ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
BASEBALL IN PENNSYLVANIA

1. Student's Name

Richard Glass

2. Subject's Name

,Iobo "Ti to" Fraocona

Professional

3. Subject's Background

baseball player 1952-1970

a. date and place of
b. Present address
c. Present Occupation

4. Date of Interview

Director of Parks & Recreation, Beaver

November 17th, 1994

5. General Comments:

See Attached

DO NOT WRITE BELOW THIS LINE

County

General

Comments

Tito Francona has been a sports legend in Beaver County,
Pennsylvania for over forty years. Fifteen years in the major
leagues, an American League batting championship in 1959 and
an All-Star Game appearance in 1961 made Francona's career
legend in the towns of his home valley. Tito's commitment
to sports to this day can be witnessed by his position as
Director of Parks and Recreation for Beaver County.
Terry Francona, Tito's son, is currently the manager of the
Birmingham farm club for the Chicago White Sox. One of his
players is the talented former basketball star Michael Jordan.
Tito stays close to his game by visiting his son Terry and
maintaining his extensive system of contacts throughout baseball.
As a player, as a father and as director of recreation for his home
county, Tito Francona passes on his love of the game to future
generations.

Richard Glass
November 20th, 1994

(TITO)
JOHN PATSY FRANCONA
HEIGHT 5 '11 "

BORN-ALIQUIPPA, PA. NOV. 4, 1933.
YEAR

1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970

TEAM
YORK, PA.
ABERDEEN, S.D.

GAMES
80
123

AT BATS
247

474

RUNS H. 2B

II

II

II

II

II

II

II

II

"

II

ST. LOUIS
ST. LOUIS
PHIL.-ATLANTA
ATLANTA
ATLANTA-OAKLAND
OAKLAND-MILWKEE.

139
97
86
122
147
155
158
142
111
81

83
109
122
83
84

445
279
197
399
544
.592
621
500
270
174
156
327
346
173
98

3B

HR

RBI

AVERAGE

22
92

56 8 3 0
154 35 10 6

18
79

226
325

62
35
21
68

115
65
50
145
159
178
169
114
67
45
33
78
99

4 9
3 7
2 1
2 20
2 17
8 16
5 14
0 10
2 8
2 5
4 1 4
6 1. 6
13 1 2
55 7 1 5
23 3 0 1

57
38
20
79
79
85
70
41
24
19
17
28
47
42
10

258
233
254
363
292
301
272
228
248
259
212
239
286
Jl8
235

ARMY
ARMY

BALTIMORE
BALTIMORE
CHICAGO-DETROIT
CLEVELAND

WEIGHT 190

84

87
82
57
35
15
14
35
32
67
6

16
8
8
17
36
30
28
29
13
6

--------------------------------------------------------------------------~-----5,121
1,719
650 1,395 224 34 125 656
272
1960 LED AMERICAN LEAGUE IN DOUBLES-J6
1961 SELECTED TO ALL-STAR GAME

1959 UNOFFICIAL AMERICAN LF.AGUE BATTING CHAMPION 363
WIFE · ROBERTA
SON-TERRY
DAUGHTER-AMY
Terry is currentlf with

the Milwaukrr Brewers

.

Interviewer: Probably the first thing I'd like to ask you,
Mr. Francona is what teams you played for, the time that you
played, what got you started in baseball?

Francona: I've always wanted to be a baseball player. I was born
in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. As far back as I can remember baseball
just ... there was something ... I just like it.
The town of Aliquippa was a good baseball town. I moved to
New Brighton when I was in the fourth grade. I didn't want to
go there. New Brighton was'nt noted for their baseball. They
were softball. When I got a little older I would commute to
Aliquippa with my dad. My dad worked at the steel mill .•. J&L
(Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp.). I'd get up in the morning with
him at six oclock and go to Aliquippa. I had an aunt that lived right
there and I played for a team there that was a little higher
than Little League. I played there three or four days a week then I'd
meet my dad at my aunt's and we would go home at four oclock.
When I got into highschool, I played highschool baseball.
My sophomore year in highschool I was playing for the Junior League.
We were playing our first game of the season. Right before the
first pitch, this car drives across the field, throws me in the
car and takes me away. You see, its the manager of the Senior
League team in New Brighton, he takes me to Beaver Falls and tells
me "you're going to be playing with the Senior Legion. That's
when they were playing in the county league. They had alot of exminor league ballplayers and older ballplayers and here I was
a sophomore (in high school) playing with these older guys.

-2-

I played with them for a couple years. When I got out of
school I was ... not drafted but I tried out with a couple teams ...
All through highschool I was getting letters from baseball scouts.
I ended up signing with the Browns. I signed for a bonus with
the Browns of $5,000 in 1952, then I'd get another $5,000 the next
year if I was still around plus my monthly salary of $250 a month.
And then it went on from there.

Interviewer: How long was your career?
Francona: I spent fifteen years in the major leagues. I spent about
a year and a half in the minor leagues and two years in the
service (Army).

Interviewer: And what team did you play with the longest?
Francona: Cleveland. From 1959 to 1965 or

1

66. I played outfield,

first base.

Interviewer: Looking back on it, what would you consider to be
the most memorable game moment in your career?

Francona: You know, just being in the major leagues I was very
happy, I enjoyed the career. I enjoyed going out to the ballpark
every day.
One memorable day was in 1959. The Yankees and Cleveland
were a big rivalry. Alot of people from the Erie area and from
Western Pennsylvania

came down to watch those games and we had

a full house, about 60,000 people. In the first part of the season
I was only pinch hitting. In the first six times at bat, I had
five hits. There was this one particular time. It was a Friday
night and we had a good game. Calvin Glitch was pitching for us,
one of our ace pitchers. Anyway, it was in the ninth inning and they

-3-

scored a run. We were losing 2 to 1 going into the bottom of
the ninth. Our manager, Joe Gordon, looked down the bench because
they (the Yankees) brought in a pitcher ... I can't remember his
name ... I think it was Zack Monroe ... and nobody saw this guy before.
So Joe looks down the bench and says "Hey, anybody seen this
guy before?" and I said "Yeah, I played against him in the minor
league." He (Monroe) put me up to pitch, we had a guy on base and
I hit a homerun. Those people went wild. Every Friday at the game
we would raffle off a car and they sent me out of the dugout right afte1
this to pick out the winning lottery ticket and the stadium just
went wild. Right after that was when I started to play regularly.

Interviewer: You've seen the game change alot over the years.
What do you think the good and the bad changes have been?

Francona: I think money is the root of all evil now. If anybody
can make money more power to 'em, but I think what it's doing
to some of the players now ... with drugs ... it seems like some
of the guys cannot handle it. It probably would have happened to
us (the older players) when we were playing but we didn't have the
money to do all this stuff. Now, when they're making millions
and millions of dollars they can do anything they want and I
think some just get carried away.

Interviewer: Do you think that the fact that ballplayers are
organized into a labor union now has impacted upon the game?

Francona: Oh I think so. Very much so. You know when we were
playing, we had a union, when Marvin Miller came in and even before
that but we weren't very strong. The owners ruled the roost. But
the owners brought it on by themselves. They created this monster
they have now

-4-

they have now. If you take for instance my position, I played
with nine teams in fifteen years ..• you know, you're just like
a piece of furniture .•. you're gone. Alot of times we were pinned
against the wall money-wise. When I went in to the general
manager to talk over a contract, right away they would say:
"you're going to play for this or go on home."

You had no

recourse. You couldn't go bargain with another team. So I
think they forced it on the players where the union became so
strong today That's why they're so strong. Because it's passed
on to these players

(about) what happened to us.

All they had to do back in our time was make a few adjustments ... be a little better to their ballplayers. It seems though like
they're both wrong. If I were an owner, how can you dictate to me
how much money you're going to make? I feel that's wrong. But I
feel the players should be paid a fair wage. I think the owners
made their mistake a few years ago when they gave away the store.
Interviewer: If you were going to give advice to a young player

today, what would you tell him?
Francona:

Oh, the game has never changed on the field. I think the

game will never change.It's so much fun to play the game. I really
enjoyed it. When we played the game, we travelled together. We
played cards together. We ate together. Today, ballplayers are
making so much money that they're going off in different ways.
They're flying their own planes to different towns. The only time
the players see each other is on the ballfield.

note: There are some further comments regarding the 1994 baseball
strike which are not transcribed.