Editing Terry Francona (section)

==Playing career==
Francona attended the [[University of Arizona]], where he played [[college baseball]] for the [[Arizona Wildcats baseball]] team. Francona also represented the United States at the [[Baseball at the 1979 Pan American Games|1979 Pan American Games]]. The Arizona Wildcats won the [[1980 College World Series]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=College World Series History (through 2011 CWS)|url=http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/061202aaa.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070626055330/http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/061202aaa.html|archive-date=June 26, 2007|access-date=June 14, 2021|website=[[Arizona State Sun Devils]]}}</ref> and Francona was named the tournament's [[College World Series Most Outstanding Player|Most Outstanding Player]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=|title=Athletics Facts – Arizona Wildcats Official Site|url=http://www.arizonaathletics.com/club-arizona/page.aspx?id=1398|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114191222/http://www.arizonaathletics.com/club-arizona/page.aspx?id=1398|archive-date=November 14, 2007|access-date=June 14, 2021|website=[[Arizona Wildcats]]}}</ref> Francona won the 1980 [[Golden Spikes Award]].<ref>{{cite news|date=October 28, 1993|title=Shocks' Dreifort chosen for Golden Spikes award|page=4C|newspaper=[[Lawrence Journal-World]]|agency=[[Associated Press]]|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZiMyAAAAIBAJ&pg=3673,3808011&dq=golden+spikes+award&hl=en|access-date=August 5, 2012}}</ref>

The [[Montreal Expos]] selected Francona in the first round of the [[1980 Major League Baseball draft|1980 MLB draft]] with the 22nd overall selection. After briefly playing in the [[Minor League Baseball|minor leagues]], Francona made his major league debut with Montreal on August 19, 1981, a week after the end of that summer's [[1981 Major League Baseball strike|player strike]]. He appeared mainly as an [[outfielder]] that [[1981 Major League Baseball season|first year]], and he went 4-for-12 in the [[1981 National League Division Series|National League Division Series]] against the [[Philadelphia Phillies]], an extra playoff round used in that strike-divided season. The Expos won that series, three games to two.

Francona shifted to [[first baseman|first base]], where he ultimately played 100 games more than he had in the outfield. He also developed a reputation as a contact hitter, with few [[home run]]s, [[base on balls|walks]], or [[strikeout]]s. The Expos released Francona after the 1985 season, during which his [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]] had slipped to .267 after posting a .346 average in limited action in 1984. 

Baseball writer [[Bill James]] described him as a 'worthless player'.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Baseball Book 1990 |last1=James |first1=Bill |publisher=[[Villard Books]] |year=1990 |page=284}}</ref>

He went on to sign one-year contracts with the [[Chicago Cubs]], [[Cincinnati Reds]], [[Cleveland Indians]], and [[Milwaukee Brewers]]. The Brewers re-signed Francona for 1990, but he only played in three games for the Brewers that year, the last on April 19. In 10 seasons and 708 games, he posted a .274 career average, with 16&nbsp;home runs and 143 [[run batted in|runs batted in]]. He also made an appearance as a pitcher with Milwaukee on May 15, 1989, late in a game that the Brewers lost 12–2; he threw 12&nbsp;pitches and struck out one batter ([[Stan Javier]]) on three pitches.<ref>{{cite web|date=May 15, 1989|title=Milwaukee Brewers at Oakland Athletics Box Score and Play by Play|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/OAK/OAK198905150.shtml|access-date=July 9, 2017|work=[[Baseball-Reference]]|publisher=[[Sports Reference LLC]]|location=United States}}</ref>