WEEI has a sweet story about Terry Francona giving Mills a call.
Francona:
“When we lose, and it’s not possible, I want everyone to lose. I want everyone to play extra innings and lose. The exception, I wanted Houston to win last night. I gave Millsy a nice of congratulations and then found out when I called him, they gave up eight late and so I even screwed that up...
Not sure what a nice of congratulations is (maybe it's like a group of congratulations. Like a murder of crows. Or a cram of sex toys.) But here's Francona, on whether he's surprised by the Astros' recent success:
...“No, I’m not amazed. Not ‘I told you so’ but all of his qualities are coming out. He started out slow, they’re getting beat up, he just kept fighting. He helped create a culture and they’re five games under .500 and they could’ve quit. All of sudden, there’s reason for optimism, guys are enjoying coming to the ballpark in September and they’re not even .500. That’s Millsy.
They lost the first eight games of the year. Some veterans weren’t happy. He did a great job. I think he’s kind of included player development and it’s his personality, he’s finally a got a chance to do it. Good for him. I don’t think that’s a surprise at all.”
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
