Terry Francona ‘So Damn Happy’ For John Farrell Kicking Cancer’s Butt

Terry Francona was present for John Farrell’s first chemotherapy treatment back in August. Even he can’t believe how good the Boston Red Sox manager looks just four months removed from being diagnosed with Stage 1 lymphoma.

“We are obviously pretty good friends,” Francona said this week at the Major League Baseball winter meetings in Nashville, Tenn., according to the Boston Herald. “I probably say things to him I shouldn’t. Like we’re getting our picture taken today, and I was teasing him, I said, ‘The cameraman says why are there two guys with cancer?’ Because I look worse than him.”

Francona, now manager of the Cleveland Indians, has been friends with Farrell for years. The two played together in Cleveland in 1988, and Farrell was the Red Sox’s pitching coach from 2007 through 2010 when Francona was Boston’s manager.

The fact that Farrell, whose cancer is in remission, has faced his health issues head-on isn’t surprising to Francona, who declared in August his good friend would “beat the hell” out of his lymphoma. That doesn’t mean Francona has taken anything for granted, though. He’s stood alongside Farrell every step of the way and can’t help but marvel at his buddy’s tenacity in the biggest fight of his life.

“I’m so impressed. He doesn’t complain,” Francona said this week, according to the Herald. “I know there was no way he was feeling as good as he said during that time, but he would go to the ballpark. He’s strong. He always has been and he always will be.

“You know, he was telling me, he was laughing, he goes, ‘I’m a little heavy.’ I’m like, ‘You’re alive, man. Who cares?’ I’m so damn happy for him. Every time I see him, I give him a big hug and slap him on the back. Good days are ahead for him. That’s exciting.”

We all knew Farrell, a physically imposing figure, was as strong as an ox long before life threw him a devastating curveball. His mental toughness clearly supersedes his physical strength, though.

Farrell is in good spirits. And so, too, is Tito.

Thumbnail photo via Jeff Curry/USA TODAY Sports Images