Tito Francona

From BR Bullpen

John Patsy Francona

Bats Left, Throws Left
Height 5' 11", Weight 190 lb.

Debut April 17, 1956
Final Game September 29, 1970
Born November 4, 1933 in Aliquippa, PA USA

[edit] Biographical Information

Probably the only major league player whose middle name is "Patsy", Tito Francona had a long major league career with teams that did not excel. He never appeared in post-season play. He is the father of Terry Francona; Grant Jackson played with both Tito and Terry Francona.

Signed by the St. Louis Browns in 1952, Francona missed the 1954-1955 seasons due to military service. He came up with the team in 1956 when it had moved to Baltimore. After playing for both the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers in 1958, he came to the Cleveland Indians in 1959, where he was to stay for six seasons, the longest stretch in his career when he was with one team.

In a huge step forward for his career, in 1959 under manager Joe Gordon he hit .363 with 20 home runs in 122 games, something that never could have been predicted from his earlier major league career. He was 5th in the MVP voting. In both 1960 and 1961, he was in the top ten in the league in batting average, and in 1960 he led the league in doubles. From 1965 through 1970, he played for five teams. In 1969, as a role player, he hit .318 in 173 at-bats.

Based on "similarity scores", one of the most similar players (and a pretty good comparison) is his near-contemporary Jay Johnstone although Johnstone had more foot speed and was a better fielder.

Named to "The Top 100 Greatest Indians Roster", as created by the Cleveland Indians in 2001. He came to the Indians in a trade for Larry Doby, another of the players on the Top 100 Greatest Indians Roster.