CHICAGO -- Even with how long he has been involved in baseball, nerves can still get the best of Indians manager Terry Francona. With his team one win away from a World Series crown, Francona tossed and turned all night long ahead of Sunday's 3-2 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
That led to a late-night call to room service.
"At 3:30 in the morning, I ordered $44 worth of ice cream," Francona said.
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That was before the tip.
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Francona ordered a brownie sundae. He added two orders of chocolate ice cream and another two orders of vanilla. Francona asked for chocolate syrup to top it all off. Realizing this was not the healthiest of choices, the skipper decided he better add some fruit to the equation.
"To kind of keep it healthy, I ordered the berries," Francona quipped. "Oh, and a Diet Coke."
The person on the other end of the phone had just one question.
"How many people?" Francona said with a laugh.
Only one spoon was required, and Francona put it to work.
After plowing through the ice cream in a hurry, Francona looked down and saw just two scoops remaining. Like a mid-game mound visit, the manager had an internal discussion, challenging himself to complete the daunting, yet delicious job in front of him.
"I can do this," Francona told himself.
Francona got it done.
The manager's affinity for desserts is becoming a kind of local legend around Cleveland. Last season, Francona wove a tale about downing 17 popsicles in one night. If it sounds like enough to make a person sick, well, it was on both occasions. Francona joked that his hotel room "wasn't a pleasant place to be" from 5-7 a.m. in Chicago.
Francona loves ice cream.
"It doesn't like me," he said.