Terry Francona took a season off from managing last year before being hired by the Cleveland Indians this past offseason. Prior to that, he spent eight seasons as the manager of the Boston Red Sox. During that time, Francona likely became very familiar with the path he had to take in order to report for work at Fenway Park.
Joining a new team takes some adjusting. Francona was reminded of that on Monday when he had trouble finding his way to Progressive Field for Cleveland’s home opener.
“I got lost three times,” Fracona said, via ESPN.com. “Even when I got to the garage two people who work here said, ‘Hey, do you know where you’re going?’ I was like, ‘Nope.'”
To make matters even more humorous, Francona lives just a few blocks from the ballpark in downtown Cleveland. He is planning to ride a scooter to home games this season, but he felt like walking to the home opener. He supposedly got relatively close to the park and an Indians employee picked him up in a golf cart.
“Cleveland is officially the nicest people I’ve ever met,” he said. “Everybody I did walk by said, ‘Hello.’ That’s a little different than I’m used to.”
You mean the people of Boston aren’t friendly? That doesn’t sound right. Anyway, Francona was able to make it to the game on time and will likely be set from here on out. As long as he avoids texting while he’s riding his scooter, he won’t end up like the manager who replaced him last season in Boston.
