Red Sox manager Francona to have back surgery

Oct 21, 2008 - 10:55 PM BOSTON (Ticker) -- Two days after his team's loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in Game Seven of the American League Championship Series, Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona announced that he will undergo back surgery in the near future.

Francona said his back has been bothering him for several months but did not want to have the surgery during the season.

"I need to probably have some back surgery so I can stand a little straighter," he told the team's web site. "I know I've needed it since May."

Francona, 49, also has experienced numbness in his arm for several months.

"I haven't been able to feel either arm for four or five months," he said. "I'll go the next couple of days to get it figured out, and then we'll get it done so I can feel a little bit better."

Francona, who has won the World Series twice in Boston, is heading into his sixth season as the team's manager - the longest tenure for any Boston skipper since Joe Cronin managed the Red Sox from 1935-47.