Francona's credit good here

He's never going to get his props in this town, and that's OK. Terry Francona is pretty secure in his own skin. His players, bosses, and his family really like him.

Francona is never going to get the Red Auerbach or Bill Belichick treatment around here. In the eyes of some old-school Red Sox watchers, he's not even on a par with Dick Williams. But when do we start looking at what is happening with the Red Sox and assigning some credit to the man in the corner office? Just because Francona doesn't intimidate people or try to portray himself as a genius, is that any reason to diminish what the man has done?

The Red Sox are on the threshold of sweeping the Angels out of the playoffs for the third time in five seasons. The Sox have a chance to win a World Series for the third time in five years. The Sox go into tonight's game with a nine-game postseason winning streak. Francona's career playoff record is 24-9, a .727 winning percentage that is the best in baseball history for any manager with 20 or more tournament games.

He'll tell you it's because he has good players, and that is true. But Francona has cultivated a group of professional athletes who'll walk on their lips through busted glass to get the job done. For him. Francona is periodically carved up on local radio and questioned in our newspapers (the job application for Sox managerial candidates states "must be prepared to take abuse from fans who think they know more about your team than you"). But just about every time we doubt him, it turns out he was right.

The man knows his team. He was confident in Jon Lester as a Game 1 ace and that worked. He moved Kevin Youkilis from first to third in Game 2 and that worked. He started Alex Cora at short in Game 2 and Cora hit a double, reached base three times, and made every play. He gave J.D. Drew all the time he needed for his back injury and Drew rewarded him with a game-winning homer. Francona summoned Jonathan Papelbon for a six-out save in Game 2 and that worked. Now he has the indomitable Josh Beckett rested and ready to put the Angels out of their misery tonight.

It was the same in 2004 when Francona watched the 19-8 beating at the hands of the Yankees in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series. He let Tim Wakefield and the bullpen take a pounding, lined up his pitching for the rest of the series, and ran the table against the Bronx Bombers. Last year we challenged him when he didn't start Beckett in Game 4 at Cleveland. Tito went with Wakefield instead of setting up Beckett to pitch three games in the series. Beckett won Game 5 and the Sox won three straight against the Indians. Then they swept the Rockies in the World Series. And he was right again.

It was always hard to watch him baby-sit Manny Ramírez. Francona is a baseball lifer, son of a baseball man, and he has infinite respect for the game. Manny's disregard for winning and team play grated on the manager, but there was no upside in publicly slamming Ramírez. So Francona took the hits, covered for Manny, and got tremendous production. Even though we once saw Francona spitting up blood after a game in Seattle.

It's easier to manage now. These are his guys and they care about winning. Francona seemed particularly relaxed when the Sox were in Anaheim. Even when an official Major League Baseball transcript identified him as "Coach Francona."

Like all major league managers, the Sox skipper hates to be addressed as "coach." It's a baseball thing. In professional hardball, "coaches" are aides-de-camp who work for the manager. Some guys never rise beyond the level of "coach," which is why "managers" are insulted by a salutation that reminds them of their hungry years. It's a pretty safe bet that Francona would choose to be addressed as "Ax Murderer Francona" or "Convicted Felon Francona" before he answers to "Coach Francona."

Which is why it was somewhat amusing that a two-time World Series-winning manager would be identified as "coach" on an MLB press release. The document was not hidden from the Sox manager.

"Yeah, about six guys pulled hamstrings running down here to show me the thing," he said.

Francona engaged in an unusual exchange with a writer at a press conference a few hours before Boston's epic Game 2 victory Friday:

Scribe: "From a historical perspective, when a team wins a World Series, how much credit do you think the manager deserves?"

Francona (chuckling): "A lot! Where are you going with that, because I'm not really sure what . . ."

Scribe: "Where I'm going with it, you're probably not going to like . . . because it's going to force you not to be humble . . . You've been the manager in the World Series and if you stopped people on the street and ask them who are the best five managers in baseball, I'm not sure people would say your name."

Francona: "My dad would. No, I don't know . . . I'm probably not going to answer this very well . . . I think when we win, I hope we win as an organization. The winning is enough for me. I really get a kick out of it. There is no way to ever win anything without really good players . . . So part of me - I guess what I'm saying - if I said I don't care, that sounds flippant and I don't mean it like that, but I guess what I care more about is us winning . . . You go to Beaver County, Pennsylvania, though, and they think I'm good."

He is more than pretty good. Five years into the job, it's clear that Terry Francona is the perfect manager for this Red Sox team, which once again seems to play its best baseball in October.

Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at dshaughnessy@globe.com.