Terry Francona Out: Boston Sports Fans Are Spoiled

Terry Francona should still be managing the Boston Red Sox. 

According to Jim Heyman, his time as the Red Sox manager has come to an end.

It wasn't too long ago that all the major teams in Boston were in a major funk. The Red Sox were cursed, the Bruins struggled, the Patriots and Celtics were irrelevant.

Then the championships started coming in, spoiling the fan base.

It's an amazing accomplishment for one city to host teams that have won two World Series, three Super Bowls, an NBA Finals and a Stanley Cup in a six-year period. It was arguably the greatest sports decade a fan base has ever experienced.

Unfortunately, with the overwhelming success come inflated expectations.

Yes, the 2011 Red Sox will go down in history as the greatest collapse in baseball history after losing their nine-game wild card lead in the month of September. However, a 90-win season is still quite an accomplishment. The Red Sox are the only team with 90 wins that didn’t make the playoffs.

Francona isn’t the one to blame for the failure.

The manager can only work with the limitations provided. The organization chose to chase hitting over pitching. They signed Carl Crawford, a great defensive outfielder that can also steal a lot of bases to a team with a small outfield that doesn’t steal a lot of bases.

Even with that said, the season was still a success.

To win 90 games with a team that has battled numerous injuries, has aging stars and is in the most competitive division in baseball is an accomplishment. Banner-raising seasons aren’t guaranteed.

2008 was the last time the Red Sox won a playoff series. The Patriots and Celtics have had similar struggles in the same time period. Only a fool would expect Bill Belichick or Doc Rivers to step down.

Why not the same for Francona? He got treated like a scapegoat after he brought two championships to a city that was doomed by an 86-year-old curse.

Stay classy Boston.

Jamal Wilburg is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.
Follow his thoughts, insights, and ramblings on Twitter @JWilburg