Tito Francona

Born: 11/4/1933 in Aliquippa, PA, USA

Died: 2/13/2018 in New Brighton, PA, USA

MLB Debut: 1956-04-17 | Final Game: 1970-09-29

Bats: L | Throws: L | Height: 5'11" | Weight: 190 lbs

Full name: John Patsy Francona

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Biography

Tito Francona was an accomplished Major League Baseball player whose career spanned from 1956 to 1970. Born in 1933, he made a name for himself as a position player, appearing in 1,719 games throughout his tenure in the league. Francona was known for his solid batting skills, finishing his career with a .272 batting average. He recorded 1,395 hits, including 125 home runs and 656 RBIs, demonstrating his ability to contribute significantly to his teams’ offensive efforts. Additionally, he showcased his speed on the bases, stealing 46 bases during his career. Francona's performance earned him one All-Star selection, highlighting his status as one of the notable players of his era. He played during a transformative period in baseball, where the game was evolving, and players were beginning to break away from the traditional styles of play. His contributions on the field and ability to adapt to the changing dynamics of baseball left a lasting impact, and he remains a respected figure in the history of the sport.

Career Batting Statistics

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
1719	5121	650	1395	224	34	125	656	46	544	694	0.272	0.343	0.403	0.746	6861.0

Career AVG .272 vs. league average .251 across their career seasons — +8.5% above league average.

Career OBP .343 vs. league average .318 across their career seasons — +8.1% above league average.

Career SLG .403 vs. league average .379 across their career seasons — +6.2% above league average.

Career OPS 0.746 vs. league average 0.697 across their career seasons — +7.0% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1956	BAL	AL	139	445	62	115	16	4	9	57	11	51	60	0.258	.258 (avg)	.331 (+1%)	.397 (-6%)	.728 (-3%)	-223.9
1957	BAL	AL	97	279	35	65	8	3	7	38	7	29	48	0.233	.257 (-10%)	.323 (-5%)	.391 (-8%)	.715 (-7%)	-381.5
1958	CHW	AL	41	128	10	33	3	2	1	10	2	14	24	0.258	.257 (avg)	.324 (+2%)	.394 (-15%)	.719 (-7%)	-130.9
1958	DET	AL	45	69	11	17	5	0	0	10	0	15	16	0.246	.257 (-4%)	.324 (+17%)	.394 (-19%)	.719 (-3%)	-130.9
1959	CLE	AL	122	399	68	145	17	2	20	79	2	35	42	0.363	.256 (+42%)	.323 (+28%)	.392 (+44%)	.715 (+37%)	2880.8
1960	CLE	AL	147	544	84	159	36	2	17	79	4	67	67	0.292	.255 (+15%)	.323 (+15%)	.387 (+19%)	.711 (+17%)	1957.8
1961	CLE	AL	155	592	87	178	30	8	16	85	2	56	52	0.301	.258 (+16%)	.328 (+11%)	.399 (+15%)	.727 (+13%)	1593.1
1962	CLE	AL	158	621	82	169	28	5	14	70	3	47	74	0.272	.257 (+6%)	.326 (avg)	.393 (+2%)	.719 (+1%)	74.7
1963	CLE	AL	142	500	57	114	29	0	10	41	9	47	77	0.228	.246 (-7%)	.308 (-4%)	.371 (-7%)	.680 (-6%)	-524.8
1964	CLE	AL	111	270	35	67	13	2	8	24	1	44	46	0.248	.250 (-1%)	.312 (+15%)	.377 (+6%)	.690 (+10%)	668.5
1965	STL	NL	81	174	15	45	6	2	5	19	0	17	30	0.259	.245 (+5%)	.310 (+4%)	.371 (+8%)	.682 (+6%)	181.9
1966	STL	NL	83	156	14	33	4	1	4	17	0	7	27	0.212	.248 (-15%)	.309 (-19%)	.376 (-13%)	.685 (-16%)	-454.4
1967	PHI	NL	27	73	7	15	1	0	0	3	0	7	10	0.205	.242 (-15%)	.306 (-11%)	.357 (-39%)	.663 (-26%)	-280.5
1967	ATL	NL	82	254	28	63	5	1	6	25	1	20	34	0.248	.242 (+2%)	.306 (-1%)	.357 (-3%)	.663 (-2%)	-280.5
1968	ATL	NL	122	346	32	99	13	1	2	47	3	51	45	0.286	.236 (+21%)	.298 (+26%)	.340 (+2%)	.638 (+13%)	1051.6
1969	ATL	NL	51	88	5	26	1	0	2	22	0	13	10	0.295	.248 (+19%)	.320 (+16%)	.369 (+2%)	.689 (+8%)	143.5
1969	OAK	AL	32	85	12	29	6	1	3	20	0	12	11	0.341	.248 (+37%)	.320 (+31%)	.369 (+47%)	.689 (+39%)	143.5
1970	OAK	AL	32	33	2	8	0	0	1	6	0	6	6	0.242	—	—	—	—	0.0
1970	ATL	AL	52	65	4	15	3	0	0	4	1	6	15	0.231	.253 (-9%)	.325 (-9%)	.385 (-28%)	.711 (-19%)	0.0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1B	475	394	3715	271	44	339
OF	911	844	1581	34	26	4

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1956	BAL	1B	21	8	86	3	1	7
1956	BAL	OF	122	103	240	10	6	1
1957	BAL	1B	4	1	11	1	0	2
1957	BAL	OF	73	61	119	0	1	0
1958	CHA	OF	35	33	50	3	0	1
1958	DET	1B	1	0	1	0	0	0
1958	DET	OF	18	13	22	0	0	0
1959	CLE	1B	35	33	296	19	1	21
1959	CLE	OF	64	62	136	2	4	0
1960	CLE	1B	13	7	68	8	1	6
1960	CLE	OF	138	135	278	4	3	0
1961	CLE	1B	14	13	106	6	4	9
1961	CLE	OF	138	134	289	5	4	1
1962	CLE	1B	158	156	1402	127	22	157
1963	CLE	1B	11	8	77	6	0	3
1963	CLE	OF	122	118	215	2	3	0
1964	CLE	1B	17	7	92	5	1	10
1964	CLE	OF	69	59	65	2	1	0
1965	SLN	1B	13	11	102	3	1	8
1965	SLN	OF	34	31	35	0	1	0
1966	SLN	1B	30	21	210	18	3	20
1966	SLN	OF	9	9	14	0	0	0
1967	PHI	1B	24	17	167	14	0	15
1967	PHI	OF	1	0	1	0	0	0
1967	ATL	1B	56	51	503	32	5	36
1967	ATL	OF	6	5	4	2	0	0
1968	ATL	1B	33	30	293	10	2	17
1968	ATL	OF	65	64	89	2	2	1
1969	ATL	1B	7	5	43	3	1	4
1969	ATL	OF	15	15	21	1	1	0
1969	OAK	1B	19	17	158	6	2	11
1969	OAK	OF	1	1	0	1	0	0
1970	OAK	1B	6	3	24	3	0	3
1970	OAK	OF	1	1	3	0	0	0
1970	ML4	1B	13	6	76	7	0	10