Francona: 'Don't want much to do' with Sox

Former Red Sox manager Terry Francona told the Boston Globe that he won't take part in the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park on April 20, and said that he cannot envision taking part in team events until an effort is made to determine the organizational sources who raised questions about his personal life after the Sox declined to pick up the two-year option on his contract following the 2011 season.

"Until I’m more comfortable with some answers on what happened at the end of the year, I don’t want to have much to do with the organization and that’s a shame," Francona told the Globe. "With all the good things that were accomplished, I just feel pretty strongly about that.

"It was pretty raw at the end of the year. I think I’ve done a pretty good job of moving on from that. At the same time, I’m never going to forget that. For me to go back and start waving and hugging, I’m just not comfortable doing that."

Francona said that he has mixed emotions about the franchise that he managed from 2004-11, winning two World Series along the way. He said that he has some extremely strong personal ties to individuals (such as Dustin Pedroia and Jon Lester) within the organization, but that for now, based on what transpired after the team's September collapse and the personal hit that his reputation took, he could not envision attending events at Fenway outside of his job responsibilities as an analyst for ESPN.

"I’m sure they’ll have a great event and I was part of a lot of that stuff there, but I just can’t go back there and start hugging people and stuff without feeling a little bit hypocritical," Francona told the Globe. 

Francona said that he declined the invitation to participate in the Fenway Park centennial when it was initially made by principal owner John Henry during a phone call in February. CEO/president Larry Lucchino followed up on Monday with another attempt to invite Francona to attend the event. ("It was a sincere invitation for him to come back," Lucchino told the Globe. "He has an exalted place in our history and we were hoping it would be convenient and comfortable for him to come back and we were hoping it would be.")

But Francona said that the conversation with Lucchino led him to the conclusion that the Sox are "probably better off going forth and leaving me out of it."

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