Tito's Tough Week

The life of a Major League Manager can be exhausting with all of the time at the ballpark and extra distractions that come with the job. This week Terry Francona has had to deal with more issues that anyone would want. First there was the All-Star Game, something that is supposed to have a fun and relaxed atmosphere, but Tito had the difficult task of respecting the local team while not upsetting his own players. On top of that, the game went much longer than usual and he had to deal with the pressure of figuring out how to limit Kazmir's pitch count with no one else available in the pen. The day after the game Tito went back to Boston for some shots to help his ailing back. Bob Ryan commented that he was worried about Francona's health and that maybe it was time for him to retire. Before the second half resumed the Manny stuff all came out and Tito was forced to put out fires instead of getting a little break. The Sox go into Anaheim and their rookie pitcher struggles again, forcing Francona to defend the decision to move Masterson to the pen. After the sweep last night he has to deal with probably the most ridiculous thing of his tough week when people start to complain to him about Sea Dog ticket prices. Some people were sending messages to Francona because ticket prices went up in Portland for the games Big Papi will appear in. He responded to the Courant with:

"We're out here in Anaheim getting our [butts] kicked," Francona said. "I've got nothing to do with Portland ticket prices."