During the final stretch of his 11-year tenure in Cleveland, Terry Francona suffered from a variety of medical illnesses. He managed just 14 games during the 2020 season before a gastrointestinal issue landed him in the Cleveland Clinic for weeks. When he left the team again mid-season the following year to undergo hip surgery, he was sporting a boot on his foot resulting from offseason staph surgery on his toe, and he was also recovering from a cold , which forced him to miss two games. Weeks before his final game against the Guardians in 2023, the scooter he used to get around was stolen for a second time. The use of a replacement scooter didn’t go so well: Francona steered it to avoid pedestrians, hit a pothole and rolled over the handlebars. (“It’s amazing how much of your life you can see in that moment,” he told the AP.)

“I don’t expect to do it again,” Francona said last October, reflecting on his future at a season-ending press conference where he announced his resignation as manager of the Cleveland Guardians. “Because if I can do it, I’d like to do it here.” On Thursday night, ESPN’s Jeff Passan broke some surprising news: Francona, 65, will do it again, in Ohio, but not with the Guardians. The Cincinnati Reds announced Friday that he is replacing David Bell, who was fired in the final days of the team’s disappointing season.

In March, Zach Buchanan reported here that Francona had become a University of Arizona basketball fanatic in retirement. “I’m a fan, man,” he told Buchanan at the Wildcats’ practice in Tucson. “It’s different and it’s okay. Shit, I love watching them play.” Maybe it was the backcourt of KJ Lewis-Caleb Love that got Francona back to health, or maybe his justification for once eating 17 popsicles in one night Right: “They are healthy, so if one is good, 17 must be real.” Good.”

Guardians fans probably don’t care too much about this state betrayal, especially now that new manager Stephen Vogt has led their young team and questionable rotation to an AL Central title. In Francona, the Reds get one of the winningest and most experienced managers in MLB, one who has made the most of low salaries and emerging talent. Whether it is truly wise for a man with a history of heart problems to consume a regular diet of Alexis Díaz innings remains between Tito and his cardiologist.