Francona rejoins world champs in time for home opener

BOSTON -- Terry Francona didn't feel well when he woke up Monday morning. But he wasn't worried.

Doctors had checked him out extensively after he felt tightness in his chest last Wednesday.

"I got my OK the other day," he said.

So the Boston Red Sox manager ran out of the dugout toward the first base line where he was the first member of the World Series winners to receive his championship ring during a ceremony before the home opener against the New York Yankees.

"I'm just glad I'm available to be here to get introduced," Francona said. "What I really care about today is I want us to win. That's what I needed to get back to.

"We're 2-4 and I'm miserable."

He managed the first two games of the season against the Yankees, then was taken to a New York hospital before the final game of the series. He also missed a three-game series in Toronto that ended Sunday.

Terry Francona's return is part of an emotional day at Fenway. (AP)

"I think I had classic signs of heart problems," Francona said. "It runs in my family so much that it sent up a lot of red flags. I think it scared me a little bit, too."

He still had his sense of humor Monday when he joked about the way closer Keith Foulke gave up two runs in the ninth inning before retiring the side in Boston's 6-5 win on Friday.

"If I didn't have a heart attack then, I'm never going to," Francona said.

He did come into his Fenway Park office briefly Sunday.

"I'm not sure I had to, but it was a good excuse to get out," Francona said. "It's just because I've been in bed for five days. I just need to get my strength back."