Terry Franco Says Goodbye To Red Sox, MLB Playoffs

Francona most likely out of Red Sox
Terry Francona indeed helped the Red Sox to overcome the so-called “curse of the bambino” after 86 years. The franchise hadn’t had any World Series success since 1918, and when Francona arrived to the team, Boston won 2 World Series, the first one in 2004, the first year of Terry with the team, when the Red Sox won it all after they were down 3-0 in the ALCS, becoming the first team in the history of the MLB to win a postseason series after overcoming such deficit.

The second World Series title for Boston in recent times was achieved in 2007, when they beat the Rockies, but the past two years the team hasn’t even made it to the postseason, and this year they missed the playoffs after holding a 9-game lead in September, and such results are leading to both the franchise and Francona himself to take a drastic decision: not to re-sign for another season, which means that if the manager leaves, it will be a mutual agreement.

Rays and Rangers begins ALDS Series today
Starting the regular season with 6 straight defeats is not exactly a good indication for any MLB team, but the Rays have shown how resilient they are as they also overcame a 9-game deficit to the Red Sox in September and managed to beat Boston in the wild card race. Now Tampa Bay is meeting the Rangers on what it is a rematch of last year’s American League Division Series, which was won by Texas, who have come out victorious in 5 of their 9 meetings with Tampa this year. The first game of this series is tonight at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, and the Rays are hoping that luck is going to continue to be on their side.

Girardi gives Posada green light to start tonight
According to Yankees manager Joe Girardi, Jorge Posada has been given the green light to be the starting designated hitter for the team in game 1 of the ALDS against the Tigers tonight. New York went for Posada this time because he has been quite proficient against right handers this year, and in case Detroit’s manager Jim Leyland decided to bring in a lefty, Girardi can always count with the talents of rookie Jesus Montero, who has emerged as one of the best players in the roster of the Yankees this season.