GOODYEAR, Ariz. — It’s still dark outside, but Terry Francona is already swimming laps at his hotel, driving 6 ½ miles to his Goodyear Ballpark office, grabbing coffee, meeting with coaches and then carving out time to talk about the newest adventure in his life.
It’s 6:55 in the morning, and Francona is speaking passionately, enthusiastically, sometimes emotionally about his job as manager of the Cincinnati Reds. He’s not making any promises, but making it clear he’s not coming to Cincinnati to lose.
“Our job every day,’ Francona says, “is to try to kick somebody’s (expletive).’
He’s done a lot of butt-whippin’ in his 23-year managerial career that will lead him the Hall of Fame with his two World Series titles, three pennants, 11 postseason appearances and 1,950 victories – 13th most in history.
But Cooperstown can wait.
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For now, he’s on a mission to lead the Reds to where they have not gone in 35 years, back when another new manager walked in, turned a 75-87 fifth-place team around, and went wire-to-wire, stunning the Oakland A’s and winning the 1990 World Series.
“Lou Piniella came in, and everything changed,’ Hall of Fame shortstop Barry Larkin told USA TODAY Sports. “It’s going to be the same thing here with Tito. The dude is so authentic. From Day 1, he assigned accountability and responsibility. He has created such a great culture here. There’s an expectation, because he’s had success, that he wouldn’t have come back here if he didn’t’ believe that we can be successful.
“People in here believe we’re going to do some damage because of this man. He’s just a special, special, guy. I would have loved to play for him.’
It appeared that no one would play for Francona, 65, again when he stepped away from the game after the 2023 season, his 11th with the Cleveland Guardians. He was in constant pain all year. He walked away after the season, knowing he needed to take care of his health and wondering if he lost his passion.
“I’m trying to tell people and I don’t think they really believed me, but I really didn’t miss it that much,’ Francona said in his office last week. “I had a good year. When you know you need to step away, you’re probably a little late stepping away.
“I felt I was short-changing some people over there in Cleveland. And that’s not a good feeling. So you start taking care of yourself, and you feel good and I still wasn’t thinking about managing. I was starting to think about, ‘OK what do I want to do. How busy do I want to get?”
Francona said he received a telephone call late in the season from an executive asking if he was interested in managing a club. Francona was confused. Was he missing something? Didn’t they already have a manager?
Yes, Francona was told, but if he were interested, they’d fire their manager and hire him.
End of conversation. Francona doesn’t work that way. Francona told them he would never want to be responsible for someone losing their job. Others may be able to do that in good conscience, not him.
“I would never do that,’ Francona said. “Never. Ever.’
‘One of the best conversations I’ve ever had’
If the Reds had called him while David Bell was still employed, the answer would have emphatically been no, too. He loved Bell’s father, Buddy, when he played with the Reds and worked with him in the Chicago White Sox organization. He always wanted the best for David Bell, hoping he’d have tremendous success.
The Reds, who reached the postseason just once in Bell’s six years – the shortened COVID season – going 409-456 and fired him on Sept. 22 with five games left in the season. They named bench coach Freddy Benavides the interim manager, and were putting together a list of about 100 potential candidates.
It was a few hours after the Bell firing when Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brennaman, who has been one of Francona’s closest friends since Francona played for the Reds in 1987, telephoned him. Francona was in Salt Lake City with two buddies after watching the University of Arizona, his alma mater, play a football game against Utah.
“We started talking and I just said, “Hey, would you want to come back?’ Brennaman said. ‘They fired David Bell today.
“Tito said, ‘Well, I wouldn’t say no to anyone.’
“That’s when I knew things had changed.’
Brennaman was stunned by Francona’s reaction. He and his wife, Amanda, visited Francona at his Tucson, Ariz., home in Feb. 2024, and left convinced that he was done managing.
“We played golf in the day, and my wife cooked at night,’ Brennaman said. “He didn’t have any pots and pans, so we had to do buy them first. We golfed, talked, told stories, laughed. When we left, I told Amanda, ‘There’s no way on God’s green earth he’s going to come back. He’s happy. He’s healthy. And he doesn’t miss it.
“He’s never coming back.’
Brennaman got off the phone and quickly telephoned Nick Krall, Reds president of baseball operations. He asked Krall if they would be interested in interviewing Francona.
You kidding? Krall couldn’t believe it. He didn’t really know Francona, but considered him one of the finest managers in the last 30 years. He asked Brennaman for Francona’s number, called him, and one week later, Krall and GM Brad Meador were flying to Tucson to interview Francona at his home.
They were 45 minutes into the 5 ½-hour interview when Krall knew he had his man, and Francona knew he wanted the job.
“It was one of the best conversations I’ve ever had,’ Krall said. “I mean, I felt we were on the same page with everything we were discussing. We had some things lined up for interviews the net week that we were going to go through, but at the end of this day, we just felt it was pretty obvious he was the right guy.’
Said Francona: “It was comfortable. And they seemed comfortable. The last thing I ever want to do is get in a situation where I’m not comfortable. I mean, I don’t have to do this, right?’’
The only real question Krall had at the end of the interview was whether Francona felt his health would permit him to go through the daily grind once again. Francona has been a walking New England Journal of Medicine. He has had both hips and knees replaced. He has had his right shoulder replaced. He has nearly a dozen screws holding together one of his feet. He had surgery for an irregular heartbeat, recurring blood clots, a staff infection and two hernias. The last time he counted, he has had 45 surgeries in his life, including 22 on his knees.
Francona, who lost 25 pounds in his year off, told Krall he felt great, swims every day, believes he’s up for the long grind, and just in case they needed convincing, offered: “You want me to do some jumping jacks for you?’
Reds owner Bob Castellini was on a plane the next day to join the conversation and a day later, Francona was hired, agreeing to a three-year contract with an option.
“The announcement that day set the city afire,’ Brennaman said. “You can’t believe how excited the city is. And you can’t believe how excited Tito is. It’s like he’s been born again.’
‘This is in his blood’
Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, the winner of four World Series titles, and San Francisco Giants manager Bob Melvin, a three-time Manager of the Year winner, can certainly relate. Bochy, 69, who took three years off, managed the Rangers to the 2023 World Series championship. Melvin, 63, who took a year off, returned to lead the Oakland A’s to back-to-back division in 2012-2013.
“You get away, no doubt it not only energizes you,’ Bochy said, “but you know it gives you time to heal up. It’s a grind. There’s no getting around it. It’s what we do. You’re busy. Not just the physical part, but the mental side of it. Getting away I’m sure freshened him up.’
Said Melvin: “There are baseball guys and then there are baseball guys. And he is one. … I remember when I was out in 2010, and when I came back, I was completely invigorated. This job can beat you down a little bit. I know health-wise for him, now he feels better than he has in his career.
“This is in his blood, so it doesn’t surprise me he’s back, and talking to him, he’s really excited about the season.’
The Reds are a historic franchise that has gone 30 years without advancing in the postseason, the longest drought in not only baseball, but also in the NFL, NBA and NHL, too. The Reds haven’t finished higher than third in the NL Central since winning it in 2012.
The Chicago Cubs may be heavily favored to win the division and the Milwaukee Brewers have dominated it in recent years, but the Reds believe this could be 1990 all over again.
“If we stay healthy, we’ll win it,’ Reds pitcher Emilio Pagan said. “I really believe that. This is a good team. And now we’ve got a Hall of Fame manager.’
This is the kind of impact Francona is already making throughout the organization. The Reds gush over his authenticity. What you see is what you get. If you’re afraid of the truth, you better not ask the question.
Francona spoke to every single player on his team within the first 48 hours he took the job, and personally met with each of them in his office at the start of spring training. When he wanted to hire his longtime friend and veteran coach Brad Mills, he even flew to Laredo, Texas to discuss it with Benavides. Francona assured Benavides that he was still wanted and that they would be co-bench coaches.
“He’s one of the best human beings,’ Brennaman said, “in the history of mankind.’
When Francona addressed the team at the start of spring training, veteran reliever Brent Suter called it the best speech he ever heard in his career. Francona actually had to stop four times just to collect his breath while speaking to the team.
“The cool thing about this speech was not just what he said, but the genuineness with which he spoke,’ Suter said. “I mean, he was charged up. He had to reload a few times because he’s so passionate, so enthused, so excited. Here’s a Hall of Famer who’s just pumped up to play baseball and he’s very emphatic like we’re all in this together.
“Every time he’s talked since then, everyone’s just wrapped with attention and comes away just ready to run through a wall. It’s magnetic. It’s contagious. It’s really powerful. I’ve talked to a lot of guys and staff members and they say, ‘I’ve never had a conversation like this with a manager in my whole career. This is amazing.’
“We’re a sleeping giant that’s about to be woken up.’
Reds ‘didn’t know how to step on the throat’
Francona, raised in a baseball clubhouse as the son of 15-year veteran Tito Francona, is usually the first to arrive and last to leave each day. Players stop by and listen to his tales of playing for Pete Rose, managing Michael Jordan, and breaking the 86-year curse of the Bambino in Boston with Big Papi and Manny Ramirez.
Still, he refuses to bask in the past glory. He doesn’t need to hear about his triumphs in Boston or turning around Cleveland and having them oh so close to winning the 2016 World Series title. When the Reds opened spring training this year with split-squad games against his old team, the Guardians, at home, and the Milwaukee Brewers at their ballpark in Maryvale, he chose to hit the road.
He simply didn’t want to have his team see his former players and coaches coming over for ‘a hugfest’ to reminisce about old times. Guardians pitching coach Carl Willis, who was with Francona for six years, is just 100 yards away in the complex next door in Goodyear, but still hasn’t seen him. The Reds are Francona’s team now. This is where his loyalty lies. He wishes the Guardians the best, but when they play against one another, he wants to “kick their (expletive).’
It was no different than when Francona faced the Red Sox, where he managed eight years, while with Cleveland. Sure, it’s ok to exchange some pleasantries and visit old friends, but when the game starts, he wanted to beat you to a pulp. This is why Reds coach Mike Napoli, who played for Francona in 2016, didn’t hesitate joining his staff, hoping one day it could lead to a managerial future.
“Honestly, it’s hard to explain, but he just makes you feel really good,’ said Napoli, who spent the last five years on the Cubs’ coaching staff. “He wants you to be the best player and his personality brings that out of you. He puts his confidence in you as a player and lets you know that things are going to be all right.
“He’s just such a genuine person. He treats everyone the same. And you won’t find anyone more loyal.’
It was Francona’s presence that played a role in free-agent outfielder Austin Hays’ decision to sign with the Reds, knowing that Francona’s style of play made it a perfect fit for Hays after coming from Philadelphia.
“Hiring Tito was definitely a factor,’ Hays said, “I like to play hard. I like to play fast. I like to run. I like to play defense. The way I go about my business and play the game is a perfect fit for the team he wants.’
Said starter Wade Miley, who also signed as a free agent: “Who wouldn’t want to play for Tito? The guy is a winner. The talent is ridiculous here, but they needed some direction, learning how to win. When I was with Milwaukee, we ended up beating them a lot, because they didn’t know how to win. They didn’t know how to step on the throat.
“That’s going to change.’
The Reds now believe they have all they need. They have a fabulous young pitching staff led by Hunter Greene, who had a breakout season (9-5, 2.75 ERA). Shortstop Elly De La Cruz is one of the game’s most talented young players, hitting 25 homers with 67 steals last season. And prized infielder Matt McLain is back after missing all of last season with shoulder surgery.
“He’s obviously a great leader, speaks with great conviction, and his track record precedes him,’ Greene said. “I think it’s a great feeling as a player to have somebody that not only has the support, but the experience to make the right chess moves behind the scenes. When you feel like you can trust somebody that’s making those chess moves behind the scenes is a really good feeling.
“Hopefully, we can build a great legacy moving forward here.’
Francona, who won the Red Sox’s first World Series since 1918, and nearly broke the curse in Cleveland that has now stretched 77 years, believes the Reds are on the verge of doing something special now, too.
He’s invigorated, he’s motivated, and yes, he’s healthy – even if he sometimes uses his fungo bat as a cane when no one’s paying attention.
“I’m really looking forward to this,’ Francona said. “I didn’t need a guarantee. I don’t ask what our payroll is. I just wanted a chance to win.
“I know people aren’t picking us to win. Whatever. I really don’t give a [bleep]. No one knows. But I love the fact that maybe we can make a difference.
“All I know is that we’ve got a chance to be pretty good.’
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