Terry Francona With Gresh & Zo: 'I Don't Think I Ever Lost Control' Of Red Sox Clubhouse
Terry Francona and Dan Shaughnessy joined Gresh & Zo Wednesday morning to discuss their new book, "Francona: The Red Sox Years." The guys asked the former Red Sox manager about past relationships with players and how ownership affected his tenure in Boston. Also, Francona and Shaughnessy give a look into how they built their unlikely relationship.
Francona, on Tom Werner saying the manager admitted to losing the clubhouse
I don't think the front office ever said that. I think Tom Werner made that comment that I said that I had lost control, which I had never said. I don't think I ever lost control.
I was frustrated by my inability to maybe get some things across to guys that maybe I had in the past. Sometimes guys tend to care about themselves more than the team. I always felt like I could get that point across to most guys. And in the last year, I was getting frustrated by that – I couldn't. That's kind of what I meant.
Francona, on the challenges of Boston
Part of being a manager in Boston, or probably a coach in Boston for that matter, is trying to put out the daily fires. There are enough of them to begin with, and the ones that aren't there are made up. It's part of the daily regimen. Trying to make it easier for the players to play was part of my responsibility.
I thought for the most part we really did a good job. Even all the stuff that came out after I left the Red Sox, it never came out during. … All that stuff came out when the season was over.
Francona, on Manny Ramirez taking a public beating for taking three strikes against Mariano Rivera
I tried to always stick up for Manny, I think that's probably the reason people didn't believe me. We had asked him to pinch hit that day and he was ready. He was back in the tunnel, he was engaged. He never got a pitch he thought he could handle, and he never offered.
Now, I don't think he lost sleep over it. But he didn't go up there and mail it in. He took a beating for that one, and I didn't think that was just.
[Dealing with Manny Ramirez] is part of the reason I have no hair, but it's also part of the reason I have two rings.
