By Don Leypoldt

It is a little like the emerald hidden among the diamonds.

For anyone else, winning the Golden Spikes Award as the best player in all of college baseball might be life’s crowning achievement.

But Cleveland Indian manager Terry Francona, the Golden Spikes winner in 1980 when he was a junior at the University of Arizona, is not everybody else.  He is a two-time World Champion, a beloved “Curse Reverser” who will never again have to pay for a meal in New England, and the incumbent American League Manager of the Year.   

For “Tito”, the Golden Spikes is almost an afterthought.

But the honor does mean that Francona, who was feted by the NECBL with its Stand Up Guy Award at the New England League’s November Hall of Fame Dinner, has a deep appreciation for college baseball.  

“I was so fortunate,” recalled Francona.  “I went to the University of Arizona and played for Jerry Kindle, so I not only learned how to play baseball correctly, and with respect, but he also taught us how to respect people.  And if you stepped out of line, he’d get you back in line in a hurry.”  

Francona did not play in the NECBL, but his college summer baseball experiences made a deep impression on him.  “One summer, I went to play in the Alaska League,” he continued.  “And I was a little over my head.  I was 19 years old and it was too quick for me.  But it was good for me because I learned that they had a lot of good players, and I got better.  You can’t help but get better if you play that many games in that short of a period of time.  

“It helped me,” he concluded.  “I caught up and I had to because there was no other way to go.  It was a great experience.”

Before he was a skipper, Francona was a fair ballplayer in his own right.  The son of Big Leaguer Tito Francona, a 1961 All-Star, Francona fils was the Montreal Expos’ first round pick in 1980.  Terry Francona played parts of 10 seasons in the Major Leagues primarily as an outfielder.  He hit .274 for his career, and hit .308 during Montreal’s 1981 playoff run.

Francona was self-deprecating when asked about how he sustained a career in the Majors.  “I played ten years but the last nine I was hanging on day to day!” he joked.  

But getting serious, he added, “What happened is that I started watching, because I sat on the bench a lot, and I watched how managers did things and I took notice.  

“When I got done playing, Buddy Bell called me and asked if I wanted to take a job in the Minors with the White Sox.  I took it, and from the first day I got there I knew it was the right thing.  I loved it.  I loved every minute of it,” he offered.  “I’m lucky, because I’m probably one of the few people in the world who get to go to work, yet I’d be doing it any way.  That’s how I feel about it.”  

From 1992 to 1995, Francona cut his teeth managing the White Sox’ Double-A Birmingham affiliate.  His most famous player to come through there was Michael Jordan.  Francona showed that he could win while handling the media circus: he won both the Southern League’s and Baseball America’s Minor League Manager of the Year in 1993.  By the age of 37, Francona was hired by the Phillies and working as the youngest skipper in Major League Baseball.

“I think one thing is that you have to be true to yourself,” Francona replied when asked what makes a good manager. “Everybody has a different personality, but I think one common theme is that if you are a good manager, you put the player and the organizational needs ahead of yourself, and I think that is what every manager does.”

Francona managed the Boston Red Sox from 2004 to 2011.  He led the Red Sox to five playoff appearances, six seasons of 90 plus victories and two World Series titles (2004, 2007) over that year eight span.  

Most famously, Francona led the Red Sox to their first title in 86 years during his inaugural season in Boston.  The victory, spurred by Boston’s rallying from a 3-0 deficit against the Yankees in the ALCS, broke the most famous curse in sports.

“The one thing we didn’t talk about is any baggage, because it’s hard enough to win, let alone if you are trying to win for years before,” he pointed out.  “We were kind of staying afloat in ’04 and there were a lot of frustrations.  But then the trade deadline came and (GM) Theo (Epstein) made some really good trades, trades that allowed us to use our offense and put in guys for defense. 

“We could use our athleticism and we used our bats, and we got on quite a run.  We finished the season about as strong as you could.  But you never know which teams are going to be special,” he concluded, “until you finally win.”

From 2004 to 2011, Boston had the second best winning percentage in MLB.  In 2007, the year of his second World Series title, Francona was selected as Baseball America’s Major League Manager of the Year.

“The first thing I tell our team at Spring Training every year is that we have four things, and they never waiver,” Francona told the NECBL Hall of Fame audience.  “One is you always have to be on time.  Two, is you have to respect your teammates, the coaches and the way the game is supposed to be played.  Three, always try to do your best, whether it is on Field Six in Arizona or under the bright lights of Fenway during the playoffs.  And lastly, never back down from a challenge.” 

Francona was named the 42nd Manager in Cleveland Indians history in October 2012.  He earned the American League Manager of the Year Award in 2013 after the Tribe won their final 10 regular season games in a row to clinch the Wild Card.

“Along the way, I’ve been with 12 organizations.  Part of that is because I was a journeyman player, which is a softer way of saying I wasn’t very good,” he told the NECBL audience.  “But I learned early on a couple of things that I’ll always take with me: to respect the game of baseball, and to respect the people in the game of baseball.  If you take anything away, please take that.”

Francona’s respect for people continues well off the diamond.  Tito is a father of four.  His son Nick was a lefty pitcher for UPenn and served as a Marine.  Another daughter attends the Naval Academy.  In 2010 Francona served as the Honorary Co-Chair for the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation.  He has aggressively purchased tickets for military members and veterans; in Boston, Francona was active in raising monies for the Jimmy Fund.    

“I just try to do anything for anybody that is in need,” Francona said humbly.  Whether it’s the Children’s Hospital or the Wounded Warrior Program, if somebody calls and says they’re in need, I try to help.  I think that I’m in a position where I can help.  And I guess that is because I feel fortunate to be doing what I am doing.”