Terry Francona Excited For Best Friend Mills

Not only is Red Sox manager Terry Francona losing his bench coach, he’s also losing one of his best friends in Brad Mills, who has worked with Francona in some fashion for more than 30 years:

And for the last six seasons with Boston — some of the best years in the history of the Red Sox — Mills was Francona’s lieutenant, serving as bench coach. So on Tuesday, when Mills was named manager of the Astros, the professional pairing of two close friends came to an end.

“I’m proud for him,” Francona said by telephone on Tuesday. “He’s one of my best friends, not just in the game but in life. We’ve been together for 30 years. It’s a little bit bittersweet, because it’s our loss, [but] their gain far outweighs how I feel about losing him.”

In his quest to land the Astros’ job, Mills had no bigger supporter than Francona.

“I’ve never seen an endorsement like Terry gave Brad,” said Astros owner Drayton McLane at the news conference to unveil Mills.

Francona said today he “really hopes” Mills’ replacement comes from within the organization, according to the Boston Globe’s Amalie Benjamin via Twitter.