Reds Manager Terry Francona Started Opening Day In A Dentist's Chair

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Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona said on Wednesday that he's made greater efforts later in his career to try to savor and enjoy Opening Day. That probably wasn't as easy to achieve this year given his trip to the dentist on Thursday morning.

Francona started his first Opening Day in Cincinnati with a previously unplanned trip to a cosmetic dentist, he revealed during his pregame news conference Thursday at Great American Ball Park.

Asked at the outset of his 11:30 p.m. news conference with reporters what kind of morning he'd had so far, Francona said: "Not the best."

"Woke up about 2 a.m. One of my veneers, I think I chewed out," Francona said. "Woke up about 6 (a.m.) because I thought the trainer could probably get me in. So, then he called me about 8 a.m. and said, 'you're all set.' I went out to wherever it was and got it fixed. Now I'm ready to go.

"I didn't want to go through Opening Day looking like Jethro Bodine from the Clampetts."

Just a heads-up: The "Jethro Bodine" reference is a nod to the television show The Beverly Hillbillies. And the last part of Francona's comment produced great laughter from the room full of reporters.

Francona declined to identify the specific tooth as reporters started to lightheartedly probe on the matter.

At least Francona was able to find humor in the ordeal. And win or lose, his day is probably only going to get better from that point on.

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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Reds manager Terry Francona started Opening Day in a dentist's chair