CLEVELAND: Indians lore now has its version of the Joe Montana and John Candy Super Bowl story.
But Terry Francona’s remark to Mike Napoli about the 50-50 raffle during Game 3 of the American League Championship Series on Oct. 17 in Rogers Centre shouldn’t be remembered just for Francona’s humor in the face of a dire situation.
It says much about Francona’s skills as a manager, illustrating not only his prowess as a communicator but his powers of observation.
In leading the Indians into the World Series, which opens Tuesday night at Progressive Field against the Chicago Cubs, part of what makes Francona special is his ability to break the ice in the midst of intense pressure. And even though it was unintentional against the Blue Jays, Francona defused what could have been a panic situation when Trevor Bauer’s freely bleeding pinkie finger, cut four days earlier in a drone accident, forced him to leave the game in the first inning.
As players and coaches huddled on the mound, Francona spied a message on the scoreboard that the sellout crowd of 49,507 had already raised $82,000 in the 50-50 raffle.
“Nap, we gotta get in on that,” Francona recounted after six Indians relievers combined to record the last 25 outs.
The remark was eerily reminiscent of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Montana’s comment to offensive tackle Harris Barton in the 1989 Super Bowl against the Cincinnati Bengals. The 49ers trailed by three with 3:20 remaining when Montana said in the huddle, “There, in the stands, standing near the exit ramp, isn’t that John Candy?” After his reference to the comedian, Montana directed a 92-yard drive and threw the winning touchdown pass with 34 seconds to play.
What would turn out to be a 4-2 Indians’ victory over the Blue Jays to give them a 3-0 series lead was dripping with the same drama before Francona’s quip. Surprisingly, Francona confessed Friday that he did not get in on the raffle.
“I had a chance to and declined. I actually showed some maturity for once,” he said.
But that admission seems to indicate that someone made an inquiry to see if it were possible.
Catcher Chris Gimenez said the charity fundraiser has been a topic of conversation before.
“We make a big deal of it because sometimes we look up there when we’re here and it’s $3,000 in the eighth inning,” Gimenez said, referring to the small regular-season crowds at Progressive Field. “When it gets up to 100 grand, it’s like, ‘Wow, that’s a lot of money.’ ”
For some, that might spoil the spontaneity. But it didn’t for Francona’s players.
“Everybody was like, ‘That’s classic Tito,’ ” Gimenez said. “It’s him keeping a level head through the tightest of pressure situations and finding a way to make us all laugh about it.”
Gimenez said the Indians don’t feel a lot of pressure and Francona is a big part of that.
“There’s reasons he will come out and crack a joke on you. It’s Game whatever of the ALCS and you’re out here goofing around. But that’s how he is and that’s why he gets the best out of his guys,” Gimenez said.
“He knows the guys on the mound, what he can say and what he can’t. He’s got an uncanny ability to know how to get into somebody like that. It’s pretty impressive.”
While seemingly not a planned diversion, it has to be a tactic Francona honed over the years.
“It’s not him being funny. There is some calculation to it I’m sure,” Gimenez said.
“There’s so much riding on every pitch that you need those distractions to ease your mind a little bit,” right-hander Corey Kluber said.
‘Aware of everything’
Just as impressive are Francona’s powers of observation, although he doesn’t agree on that.
“During the game you’re so locked in that you don’t see or hear much,” Francona said. “When I say tunnel-vision, it really is — all except for that 50-50 thing, that kind of grabbed my attention.”
His players say his radar is always up, the eyes in the back of his head always swiveling about the park.
“He’s aware of everything. Nothing gets by him,” Napoli said. “That’s just who he is, the person he is. It’s cool to be around.”
“He’s very observant. He’s always paying attention, planning ahead for different scenarios so when crazy things do happen like Bauer’s finger opening back up he’s prepared for it,” Kluber said.
“There’s a lot going on in every inning or every pitch, but he’s got an uncanny ability to process everything at once and to be thinking the next two, three, four steps ahead,” Gimenez said.
Kluber connected the dots on everything that went into the Indians’ Montana-Candy moment, a moment that shows why the Indians should never be underestimated when Francona is in charge.
“He’s got an unusual ability to make everybody feel comfortable,” Kluber said. “People are comfortable because he knows how to communicate with them because he’s aware of all those different things.”
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her blog at www.ohio.com/marla. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.