[Quality88]

BOSTON -- Terry Francona has won two World Series championships in five seasons -- as many as any Red Sox manager in franchise history.
Francona


And he has these souvenirs of his time in Boston as well: a foot infection, a knee replacement, staph infections in both knees, chest pains, several years on blood-thinners, a life-threatening blood clot in his lungs and now a back problem that will require surgery.
"This job takes an unbelievable amount [out of you]. Sometimes it almost sucks the life out of you," he told reporters Tuesday in a season-ending interview that was postponed a day so he could recover from symptoms of the flu.
"It does take it out of you -- this place more than any other place I've seen. And I do have some health issues, there's no getting around it. So I need to go get checked and get some of that fixed, but if there's ever a day where I don't feel like I can do my job, I won't do it."
Francona is due for back surgery this offseason to deal with a problem that has left him with diminished feeling in his arms and unable to stand up straight at times. He's been aware of the problem since May, but only now does he have the opportunity to take care of it without missing a large swath of the baseball season.
"This game is kind of crazy. I laugh when people say 'It winds down.' No, it comes to a crashing halt. You're going 100 miles an hour and then it's over. You either won or you lost," he said. "You need to be careful [about making decisions] the day after the season's over, especially when you've been sick and you don't feel good."

ESPN - Francona hopes to take care of back problem in offseason - MLB