmosphere is established, the wins often follow.
