Mike Hargrove used to say that there are two things everyone knows they can do better than anyone else, cook a steak and manage a baseball team.

With that in mind, we know that Terry Francona gets criticism from baseball fans on pretty much an every day basis. We know that because we do it too. From lineup construction to the use of relief pitchers to his famed patience (or stubbornness), we question what Francona is doing all the time (like bringing in Anthony Castro last night).

The truth of the matter is he is going to go the Hall of Fame when he retires. He currently ranks 17th all time in wins with 1817 and we are fairly confident he will pick up the 19 victories he needs to pass Lou Piniella to move into 16th place before the end of the season.

The health problems that have affected him the past couple of seasons appear to be behind him, so if he stays with the Guards another two years, he should become the 13th skipper to reach 2000 victories.

He’s already Cleveland’s all time leader in this department with 788 wins.

We remind everyone of Francona’s accomplishments because despite the questions and complaints we and many other fans have, the Guardians currently sit at 35-28 and lead the AL Central, something no one would’ve predicted heading into this season.

It’s quite remarkable to say the least.

Baseball x’s and o’s aside, what Tito is translates to all walks of life. He manages people. We believe that every single player (and probably coaches and equipment men too) know exactly what is expected of them, and the skipper takes the responsibility if something goes wrong and the player doesn’t succeed in a spot they shouldn’t have been in.

You also never hear Francona talk about himself when the Guardians’ win. It’s the players who win games, but when they lose, the manager takes it upon himself.

Players have to love that.

We chuckle at times when folks on social media want to know when Tito is going to talk to a player about a mistake made on the field. He does it, but he’s not going to do it in a postgame presser. He’ll handle it behind closed doors. Wouldn’t we all love our bosses to do it the same way?

By the way, we agree with people who believe the front office has more to do with lineup and roster construction than many think. Who plays, who stays, and who gets sent down is put together in conjunction with Chris Antonetti, Mike Chernoff, Francona, and the coaching staff.

It’s a collaborative effort.

The organization moved away from players like Bradley Zimmer (7 for 63 with Toronto, 433 OPS), Bobby Bradley (hitting .202 at AAA), Yu Chang (5 for 44 for the season with the Guards and Pirates) and now Oscar Mercado (.202 batting average, 604 OPS) relatively quick this season.

At least quicker than most fans thought.

It has spurred a new offensive strategy, grinding out at bats, putting the ball in play. That has helped in the success thus far in 2022.

Because Francona has seemingly done this before, getting players to overachieve, you have to give him a good part of the credit.

That doesn’t mean we will stop second guessing though. Now, about that steak…