Terry Francona Underwent A Heart Procedure Yesterday, Will Not Manage The All Star Game
Last Monday, Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona left the Tribe’s game against the Rangers after he felt some dizziness. At the time, Francona didn’t know what to attribute that to, and even in a scary situation where his health was virtually unknown, Francona never lost his famous sense of humor.
Earlier this morning, we learned that Francona underwent a heart procedure to correct an irregular heartbeat.
It sounds really serious, and obviously there is a degree of severity to it because it’s a heart operation, but it’s not as serious as it sounds. It’s a pretty common procedure where they just go in, zap your heart to regulate the heartbeat and it’s over. Basically, they go in to manually perform what a pacemaker would do for you if it were ever needed. It’s a very small incision to get it done, too. You’re not looking at cracking the chest open or anything major like that.
Because of the timing of the surgery, Francona will obviously take the remainder of the first half off, as well as the All Star break to rest up and be ready to get back in the dugout to manage what will hopefully still be his first-place Indians team (Royals are a game back). Since Francona took over as manager of the Tribe at the start of the 2013 season, the Indians have the best winning percentage of any team in the American League (.544). Get better soon, Tito!