Terry Francona. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- Baseball's winter meetings wrapped up last week, and Indians manager Terry Francona knows a thing or two about trying to win back-to-back championships.
The former Red Sox skipper won titles in Boston in 2004 and 2007, but came up short in the playoffs each of the following seasons--in the Wild Card round to the White Sox in 2005, then in Game 7 of the ALCS against the Rays in 2008.
Now, Alex Cora's Sox are looking to repeat in 2019, and Francona told WBZ TV about the kinds of challenges in store for his old club.
"First of all, there's the same ones you always have, that it's really hard to win," Francona said. "On top of that, if you have to fight the human nature of guys wanting to re-live, it's human nature. Is that helping you get better? Probably not, but it's human nature. Getting them to be as hungry as they were the year before, that can be a challenge."
Sox will open their title defense March 28 in Seattle. But, spring training action begins February 22nd. So, couple months.
WBZ NewsRadio's Adam Kaufman (@AdamMKaufman) reports