Cleveland rocks with Terry Francona the American Leagues bes

SAN DIEGO In the four years before Terry Francona got to Cleveland, the Indians lost 97, 93, 82 and 94 games Dylan Strome Jersey . In the four years Francona has been in northern Ohio, the Tribe havewon 92, 85, 81 and 52 and counting.
While the turnaround has a lot to do with the development of talent by the organization, there also can be no doubt Cleveland got the best man for the job a two-time World Series winner with the Red Sox and a man who has led nothing but winning teams since he got to Boston in 2004, with a one-year hiatus following his departure from The Hub at the end of 2011.
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He brings a winning resume, says Corey Kluber, the 2014 American LeagueCy Young Award winner and the winning pitcher for the AL in Tuesdays All-Star Game. I think one of the big things is weve had a lot of continuity within our team the last few years, and I think thats got a lot of value. Tito, the approach of attacking each game as its own and winning that day, not worrying about what happened the day before, thats huge. You take what happens next after the fact.
At No. 3 in Sporting News ranking of major league managers this year, and tops in the American League, Francona is not di similar in style to the two men ranked above him, Bruce Bochy and Joe Maddon. For the top managers, the key is to instill an atmosphere where players are put in a Anton Forsberg Jersey position to succeed.
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Ive been pretty fortunate in my career to have some really good managers, really good players managers, says Cubs pitcher Jon Lester, who started his major league career with Franconas Red Sox. Even the short time I was in Oakland with (Bob Melvin) there, and John Farrell and Joe Maddon. I think theyre all kind of groomed from the same kind of person, I gue s. Very laid-back, players manager go out and play hard for me and we wont have any problems. Tito is definitely a big influence in my young career, and still to this day, a big influence on what I try to help these young guys with.
If it seems ethereal, thats because it is. Managers make personnel decisions in the course of trying to win individual games, but for teams that are well stocked with talent, especially todays players who are so well-versed Keith Magnuson Jersey in the intricacies of the game, being a master tactician is secondary to being a master of mindset. Strategic moves are a hit-or-mi s proposition anyway in this game. Having players who have a high comfort level with their environment makes them more apt to execute to the best of their ability.
Handshakes after another Tribe win. (Getty Images)
I think in our game, theres so much going on that when a manager stays out of the way and lets you play, puts the lineup out there to go out, play hard and play together, you see what happens at the end, Lester says. It boosts the confidence of the players to go out and play aggre sive as they can. If they screw up, they dont have to worry about getting benched, as long as theyre playing hard.
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Players will screw up, because failure is natural for baseball, particularly over the Tony Esposito Jersey course of a six-month season. How a manager handles that with players is crucial, because operating with a fear of failure is a sure recipe to encounter more of it.
Hes loose, 22-year-old All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor says of Francona, 57. He lets us go out there and do our thing. Whenever you do something wrong, hell wait for you to come down, and hell say how it should be done, but to go on and keep moving forward.
Cleveland has moved forward in a big way this year, Jan Rutta Jersey going 35-19 to seize control of the AL Central and take a 6 1/2-game lead into the second half after starting the season 17-17. Francona, of course, did not panic with the slow start. It was up to the players to get things going, and they did.
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Terry, hes a great guy, says Indians right-hander Danny Salazar, a Cy Young contender at 26. Hes a guy that plays it straight. He doesnt try to go around. If he wants to ask you something, he wants you to do something, he just goes straight to you. A lot of people try to tell you something but theyre trying to get to one point going in a circle instead of going straight. Graham Knott Jersey Hes a great manager, somebody that if you work hard for him and play hard, youll be good with him. With every manager, thats all you want. The one thing he told me when I met him is, I just want you to come here early, get your work done and then you can do whatever you want.
There are two things that do whatever you want can mean. One represents freedom, the other is po sibility of achievement. With Francona as their leader, the Indians might be able to both do whatever they want and do whatever they want.