Right Before His Final Home Game, Terry Francona Had His Scooter Stolen...And Pooped On
Jason Miller. Getty Images.This is such a shitty move. The pun was totally intended there. I say this is somebody who is a Detroit Tiger fan and had to suffer through years of Cleveland shitting down our throats, but I love Terry Francona.
There was a period when he was the best manager in baseball. I know the Guardians (at the time, Indians) were so close to a World Series championship in 2016, and while they came up short, I would argue that the job Francona did that season is one of the best managerial jobs I’ve ever seen. That rotation was decimated with injuries going into that postseason, and they came so close to winning the entire thing. The players love him, the fans love him, and he’s done a marvelous job. He’s going to end up in the Hall of Fame one day. But for some reason, people just can’t stop stealing his fucking scooter.
While this particular incident may not have a happy ending, Francona's sendoff by the fans of Cleveland definitely did. They gave him a beautiful video tribute and a standing ovation before his final home game. It was a proper sendoff for a guy in charge during a phenomenal era of Cleveland baseball. I know they never won the World Series, but they had a great run. They had some star players and some dynamite pitching. Tito always seemed to find his way to get the most out of his players.
Maybe I'm just paying closer attention than I ever have, but I feel like we're getting a lot of sendoffs this week in Major League Baseball. Tiger fans have been balls deep in the Miguel Cabrera farewell tour, but you have players like Zack Greinke and Joey Votto, who may be playing the final games of their legendary careers. More than any other sport, baseball does a great job of paying respects to its legendary figures. That's usually the case, though this particular sendoff is slightly tainted because, well, somebody wanted to shit on Terry Francona scooter.
