Biography of Terry Francona

Francona grew up outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and was drafted out of the University of Arizona in the first round of the 1980 amateur draft by the Montreal Expos, using the 22nd overall selection. At Arizona he earned the Golden Spikes Award in 1980 as the best player in amateur baseball.

In ten seasons Francona played for the Expos, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians and the Milwaukee Brewers.

Francona's first managerial job was with the Chicago White Sox organization, heading their Class-A minor league affiliate, the South Bend White Sox. In 1993, he was promoted to the Double-A affiliate Birmingham Barons and in his first year with the club won the Southern League crown, earning him Baseball America' s Manager of the Year honors. The following year, the team was swamped by press coverage when NBA star Michael Jordan joined the team in an effort to start a baseball career. That same year Baseball America named him the "top managerial prospect" in the minors.

Francona's major league managerial career began with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1997 where he worked for four seasons. In 2004, the Red Sox hired Francona to manage their club and he led the team to a 98-64 record in 2004, the second-best record in the American League behind the division-rival Yankees. Under Francona's leadership, the club jelled in the second half and was the hottest team in baseball after the All-Star break. The team continued to excel in the playoffs and eventually faced the Yankees in the American League Championship Series where they fell behind the Yankees, three games to none, including a 19-8 loss in Game 3 at Fenway Park, the home of the Red Sox. However, under Francona's guidance, the club regained its composure and won the last four games of the series, the first time in Major League history that a team rallied from an 0-3 deficit to win a playoff series. Francona's management of his bullpen staff in the four victories was generally regarded as outstanding. The Red Sox then swept the St. Louis Cardinals, four games to none, in the 2004 World Series.

In 2007, Francona once again helped lead the Red Sox to the 2007 World Series title with a four games to none sweep of the Colorado Rockies.