With news this week that Robin Ventura has been hired as the manager of the Chicago White Sox, Terry Francona‘s job prospects are increasingly thin.
The former Red Sox manager is a legitimate possibility for the Chicago Cubs, but after that, there’s no realistic possibilities.
Luckily for Tito, however, it turns out Francona has a job to fall back on if the whole managing gig doesn’t work out in 2012.
Commentating.
Game 1 of the Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers has gotten underway tonight, and surprise surprise, Terry Francona is the color man next to Joe Buck in the booth.
And surprise surprise, he’s really good at it. Who would have thought someone who knows the ins and outs of baseball would provide good color for a baseball game?
In all honesty, though, commentating isn’t as easy as Tito makes it seem. You may know what you’re talking about, but it can be hard to turn those thoughts into fluent, audible sentences . Just look at Ozzie Guillen.
It’s only been a couple innings, but Francona already seems to be a better color man than Tim McCarver.
If FOX is smart, they’ll keep going with Francona because he’ll boost ratings. In a time when the MLB playoffs have to compete with college football, the NFL and the NHL, FOX needs any help they can get.
Francona is that help.
He’s knows what he’s talking about. He’s provides a look into the game that few others can. He has a sense of humor. He makes it easier to listen to Joe Buck. And most of all, the early returns are good. The fans love him.
According to Seattle Mariners left fielder Casper Wells via Twitter, “Terry Francona is a money call btw on the commentating!”
In fact, a quick Twitter search of “Terry Francona” results in about 99.5 percent positive comments about how well Tito is doing.
So let’s see here.
Francona gives a terrific insight into the game of baseball. He finds a good job after the Boston Red Sox unfairly fired him. He makes baseball games watchable on FOX. And everyone loves him.
It’s not common, but this is a win-win-win-win situation. Not bad.
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