Chicago and St. Louis Columnists Are Clamoring for the Cubs and Cardinals to Hire Terry Francona

"Francona would come to the Cubs with expectations just as big as he faced in Boston, but also would come more lettered. Francona deserves some blame for the biggest September collapse in baseball history, but not as much as the Red Sox organization want you to believe. I’d love to see the Cubs in a position where the manager would lose some control of a team that won two World Series in four years."

Bernie Miklasz in St. Louis:

"Francona would be a comfortable, assured, easy fit in St. Louis. He knows what it’s like to manage in an obsessed, baseball-crazy town with fans overreacting and overheating to every game. Francona would enter this role with instant credibility; his cachet comes in the form of two World Series titles. Since the start of the 2004 season, only two managers have won two World Series, Francona and La Russa. In eight seasons under Tito, the Red Sox were second in the majors in regular-season wins (behind the NY Yankees) and tied for second in postseason wins (behind St. Louis.)"