Former Arizona Wildcats baseball legend gets new managerial opportunity in MLB

A former Arizona Wildcats baseball legend is once again at the helm of an MLB team.

The Cincinnati Reds have agreed to terms with former Arizona baseball player Terry Francona to become the club's new manager. This is his 24th year as a major league manager.

Francona played baseball for the Wildcats from 1977 to 1980 and was a member of Arizona's 1980 College World Series team. In his senior season, he also won the Golden Spikes Award as the nation's top college baseball player. His performance with the Wildcats landed him in the first round of the 1980 MLB Draft, when he was selected by the Montreal Expos. He was the 22nd overall selection. The former Arizona slugger also represented the United States and the university at the 1979 Pan American Games. He played for five different MLB teams from 1981 to 1990 before becoming a coach and manager.

The 65-year-old began his managerial career with the Philadelphia Phillies from 1997 to 2000. However, things didn't go well as he posted an overall record of 285-363 (.440). During his tenure in Philadelphia, he failed to make the postseason in all four seasons he managed the club and finished last in the NL East in two of the years he managed the club. He never took the team above third place in the division. He was released after the 2000 season.

However, Francona got a second chance when he managed the Boston Red Sox starting in 2004 after serving time as a relief coach for the Texas Rangers (2002) and Oakland Athletics (2003). The risk paid off as he led Boston to two World Series championships in 2004 and 2007, their first championship since 1918. He remained with Boston until the end of the 2011 season.

His last stop was with the Cleveland Guardians, where he managed the club from 2013 to 2023. Francona led his team to the World Series in 2016, but lost to the Chicago Cubs in seven games. He stepped down last season after struggling with health problems.

After a year off, he will be back in the saddle and managing the Cincinnati Reds. He will look to improve the organization, which recently fired manager David Bell. The Reds have not made the postseason since the extended playoffs in 2020. Before that, the last time they played in the postseason was in 2013. They haven't won a playoff round since 1995 and their last World Series win was in 1990.

The future Hall of Fame manager has won Manager of the Year honors three times (2013, 2016, 2022) and was the American League manager during the 2005 and 2008 MLB All-Star Games.

The Reds play their spring training games about two hours from Arizona University's campus in Goodyear, Arizona.