Terry Francona: Former Red Sox Manager Right to Spurn Organization

The Boston Red Sox are going to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park by holding a huge celebration before their game against the New York Yankees on Friday, April 20.

You'd think the man who led the Red Sox to two World Series victories in 2004 and 2007 would be there. He won't be.

According to The Boston Globe, Terry Francona will not be participating in the anniversary festivities next Friday. Because the team has invited every single living ex-player and manager to appear, Francona's absence is sure to be noted.

But Francona has his reasons:

"

Somebody went out of their way to make me look pretty bad. It’s a shame. I’m sure they’ll have a great event and I was part of a lot of that stuff there, but I just can’t go back there and start hugging people and stuff without feeling a little bit hypocritical.

"

If you're familiar with the circumstances surrounding Francona's exit from Boston shortly after the end of the 2011 season, you'll know what he's referring to when he says that somebody tried to make him look bad. 

In an article titled "Inside the Collapse," the Globe's Bob Hohler wrote that Francona had lost control of the team in 2011 and that he was distracted by a troubled marriage. Hohler also cited team sources who said Francona was hooked on painkillers. 

Francona thinks the organization intentionally tried to cast him in a bad light, and he's not going near the Red Sox until he gets some answers:

"

Until I’m more comfortable with some answers on what happened at the end of the year, I don’t want to have much to do with the organization and that’s a shame. With all the good things that were accomplished, I just feel pretty strongly about that.

"

Francona says he and Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino got into an argument over the phone earlier this week. He says it was clear he and the organization are "not on the same wavelength" and that the Red Sox are "probably better off going forth and leaving me out" of the celebration.

Surprised?

You shouldn't be. The Red Sox enjoyed some tremendous success under Francona after he was hired before the 2004 season, but he has a legit gripe here. It may be true that he lost control of the team in 2011, but that doesn't mean he deserved to be vilified like he was in Hohler's article.

A lot of people blame the Globe for that. Some blame the Red Sox. Francona seems to have hard feelings against both, but more so at the team. Whether under company orders or not, some people in the Red Sox basically pinned the 2011 collapse entirely on him.

Francona may bring himself to forgive the Red Sox down the road, but the wounds are clearly too fresh at the moment for him to forgive them now. He wouldn't necessarily have to forgive the Red Sox in order to show up at the anniversary celebration, but he has no reason to give the team the satisfaction.

It's going to be awkward celebrating Fenway's 100th anniversary without the man who broke the Curse of the Bambino. But the situation is what it is. The timing is awful, and it's not like Francona needs something to do these days. He has a cushy job at ESPN, one that's going to keep him very busy.

The show will have to go on without him.

Hopefully, Francona will have forgiven the Red Sox when it's time to celebrate the 2004 Red Sox. That celebration wouldn't be right without him.