There hasn’t been an official announcement.
Yet, everybody in baseball, not just the Cleveland Guardians, knows it at this point: manager Terry Francona will retire after the season ends.
We all know it because all the signs are there.
One of the most evident signs is the fact the Guardians are going to be handing out “Thank you, Tito” shirts for Wednesday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds, his last at home.
Francona joked about it when asked by the media about his retirement plans.
“Terry Francona said that despite the fact that neither he nor the Guardians have officially announced his retirement, he did address the players today to tell them it has been an ‘honor of the lifetime’ to manage them through good and bad,” MLB insider Chelsea Janes tweeted.
There you have another sign: he is already saying goodbye to his beloved players.
Now, about those T-shirts…
“On if tomorrow is his last home game ‘it has to be,’ Francona joked. ‘Once you give out t-shirts you can’t go back,'” Janes wrote.
On if tomorrow is his last home game “it has to be,” Francona joked. “Once you give out t-shirts you can’t go back.” https://t.co/q65QzFliOJ
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) September 26, 2023
Tito has a great point there.
Can you imagine giving out farewell T-shirts only for him to return for one more year?
It doesn’t make sense.
It would be incredibly good, but it doesn’t make sense.
Instead, Francona will be putting an end to a brilliant career as a baseball manager that started in 1997 with the Philadelphia Phillies and ends here, 26 years later, in Cleveland.
One of the most respected and talented skippers in today’s game gets to say goodbye in front of his home fans.
It’s a perfect way to end a beautiful, successful chapter of his life.
NEXT: Terry Francona Will Have A Final Sendoff Wednesday