Hiring process takes a holiday

Judging by club statements yesterday, the Red Sox won't name a general manager until after the Thanksgiving holiday and aren't certain to have one in place by the opening of the winter meetings Dec. 5 in Dallas.

Team president/CEO Larry Lucchino, when asked about having a GM by Dec. 5, referred the question to Glenn Geffner, the team's vice president for media relations.

''Having a GM in place for the winter meetings," Geffner said in an e-mail, ''remains our hope."

The club, in a separate statement, confirmed that Jim Beattie and Jim Bowden returned for second interviews. Beattie visited Friday, Bowden yesterday. However, the statement also indicated that the search, three full weeks after Theo Epstein's departure, will continue.

''The club plans to conduct additional interviews, although the process will be interrupted for the Thanksgiving holiday," the statement said.

Bowden, in the meantime, will continue running the Washington Nationals as their GM. Beattie is in wait-and-see mode, spending Thanksgiving week in Vermont with his family.

The only other candidate interviewed and still in play is Chicago White Sox director of player development Dave Wilder, who is home in Arizona awaiting further word. He interviewed with the Sox for the first time Saturday.

Francona has surgery

Red Sox manager Terry Francona underwent right knee replacement surgery yesterday at Massachusetts General Hospital. ''He's doing very well," said team physician Tom Gill. Gill observed the procedure, which was done by Dr. Dennis Burke, with plenty of support staff nearby, given Francona's history of blood clots, pulmonary embolisms, staph infections, and internal bleeding. All of those complications surfaced three years ago, in the aftermath of knee surgery at a Philadelphia hospital. Those problems, Francona said last week, gave him ''a lot of trepidation about this surgery." But, as of yesterday, Gill sounded optimistic about Francona's return to full health. ''We had the best and the brightest at Mass. General for his blood clotting, cardiac history, lungs, everything," Gill said. Francona, who bought a house in Brookline last summer and moved his family here, will be spending Thanksgiving recovering at the hospital. He'll be in for approximately 4-7 days, Gill said. ''We'll wait until his blood levels get back to where they're supposed to be," Gill said. ''We'll make sure there's nothing left to chance." The 46-year-old Francona, Gill said, figures to need 4-6 weeks on crutches. ''In three months, he should feel fully ready to go," Gill said. ''I have almost no doubt he'll be fully ready to go by spring training. There were times [last year] he wanted to do things, and physically he wasn't able. This is his ticket to being even more high-energy than usual." . . . Chris Cameron, public relations director for the Sox' Double A affiliate in Portland, Maine, was named PR Director of the Year by minorleaguenews.com.