Recapping the 4 craziest stories in Cleveland sports from Thursday
By Chad Porto
Terry Francona stepping away for the remainder of the season
The man everyone calls “Tito” can’t handle the daily grind at the moment and has elected to sit out the remainder of the season. Mobility has been a great issue for Francona, who’s been dealing with the after-effects of a staph infection in his toe, as well as lingering hip issues that have made surgery necessary. With him coming off of last season where he stepped away due to health issues, this will surely cause some fans to speculate about his future.
The fact is that he is 62-years-old and no one should expect him to manage forever. He might try, he’s clearly a great manager, plus he’s only a handful of wins away from becoming the club’s all-time winningest manager.
If he is nearing the road as a manager in baseball, these next two-plus months will really help to see what the Indians have as possible in-house replacements. There’s also the question as to why DeMarlo Hale and not Sandy Alomar were picked to be the interim manager for the rest of the year.
Alomar led the club to the playoffs last year, so it made sense to give him the reigns again.
The rest of the season is going to be pretty interesting, to say the least, especially if the club is still able to have its usual second-half push.