By BRENDAN McGAIR

Sports writer

This may come off a tad on the sappy side, perhaps sentimental. That’s fine with Ron Johnson, who is at ease when it comes to revealing just how much admiration he holds for Terry Francona.
“I’m a very confident person,” states Johnson, Pawtucket’s manager. “I look at a lot of (major-league skippers) and ask ‘How’s this guy in the bigs?’ Or ‘I know I can do a better job than that guy.’
“This guy,” Johnson, now dragging Francona into the conversation, “has really been good for me in the five years I’ve been in direct contact as the Triple-A manager. It never ceases to amaze me with the way he runs his ball club, and I have no problem saying that.”
Age (now 53) and sageness (18 years as a minor-league coach) haven’t altered Johnson’s pursuit of someday reaching the pinnacle of his profession. In that regard, he’s no different than the PawSox players he oversees for five-plus months out of the year.
Johnson yearns to become the purveyor of a MLB outfit. “There’s no doubt in my mind I can step from (guiding Pawtucket) and manage any club in the major leagues.”
He’s also a realist, knowing that as long as he picks up his mail in Pawtucket, and Francona does likewise in Boston, Johnson will remain stationed at McCoy Stadium.
That’s something Johnson can live with.
“I know I can handle any job,” said Johnson, reaffirming his confidence, “and I also know as long he’s (with Boston), I have no problem being (in Pawtucket). I think this guy is that good.”
The seeds of the Francona-Johnson partnership weren’t planted recently. It was 1984, and Johnson received a call-up to Montreal, collecting one hit in five at-bats. At the time Francona was dealing with a major leg injury, one that in effect curbed his abilities. They would cross paths a decade later, this time as managers in the Southern League; Francona with Birmingham [the Double-A affiliate of the White Sox] and Johnson with Memphis [likewise with the Royals].
“When you deal with ‘Tito’ … he likes to have a good time,” recalls Johnson. “We were in Birmingham one night and I remember Tito was in the other dugout and would try to (mess) with you, but he knew I was a big football fan.
“I get this call and he says ‘I have someone I want you to meet, I’ll bring him over to your office.’ It was [legendary Green Bay quarterback] Bart Starr. Unbelievable.”
Johnson started to tap every possible connection he had made following his dismissal from Kansas City in ’99. Numerous calls were made in an effort to land another job, hardly any were returned.
Except one.
“Tito was managing Philadelphia at the time, and I’ll be, he called me back,” said Johnson. “He said ‘I don’t think my situation here is too good and I don’t think I can help you out, but maybe down the road…’”
As fate would have it, Francona and Johnson joined up on the same side in 2004. Now they had no choice but to engage in more direct contact, given the nature of their job descriptions. And since Johnson has seen firsthand the high rate of talent the farm system has graduated to the majors, the gregarious manager has had no choice but to steer many a scouting report in Francona’s direction.
“Tito’s conversations are short and to the point on the baseball stuff. Fortunately we live in a world of text messaging,” said Johnson. “When he calls, I know he has time to shoot the (breeze) a little bit more.”
There’s one phone conversation with Francona that Johnson gets psyched up for, call it the coaching version of a September call-up. Francona has once again asked Johnson to join his coaching staff during the heat of a playoff push. The plan is for Johnson to retreat to his home base in Morrison, TN to “play cowboy” on his horse ranch before joining the Red Sox in Baltimore on Sept. 18.
“Honored,” said Johnson before the question of what it means personally to be recognized by Francona was complete. “I take it as a privilege in the delivery in which he extends the invite. I take it that he feels good to do it. To me, it signifies everything as far as ‘Job well done, now come up and enjoy yourself and hang out with us.’
“I’m the Triple-A manager, but at no time during spring training or the season do I ever feel anything other than a part of the major-league staff at all times. I just work at a different place than they do, and that’s all on Tito.”
What Johnson has also come to admire about Francona is the degree of humility in which he treats everyone. Being a former skipper in the minors, Francona will chew the fat with Johnson about the lengthy bus rides and early wakeup calls he and his PawSox players go through because the Red Sox manager has been there. One day during this past spring training, Francona gave Johnson his blessing to stay away from the Red Sox complex in order to go to watch his son, Kris, play for the Houston Astros in Grapefruit League play.
“When you work somewhere, you not only want to feel that your work is appreciated, but you also want to believe the people you work for care a little more for you than just in a business sense,” Johnson said. “To me, (being granted permission to see my son) makes me want to go the extra mile. If I have to stay up until 4 a.m. to get a player to New York, I’m there because this guy cares about me as a person.”
In Johnson’s eyes, the greatest strength Francona possesses is the ability to flawlessly handle everything that comes with managing in a pressure-cooker such as Boston. A lot is on Francona’s plate upon his arrival at the ballpark at 10 a.m. for a 7 o’clock game, ranging from dealing with the media to handling the various egos making up the clubhouse.   
“There’s a lot of attention and demands in Pawtucket, but it’s not even close to what Tito goes though in Boston,” Johnson said. “What amazes me is how he has the ability to handle everything he handles and still have a tremendous amount of awareness of everything around him.”  
 In Johnson’s eyes, Francona can do little wrong.
“I don’t have any history with the other managers in the big leagues,” he said, punctuating his stance on Francona, “but I have to really challenge anybody who can find somebody who does it better than Tito.”