BOSTON, Aug. 17 (UPI) — Managers, teammates and friends will become even closer when Terry Francona joins John Farrell for his first cycle of chemotherapy Tuesday.
Farrell, the Boston Red Sox’s skipper, announced that he was diagnosed with Stage 1 lymphoma last Friday. He will not manage for the rest of the season. As Cleveland Indians manager, Francona, has his team in Boston to face a Farrell-less Red Sox team.
“We were just talking,” Francona told ESPN’s Gordon Edes. “I was just asking questions, the normal questions. He mentioned he was starting Tuesday. I said, ‘I’m right there. I’ll go with you, whatever.’ I may not do anything other than get in the way, like normal, but being a friend, the only thing I know how to do is be a friend. Like the rest of us, we don’t know exactly what to do, but I do know how to be a friend. I care about him a lot. That’s what I’m trying to do.”
The duo were teammates on the 1988 Indians squad and later shared the Indians front office. Francona also hired his buddy Farrell, when he was manager of the Red Sox, to be pitching coach.
The 1988 Indians finished 78-84. The designated hitter Francona had one home run, 12 RBI, and a .311 batting average in 222 plate appearances. Farrell had a 14-10 record with a 4.24 ERA that season.
“It’s been a surreal four or five days,” Farrell told the Boston Herald last Friday. “I never had one symptom before the notification of it. No fatigue, no night sweats, no loss of weight, obviously. No lack of appetite. None of the things that are commonly asked when you’re facing something like this. It’s been a shocker but I take a step back. I’m extremely, extremely fortunate to have caught this at this stage. Like I said, the mass was removed at the time of the hernia surgery so there’s no additional surgery needed. Just chemo will start early next week.”
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