It's easier to take a joke when your resume lists you not only as the failed manager of the Phillies but as skipper of the defending World Series winners. But humor always has been an important component of Francona's approach to his job. In the anything-goes culture that exists in the Red Sox clubhouse, it's also a survival mechanism.
Imagine how a less-secure person might have reacted when David McCarty, the former Sox infielder who had returned to Boston for a weekend broadcasting gig for NESN, strolled into Francona's office on a recent afternoon, hours before the Sox were to play the Toronto Blue Jays.
''You must have pulled names out of a hat to get that lineup with [Doug] Mirabelli hitting third," McCarty said.
''You know what?" Francona said. ''I knew you were coming in today, I wanted to give you something to [expletive] talk about."
A few minutes later, Bill Mueller, the soft-spoken third baseman, poked his head inside the door.
''Did you know there's a lineup card out there that says Mirabelli is hitting third tonight?" Mueller asked.
''They called me and said it was an exhibition game," Francona retorted.
''I love the fact we have a pretty special thing going here," Francona said after Mueller left. ''And it's everybody. [Curt] Schilling comes over here, and these [expletives], they hammer him. It's great, and he loves it. It works. It just works. Once you step through the door, the gloves come off -- with me, with the coaches, everybody. You better not have thin skin. But they care, as soon as something happens. It's a pretty good situation."
Finding a way to strike a light note in the midst of what can be a deadly serious business, Francona said, is something he learned while doing his apprenticeship as a minor league manager. He was a huge admirer of Jim Leyland, the former Pirates and Rockies manager who won a World Series ring with Florida in 1997.
