Changes

==Playing career==

==Playing career==

Francona was selected with the 22nd pick of the 1980 [[Amateur Draft]] by the [[Montreal Expos]] out of the University of [[Arizona]]. He made his big league bebut with the Expos during the 1981 season. After five years with the Expos, he spent single seasons with the [[Chicago Cubs]], [[Cincinnati Reds]] and [[Cleveland Indians]] before finishing his career with two years in Milwaukee. Francona hit .274 with 16 home runs and 143 RBI's over his ten year career. He also made one pitching appearance on May 15 of the 1989 season against the [[Oakland Athletics]]. Francona pitched a perfect eighth inning by retiring [[Terry Steinbach]] and [[Tony Phillips]] before striking out [[Stan Javier]] on three pitches.

Francona was selected with the 22nd pick of the 1980 [[Amateur Draft]] by the [[Montreal Expos]] out of the University of [[Arizona]]. He made his big league bebut with the Expos during the 1981 season. After five years with the Expos, he spent single seasons with the [[Chicago Cubs]], [[Cincinnati Reds]] and [[Cleveland Indians]] before finishing his career with two years in Milwaukee. Francona hit .274 with 16 home runs and 143 RBI's over his ten-year career. He also made one pitching appearance on May 15 of the 1989 season against the [[Oakland Athletics]]. Francona pitched a perfect eighth inning by retiring [[Terry Steinbach]] and [[Tony Phillips]] before striking out [[Stan Javier]] on three pitches.

==Managerial career==

==Managerial career==

''Boston Red Sox''

''Boston Red Sox''

Francona spent the 2001 season as a special assistant in the [[Indians]] front office.<ref>http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2000/11/21/francona001121.html</ref> He spent the following two seasons as bench coach with the [[Texas Rangers]] and [[Oakland Athletics|Athletics]] respectively. The [[Boston Red Sox|Red Sox]] were looking for a manager to replace the recently fired [[Grady Little]]. The team's front office liked Francona's ability to manage players as well as his willingness to use statistical information when making decisions.<ref>http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780061458545/Red_Sox_Rule/index.aspx</ref> He was named their manager in November 2003,<ref>http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2003/12/04/soxfrancona031204.html</ref> beating out [[Los Angeles Angels|Anaheim Angels]] bench coach [[Joe Maddon]] for the job.<ref>Shaikin, Bill. "Maddon Is Interested in Managing Red Sox"; ''Los Angeles Times'', 29 October 2003</ref> The team went 98-64 in the first season, taking the wild card over [[Oakland Athletics|Oakland]] by a full seven games. Boston finished the year 42-18 after the July 31 trade of team icon [[Nomar Garciaparra]]. They started the playoffs by sweeping the [[Los Angeles Angels|Angels]] in the Divisional Series. The League Championship Series against the [[New York Yankees]] got off to a bad start. Team New York rushed off to a 3-0 lead with an embarassing 19-8 victory in Game 3. Despite the long odds team Boston managed to become the first baseball team in history to overcome the deficit and win the series. In the [[World Series]] that year they surprisingly were able to sweep a strong [[St. Louis Cardinals]] team to capture their first championship in 86 years. In 2005, Francona guided the team to a 95 win season and another wild card. The team was unable to repeat after being beaten by eventual titlists [[White Sox]]. Following a year out of the playoffs, they were able to win another [[World Series]] title in 2007 by sweeping National League champion [[Colorado Rockies]]. 2008 was another strong year, 95-67 to take the wild card, and taking Team [[Tampa Rays|Tampa]] to seven games before falling in the League Championship Series.

Francona spent the 2001 season as a special assistant in the [[Indians]] front office.<ref>http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2000/11/21/francona001121.html</ref> He spent the following two seasons as bench coach with the [[Texas Rangers]] and [[Oakland Athletics|Athletics]] respectively. The [[Boston Red Sox|Red Sox]] were looking for a manager to replace the recently fired [[Grady Little]]. The team's front office liked Francona's ability to manage players as well as his willingness to use statistical information when making decisions.<ref>http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780061458545/Red_Sox_Rule/index.aspx</ref> He was named their manager in November 2003,<ref>http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2003/12/04/soxfrancona031204.html</ref> beating out [[Los Angeles Angels|Anaheim Angels]] bench coach [[Joe Maddon]] for the job.<ref>Shaikin, Bill. "Maddon Is Interested in Managing Red Sox"; ''Los Angeles Times'', 29 October 2003</ref> The team went 98-64 in the first season, taking the wild card over [[Oakland Athletics|Oakland]] by a full seven games. Boston finished the year 42-18 after the July 31 trade of team icon [[Nomar Garciaparra]]. They started the playoffs by sweeping the [[Los Angeles Angels|Angels]] in the Divisional Series. The League Championship Series against the [[New York Yankees]] got off to a bad start. Team New York rushed off to a 3-0 lead with an embarrassing 19-8 victory in Game 3. Despite the long odds team Boston managed to become the first baseball team in history to overcome the deficit and win the series. In the [[World Series]] that year they surprisingly were able to sweep a strong [[St. Louis Cardinals]] team to capture their first championship in 86 years. In 2005, Francona guided the team to a 95 win season and another wild card. The team was unable to repeat after being beaten by eventual titlists [[White Sox]]. Following a year out of the playoffs, they were able to win another [[World Series]] title in 2007 by sweeping National League champion [[Colorado Rockies]]. 2008 was another strong year, 95-67 to take the wild card, and taking Team [[Tampa Rays|Tampa]] to seven games before falling in the League Championship Series.

==Health==

==Health==