Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona misses game due to chest pains

Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona is not managing the team for Tuesday night’s game against the Washington Nationals. Bench coach Brad Mills will lead the team in Francona’s absence.

During his pregame media session Francona began to feel chest pains, and was attended to by the medical staff at Nationals Park. MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian reports that as of the game’s first pitch, Francona was still at the stadium. That would seem to mean the medical staff determined it was not something in immediate need of more serious attention, but that’s my own inference, not something that’s been announced by the team.

Francona first managed a Major League team in 1997 (after five seasons as a manger in the minor leagues and one season as third-base coach for the Tigers), which is long enough to feel like he’s been managing forever, but he made the transition from player to manager at a young age, and is still only 57 years old.

While it seems the decision to hold him out from tonight’s game was precautionary, it’s reasonable to be careful in this sort of situation. Hopefully Francona gets himself some cotton candy and a cold beer (those things help with chest pains, right?) and enjoys the game from the comfort of somewhere other than the dugout, and is then ready to get back in the thick of things on Wednesday.