It’s been a rough year for Terry Francona, to say the least.
The Cleveland Indians manager missed most of the 2020 regular season due to continued gastrointestinal issues. And at one point, things got relatively grim for the 61-year-old.
During a Zoom call at his home in Arizona on Wednesday, Francona revealed he had several surgeries in four days earlier this year. This landed him in the intensive care unit at the Cleveland Clinic.
“It was kind of a tough time,” Francona told reporters, via The Associated Press. “I don’t want to go through that again. For a couple weeks there I was not just away from the game, I was away from everything. It was getting a little hairy there.”
Francona plans on returning for the 2021 season. He isn’t out of the woods yet health-wise, but he’s aiming for a higher quality of life moving forward.
“I’d love for my quality of life to be a little bit better,” he said. “But I also don’t feel like going through the blood clots again. Limping’s better than being horizontal. The next seven weeks I’ve actually hired a guy that I’ve actually gone to for therapy before here on my last hip. He’s going to work with me on getting stronger and trying to put myself in a position where I can give myself the best chance to hold up for a long season.”
Francona’s got plenty of time to recoup before the 2021 season kicks off. And hopefully, he’s feeling much better by then.
