Terry Francona Shares Hilarious Story About Infamous Trevor Bauer Moment

Former Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona shared a new story about his infamous mound visit with Trevor Bauer.

Jul 28, 2019; Kansas City, MO, USA; Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona (77) talks with starting pitcher Trevor Bauer (47) at the mound in the fifth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Terry Francona will forever be a Cleveland Guardians legend not just for his success as manager, but for his personality as well. It was not uncommon to see him riding his scooter home through downtown Cleveland following a game at Progressive Field.

Tito was always a great soundbite and he has not slowed down a bit since taking over the Cincinnati Reds. A recent clip going around takes fans back to July 28, 2019, when Francona had a shocking interaction with Trevor Bauer on the mound during a game in Kansas City.

For those who may not recall, the wild moment looked like this.

So, um Bauer is really reaaaaaally unhappy. Holy cow. 😬#AlwaysRoyal pic.twitter.com/TJDh6ynMOu

— FanDuel Sports Network Kansas City (@FanDuelSN_KC) July 28, 2019

Francona recently appeared on former MLB star Mo Vaughn's podcast, "The Mo Vaugn Podcast" and revealed he was so mad about this incident he nearly had a heart attack.

Luckily, he was able to calm himself down just enough to avoid that from happening and is now able to laugh about the whole thing.

"I was yelling at him so hard down behind the dugout and I started getting a pain in my neck and I thought, oh my god I am having a heart attack," Francona said. "So I walked away and he kind of stood there and looked at me, like, are you done? Are you not done? Are you gonna yell? And I just walked away because I thought I was going to have a heart attack."

Tito telling us how Trevor Bauer throwing the ball over the CF wall almost killed him is so damn funny 😂

The whole story and more on tomorrow episode of The Mo Vaughn Podcast. One of the best episodes yet!https://t.co/lNVByd6qUX pic.twitter.com/KIRP8z4Bct

— Will Burge (@WillBurge) February 11, 2026

Terry Francona is thriving in 2026

The good news is that Francona was able to prevent himself from quite literally having a heart attack on the mound. His blood pressure was also helped by the fact the team traded Bauer to the Reds a few days after this incident.

This ended a polarizing tenure for Bauer in Cleveland. While he was an All-Star in 2018, he will always be remembered for cutting his finger on a drone during the 2016 ALCS. Yet his antics in Cleveland have permanently been overshadowed by accusations made against him during his time in Los Angeles.

As for Francona, his near heart attack was not his only health scare during his final years with the team. He had to step away from the team several times and ultimately left his post following the 2023 season.

The time off seemed to be great as he is now with Cincinnati and took them to the postseason in 2025.

Meanwhile, Bauer has been out of MLB since the summer of 2021 and last pitched in Japan. While the accusations against him are very serious in nature, his incident on the mound in 2019 didn't help his reputation in an MLB clubhouse either.

The 2026 Guardians are led by Stephen Vogt, who took over for Francona and immediately won back-to-back AL Manager of the Year awards. The hope is that he can do the one thing Francona was never able to do: win the World Series in Cleveland.