Terry Francona reflects on loss of father as he returns to Indians’ camp

GOODYEAR, Ariz.-– Everyone knows that Indians manager Terry Francona gets his nickname “Tito” from his father. But how did John Patsy Francona acquire the moniker from his father?

“It’s Italian and it’s a Spanish word,” Francona told reporters on Sunday afternoon. “The way he explained it to me, it’s kind of a kid that’s kind of in the way. Kind of a little ornery or energetic. It was not always complimentary maybe. It kind of depended on who gave you the description. But it certainly stuck.”

On Sunday Francona, who returned to the Indians following his father’s funeral on Saturday in New Brighton Pa., said that regardless of the origin of the nickname, he always welcomed it.

“For me, I always felt I could be called a lot worse,” Francona said. “Because I care about my dad so much I always took it as a compliment.”

Tito Francona, who played for the Indians from 1959-64, died at his home on Tuesday night. He was 84. Following his death, there is certainly a somber air around camp, but Francona is still happy to be amongst his second family.

“It’s so nice to be back,” Francona said. “I went back for two days to be with my family. Then I came back here to be with my family. This is about as close as you can feel to people who aren’t your family. It’s not just baseball. It’s Cleveland. It’s the people here. I know that.”

In the days since his father’s death, Francona said he thinks he answered every message of condolence that he received. More importantly than anything, Francona said he knows how lucky he was growing up with the parents he had.

“You cry, you laugh, but I think the good part for me was that I felt the same way about my dad two months ago,” Francona said when asked about his memories of his father. “A lot of times when someone passes away you hear all these good things. I felt that before.

“I felt like the luckiest kid ever. I had the best parents ever. That feeling has never changed. All the stories, they were the same ones that I was telling when I went back at Christmas and stayed with him for a few days. I was really fortunate and I knew it.”

And now as the younger Tito gets back to business, he does so with the love and appreciation of the game that he inherited from his namesake.

“I care about the game, I respect the game, I love the game because of my dad, I guarantee you that. He taught me to care about baseball so deeply.”