Into the fire

Francona takes over for fallen Little as Red Sox skipper

Q & A    Tery Francona  Photo Credit: Jim Mone/Getty images

When Boston's Grady Little left Pedro Martinez in for the fateful eighth inning of Game 7 of the American League Championship Series last year, the sometimes bumbling manager sealed his fate. And, in doing so, he helped Terry Francona along with his.

Francona, Boston's new manager, had a rather nondescript playing career in the 1980s, and he was the manager for the Philadelphia Phillies for four straight losing seasons, from 1997-2000, his only other managing gig in the big leagues. But Francona seems to fit the Red Sox well. Francona, who turns 45 in April, is affable, well spoken and energetic. He's an analytical sort, too, which is a prerequisite for the statistically-inclined Red Sox front office.

He also seems to be the kind who will be cool under pressure, which he'll have to be as he steps into the cauldron of expectations that is Red Sox Nation. Francona sat down with SI.com's John Donovan recently in Fort Myers, Fla., for this Q&A session.

SI.com: Here you are in your first camp as manager of the Boston Red Sox. Are you shaking things up, or are you just letting things be?

TF: Well, I don't know what they did in the past to prepare. I do know that they had a very good team. But you know what? I didn't really care. I wanted us to have a camp the way we wanted a camp. Everybody has their own things that they think are a priority. I didn't really try to compare. I know what I want to get accomplished. And the coaches, we sat down and talked about it. And that's what we try to do. If the day's a little bit longer than it has been in the past, or a little bit shorter, it's not really a concern of mine. I just try to have 'em organized and get what work we want to get done, and then go home.

SI.com: You certainly seem to be up so far about how things are going. You've seen a lot of things you like, have you?

TF: It'll probably happen here when there are days where I'm not pleased and we'll have to do it again. But when you have good players that are trying to get better, that's a really good combination. And that's what we have here.

SI.com: There are so many of these guys that you don't know. Are there players you have seen close-up, for the first time, that have changed some kind of notion you may have had of them?

TF: No. The reason that is, during the winter, I asked everybody involved, from the front office to player development to the coaching staff to scouts to send me the information, write me a paragraph, about every player they had a familiarity with. And they were outstanding. Some of these guys I had never seen before, when I finally saw them, I said 'Yeah, that's exactly what this guy said.' So I had a little bit of a head start.

SI.com: It would seem pretty important to have a guy like Curt Schilling, whom you managed in Philadelphia, on your side. Is it?

TF: It doesn't hurt. 'Cause Schill does everything you ask. But on the same side, I need to gain credibility with these other players, too. And not just through Schill. And I feel comfortable with that. There's a comfort factor there, cause I know him so well. That comfort factor is already starting with these other players. I just haven't been around them as long.

SI.com: What kind of message did you give to the team on the first day of camp?

TF: That's kind of between me and them. I just wanted them to know how I felt about how things are supposed to work. If you're going to ask them to do things, they need to know. You can't just expect them to go out there and do what you want. It was not a long, gung-ho, rah-rah session. I just wanted to let them know how I felt. We'll continue to do that. Some things you don't say to them until the club's small and you have 25 guys.

SI.com: You have an idea of what to expect out of this team. What can they expect out of you?

TF: The same thing that I expect out of them. I expect them to show up on time and try to do their best all the time. This game's hard sometimes. You're not always as successful as you want to be every day. We ask a lot of the players. And they give us a lot. So I'll do the same in return. And when things don't go right, I'll be there for them. I think that's very important.

SI.com: Let's talk about your bullpen. That was a problem with this team last year. Do you have a kind of general philosophy for using your 'pen? Can you have one?

TF: You better. You need to have a game plan. Always. But everybody's different. We need to learn every pitcher, know where they best fit, what's their best role, where they can be successful and try to get them into that role as consistently as we can. Being consistent is huge for a manager.

SI.com: That sounds like it could take weeks.

TF: It better not. No, the more you get to know people ... our bullpen, we have [Scott] Williamson, [Alan] Embree, [Keith] Foulke, [Mike] Timlin. We know where they're going to pitch. So you kind of work backward. It's getting them ready to fill those roles, where they're ready when the season starts ... but that's our job.

SI.com: Will Terry Francona have a quick hook or a slow hook?

TF: There's no way to know. I'll do what I think's in the best interest of our ballclub. There may be days when the hook is a little quicker than other days because of what this guy did his last start. Fans aren't supposed to remember that. We may cut a guy back an inning because he overextended a little bit his last start or he's gonna go on short rest. We know those things and we'll adjust accordingly.

SI.com: Fair enough. But managers do get a reputation for being quick, or slow, to pull pitchers.

TF: Yeah. But it depends on a lot of things. Maybe the bullpen is their strength. Maybe you've got a young kid that you're trying to get five innings and get him out, get him to feel good about himself. There's a lot of different reasons.

SI.com: All right. What's the best managing tip anyone ever gave you?

TF: Be true to yourself. Be true to yourself.

SI.com: Someone in particular pass that on to you?

TF: About four of them. You gotta be true to yourself. You can learn a lot by watching. And I think I have. But, ultimately, I have to be true to how I feel. And I can't -- as much as there's some things that I thought guys were great at -- I still have to be myself.

SI.com: OK, finally, you know all about Red Sox Nation. Any first-hand experiences with it yet?

TF: Just getting through the lobby of our hotel down here is a little bit more arduous than I would like. But they care a lot. I've been pleasantly -- I don't want to say surprised. But they've really been pleasant. Very passionate, obviously. But very pleasant. They really, really, just really love their Red Sox. I'm OK with that. There's so much interest and they love their team so much. It's great. Apathy is probably the worst thing that could happen.