I am sitting here trying to figure out who has the tougher job right now, Boston manager Terry Francona or President George W. Bush. Both have very volatile jobs and receive a lot of criticism when they make a questionable move. Bush has received a lot of flak over his handing of international and domestic policies. But this is a sports website so we will focus on Francona. The hatred of Francona might have hit an all-time high Sunday night. With the Red Sox down 5-3 in the bottom of the 9th inning against their bitter rival the New York Yankees, Francona had a major decision to make. Backup infielder Alex Cora was the scheduled batter as the Sox had loaded the bases with no outs. They had already cut the deficit in half against the Yankees bullpen. Cora was in the game because of a thumb injury to Mark Bellhorn, the starting second baseman. Francona had two options at this point; let Cora hit or send up a pinch hitter. Cora is batting .214 since being acquired in early July. John Orelud and Adam Stern were possible bats off of the bench. Orelud was the likely leading candidate as he is hitting .315 in 37 games this season with the Red Sox. The decision was to stick with Cora and he promptly hit a ground ball to third base that was turned into a double play and the Sox eventually lost the game. The Yankees took three out of four games in Fenway over the weekend and the fans of Red Sox Nation are becoming restless. They are even calling for Francona?s job. Yes, they want the same manager axed that led them to their first World Series victory in 86 years. Red Sox fans have a very short attention span and have already put last October in the back burner. With the Sox losing to Tampa Bay Monday night, they now have dropped seven of their last nine games, including three in a row at home. Red Sox fans live on every pitch that is thrown throughout the season. They live on the highs and lows of the season, not realizing that it is a very long season and learning that a championship team gels in the dog days of summer. You need to be on an even keel throughout the entire season, instead of getting mad at an error in the top of the 1st inning in the first game of the season. But should Francona be blamed for the wrong decision? Currently, the Red Sox have 12 pitchers on the roster and 13 positional players. With Cora in for the injury and Jason Varitek pinch-hitting earlier in the 9th inning, he had only two players left on the bench at his disposal. The Sox have an extra pitcher because of the return of Curt Schilling and the trade for Chad Bradford. Both are coming off injuries and the extra pitcher is there in order to limit their innings as they regain their strength. What if the game was extended into extra innings or someone got hurt? He would be out of players and have to be forced into using a pitcher as a pinch runner or even worse, playing in the field. Red Sox Nation would have been in an uproar. Francona was in a no win situation Sunday night. Unless Cora jerked a Mariano Rivera pitch into the seats, fans were going to second guess any move he made. But that is the life of a Red Sox fan. You are always going to second guess the manager, good or bad.