The Indians dropped the first game of their Thursday doubleheader against the Blue Jays in 11 innings (TOR 13, CLE 11). In the second tilt, though, the host Tribe rebounded -- thanks in part to a nine-run fifth inning -- and won by a score of 13-4 (box score).
That win nudged the Indians up to 17-14 on the season, and it also occasioned a career milestone for manager Terry Francona ...
#Indians win second game 13-4. Manager Terry Francona picks up 1,500th career win, 24th manager to reach plateau.
— Tom Withers (@twithersAP) May 4, 2018
As implied above, Francona is now 24th on the all-time managerial wins list. That's remarkable for a skipper who started off his career by getting fired by the Phillies after going 285-363 in four seasons. Next, though, came a legendary run with the Red Sox during which Francona won a pair of World Series titles. With the Indians, Francona is now 471-368 with a pennant and three total playoff appearances. Overall, Francona is now 1,500-1,283.
Here are the 24 managers to reach the 1,500-win plateau, per Baseball-Reference. Note that Francona has the third-best postseason record of the bunch:
| Rk | Mgr | Yrs | From | To | W | L | % | Wpost | Lpost | %post |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Connie Mack (HOF) | 53 | 1894 | 1950 | 3731 | 3948 | 0.486 | 24 | 19 | 0.558 |
| 2 | John McGraw (HOF) | 33 | 1899 | 1932 | 2763 | 1948 | 0.586 | 26 | 28 | 0.481 |
| 3 | Tony La Russa (HOF) | 33 | 1979 | 2011 | 2728 | 2365 | 0.536 | 70 | 58 | 0.547 |
| 4 | Bobby Cox (HOF) | 29 | 1978 | 2010 | 2504 | 2001 | 0.556 | 67 | 69 | 0.493 |
| 5 | Joe Torre (HOF) | 29 | 1977 | 2010 | 2326 | 1997 | 0.538 | 84 | 58 | 0.592 |
| 6 | Sparky Anderson (HOF) | 26 | 1970 | 1995 | 2194 | 1834 | 0.545 | 34 | 21 | 0.618 |
| 7 | Bucky Harris (HOF) | 29 | 1924 | 1956 | 2158 | 2219 | 0.493 | 11 | 10 | 0.524 |
| 8 | Joe McCarthy (HOF) | 24 | 1926 | 1950 | 2125 | 1333 | 0.615 | 30 | 13 | 0.698 |
| 9 | Walter Alston (HOF) | 23 | 1954 | 1976 | 2040 | 1613 | 0.558 | 23 | 21 | 0.523 |
| 10 | Leo Durocher (HOF) | 24 | 1939 | 1973 | 2008 | 1709 | 0.540 | 7 | 8 | 0.467 |
| 11 | Casey Stengel (HOF) | 25 | 1934 | 1965 | 1905 | 1842 | 0.508 | 37 | 26 | 0.587 |
| 12 | Gene Mauch | 26 | 1960 | 1987 | 1902 | 2037 | 0.483 | 5 | 7 | 0.417 |
| 13 | Bill McKechnie (HOF) | 25 | 1915 | 1946 | 1896 | 1723 | 0.524 | 8 | 14 | 0.364 |
| 14 | Bruce Bochy | 24 | 1995 | 2018 | 1869 | 1870 | 0.500 | 44 | 33 | 0.571 |
| 15 | Dusty Baker | 22 | 1993 | 2017 | 1863 | 1636 | 0.532 | 23 | 32 | 0.418 |
| 16 | Lou Piniella | 23 | 1986 | 2010 | 1835 | 1713 | 0.517 | 23 | 27 | 0.460 |
| 17 | Jim Leyland | 22 | 1986 | 2013 | 1769 | 1728 | 0.506 | 44 | 40 | 0.524 |
| 18 | Ralph Houk | 20 | 1961 | 1984 | 1619 | 1531 | 0.514 | 8 | 8 | 0.500 |
| 19 | Fred Clarke (HOF) | 19 | 1897 | 1915 | 1602 | 1181 | 0.576 | 7 | 8 | 0.467 |
| 20 | Tom Lasorda (HOF) | 21 | 1976 | 1996 | 1599 | 1439 | 0.526 | 31 | 30 | 0.508 |
| 21 | Mike Scioscia | 19 | 2000 | 2018 | 1589 | 1358 | 0.539 | 21 | 27 | 0.438 |
| 22 | Dick Williams (HOF) | 21 | 1967 | 1988 | 1571 | 1451 | 0.520 | 21 | 23 | 0.477 |
| 23 | Buck Showalter | 20 | 1992 | 2018 | 1512 | 1424 | 0.515 | 9 | 14 | 0.391 |
| 24 | Terry Francona | 18 | 1997 | 2018 | 1500 | 1282 | 0.539 | 40 | 26 | 0.606 |
As well, Francona is one of just 23 managers to win multiple World Series, and he's a two-time Manager of the Year. Given the likelihood that he eventually cracks the top 20 in wins, Francona seems one day bound for the Hall of Fame. For now, though, the focus is on getting Cleveland a World Series trophy for the first time since 1948.
