Tito Francona Marquee

b. November 4, 1933 · Baltimore Orioles 1956–1957, Chicago White Sox 1958, Detroit Tigers 1958, Cleveland Indians 1959–1964, St. Louis Cardinals 1965–1966, Philadelphia Phillies 1967, Atlanta Braves 1967–1969, Oakland Athletics 1969–1970, Milwaukee Brewers 1970

Tito Francona hit .363 for Cleveland in 1959 with 20 home runs, in a season short enough that the qualifying rules of the day left him out of the averages. It was far and away the best of his career, and he never approached it again.

He played fifteen years for nine clubs, mostly as a corner outfielder and first baseman, making his one All-Star team in 1961. His son Terry was born during his playing career and later managed Boston to World Series titles in 2004 and 2007, ending a drought of eighty-six years.

Born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania in 1933, Francona collected 1,395 hits and 125 home runs across 1,719 games. Francona died on February 13, 2018, at eighty-four.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	1	1961

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1956	BAL	139	445	62	115	16	4	9	57	51	60	11	.258
1957	BAL	97	279	35	65	8	3	7	38	29	48	7	.233
1958	CHW/DET	86	197	21	50	8	2	1	20	29	40	2	.254
1959	CLE	122	399	68	145	17	2	20	79	35	42	2	.363
1960	CLE	147	544	84	159	36	2	17	79	67	67	4	.292
1961	CLE	155	592	87	178	30	8	16	85	56	52	2	.301
1962	CLE	158	621	82	169	28	5	14	70	47	74	3	.272
1963	CLE	142	500	57	114	29	0	10	41	47	77	9	.228
1964	CLE	111	270	35	67	13	2	8	24	44	46	1	.248
1965	STL	81	174	15	45	6	2	5	19	17	30	0	.259
1966	STL	83	156	14	33	4	1	4	17	7	27	0	.212
1967	ATL/PHI	109	327	35	78	6	1	6	28	27	44	1	.239
1968	ATL	122	346	32	99	13	1	2	47	51	45	3	.286
1969	ATL/OAK	83	173	17	55	7	1	5	42	25	21	0	.318
1970	MIL/OAK	84	98	6	23	3	0	1	10	12	21	1	.235
Career	—	1719	5121	650	1395	224	34	125	656	544	694	46	.272

On this day & linked events

1933

Born November 4, 1933

Aliquippa, PA, USA

2018

Died February 13, 2018

1956

Major-league debut: Tito Francona

Tito Francona made a major-league debut on April 17, 1956.

1970

Final major-league game: Tito Francona

Tito Francona played a final major-league game on September 29, 1970.

Image: Unknown author Unknown, public domain