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Terry Francona likes to poke fun at his former bullpen coach, and current Rays manager, Kevin Cash.
Francona likes to do this, in a very public way, like displaying things about Cash on the jumbotron at Progressive Field.
Francona started things out innocently enough with gentle poke at Cash’s intelligence but also at his own. He even follows that up with a wonderful compliment, so that’s nice.
#Indians Francona says it'd be tough for he + #Rays Cash to try to outthink each other "because I'm not very smart + he's not much smarter."
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) June 19, 2015
#Indians Francona on #Rays Cash: "He's 1 of the most special people I've ever come across in the game."
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) June 19, 2015
However, the following year, Francona just dropped a stone cold hammer on his former roommate (who was pretty terrible on the offensive side of things during his career).
#Indians Francona, on managing #Rays Cash: “A lot of times he was in the batter’s box and I was wishing he was already done playing.’’
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) April 13, 2016
Francona decided that he needed to make sure Cash got the memo that he wasn’t good at the plate though, so Francona had the crew at Progressive Field display his numbers on the scoreboard to make sure Cash’s eye had to see his life’s work.
#Rays Cash gets a laugh from message on video board arranged by #Indians Francona pic.twitter.com/jjCWOJDSTp
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) June 20, 2016
Even when the Indians proceeded to the World Series, he needed to make sure he got to shine a spotlight on Cash’s shortcomings when discussing Brandon Guyer, whom they acquired from the Rays at the trade deadline in 2016.
#Indians Francona joked that key to making trade for #Rays Guyer was making sure Cash hadn't worked with him on his hitting
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) October 25, 2016
As long as Terry Francona has a platform to roast Kevin Cash, he’ll take every single opportunity to do so. It has become so expected now, that he is asked about it prior to each series between the two clubs, like the one beginning tonight.
#Indians Francona has "something small" planned for good buddy #Rays Cash - "like a lot of his stats"
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) May 15, 2017
Francona didn’t disappoint as he again went to his trusty Progressive Field crew to deliver a message to the Rays skipper.
Terry Francona and the #Indians welcoming his friend Kevin Cash and the #Rays to town pic.twitter.com/2CKDHG3Q5B
— Alex Corddry (@ACorddry) May 15, 2017