Here's to You, Terry Francona

There was an opinion poll question on Boston.com the other day that asked if Terry Francona should stay with the Boston Red Sox or leave.

I clicked on the "leave" button and submitted my response. Then a results page popped up wth the majority of the responses indicating that he should stay.

I assume that a lot of the people who clicked "leave" were expressing their opinion that Terry was a major cause of the Red Sox doing so poorly in September with what is called a historical collapse because no team has ever coughed up a 9-game wildcard lead in the history of baseball. Given that the wildcard has existed for a little less than 20 years, that's really not much history. Whatever.

My response of "leave" had nothing to do with assigning blame. It was my desire to see Terry hightail it out of the pressure cooker known as Boston sports. It's not that I think he didn't deserve to stay, it's just that it seems he's done about all he can do with the Red Sox and to stay any longer would be stretching the envelope.

Weird metaphor there, eh?

Everything has a shelf life. We have to get to a point of understanding when it's time to cut the strings on things. Terry Francona seems like too upstanding a fellow to remain in a situation where his effectiveness had been lost as the inmates started taking over the asylum.

That's it for bad cliches. Sorry.

I like Terry Francona. I think he presents himself well in the media. He seems sincere, yet somewhat cagey as he works hard not to throw anyone under the bus. That says a lot about a person in this day and age.

My well wishes go out to Terry. You've done what no manager has been able to do in decades - preside over a World Series championship team not once, but twice.

Kudos to you and good luck in your future.