Former Arizona Wildcats Baseball Legend Lands New Manager Opportunity in MLB
A former Arizona Wildcats baseball legend is once again back in charge of an MLB team.
The Cincinnati Reds have agreed to terms with former Arizona baseball player Terry Francona to become the club's new manager. This will mark his 24th year as a major league manager.
Francona played baseball for the Wildcats from 1977-80 and was a member of Arizona’s 1980 College World Series team. He also won the Golden Spikes Award in his final season as the best collegiate baseball player in the country. His performance with the Wildcats landed him in the first round of the 1980 MLB Draft as he was selected by the Montreal Expos. He was the 22nd overall selection. The former Arizona slugger also represented the United States and the university in the 1979 Pan American Games. He played for five different MLB teams from 1981-1990 before moving into coaching and managing.
The 65-year-old began his manager career with the Philadelphia Phillies from 1997-2000. It did not go well, however, as he posted an overall record of 285-363 (.440). During his tenure in Philadelphia, he failed to make the postseason in all four seasons he was in charge of the club and finished last in the NL East in two of the years he was in charge. He never raised the team above third place in the division. He was fired after the 2000 season.
Francona would get a second chance, however, as he went on to manage the Boston Red Sox beginning in 2004 after serving some time as a bench coach for the Texas Rangers (2002) and Oakland Athletics (2003). The risk paid off as he led Boston to two World Series championships in 2004 and 2007, their first championship since 1918. He stayed with Boston until the end of the 2011 season.
His last stop was with the Cleveland Guardians, where he managed the club from 2013 to 2023. Francona brought his team to the World Series in 2016 but was defeated by the Chicago Cubs in seven games. He stepped down last season after dealing with some health issues.
After taking a year off, he will be back in the saddle managing the Cincinnati Reds. He will look to improve the organization, which recently fired manager David Bell. The Reds have not made the postseason since the extended playoffs of 2020. Before that, their last postseason appearance was in 2013. They have not won a playoff round since 1995, and their last World Series victory was in 1990.
The future Hall of Fame manager has won the Manager of the Year Award three times (2013, 2016, 2022) and was the manager for the 2005 and 2008 American League during the MLB All-Star games.
The Reds play their spring training games about two hours from the Arizona University campus in Goodyear, Arizona.
