BOSTON -- Whenever they got together, usually for the home opener in April or a World Series parade in October, late Boston mayor Thomas M. Menino would tell then-Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona that running the city's baseball team was a tougher job than running the actual city.
"That always made me laugh," Francona said after Menino died in 2014.
At times this season, though, it must have seemed like more than a joke to John Farrell, Francona's close friend and Red Sox successor.
Short of rooting for the team, second-guessing the manager is a favorite pastime of Red Sox fans.