Boston manager Terry Francona’s refusal to push the panic button has given him an upper hand over New York manager Joe Torre so far this weekend.

The Providence Journal / Glenn Osmundson

BOSTON — Today is Terry Francona’s 48th birthday and the Red Sox manager has much to celebrate.

His team is off to a strong start. It not only leads the American League East, it has the best record in the American League. With perhaps the best starting staff in the majors, the prospects for the season look bright.

They are bright not only for the Sox, but for the manager, too. As he works in his fourth season in Boston, Francona is in a different position than when he arrived.

He was run out of Philadelphia after four years in his first chance to manage in the big leagues. In his fourth year in Boston, he in a stronger position than ever, perhaps even more than after bringing the Sox their first World Series title in 86 years in 2004. On a personal level, he has never seemed more confident of himself and his job.

It was just two years ago that he missed four games because of a heart scare. That was an April series against the Yankees, too, that year in the Bronx. These days, as he goes head-to-head with the venerable Joe Torre in the opposite dugout, perhaps the most respected manager in the game, Francona is more than holding his own.

It can be argued that he is in an even stronger position than Torre these days. Just yesterday, there were more examples of how Francona has become a man much in control of his world.

One was the Jonathan Papelbon situation. After throwing 46 pitches in two days in Toronto, Francona refused to use his star closer with the game on the line in a thriller with the Yankees Friday night. Already, Torre had made plain how important he felt the first of the 18 meetings with the Red Sox was. He had brought in Mariano Rivera for what he hoped would be a five-out save.

That went against Torre’s announced plan for the season. He has indicated he was going to back off using his aging closer for more than one inning. But with his team losing a four-run lead, Torre called on his ace. The fact that the move backfired and the Sox beat Torre and the Yankees made it stand out even more.

In the Red Sox dugout, Francona refused to do the same thing. The temptation y was there after Boston’s dramatic rally for a 7-6 lead. But he did not cave.

“I think Pap could have saved that game,” he said yesterday.” But it wouldn’t have been the right thing to do.”

Managers who are unsure of themselves do not do or say things like that. But Francona did.

Then there was a debate about a strategy decision that affected Friday night’s game. The question Francona was asked was a general one about how he decides whether to have his first and/or third baseman move closer to the line in late innings.

Francona began by saying he takes several factors into consideration, including the hitter, the man on deck and the score. But then he went into detail about how he does not like to do it.

“We probably guard the lines less than any team in baseball,” he said.” Getting over on the lines is something people used to do. If you don’t do it now, you open yourself up to criticism, but it may not necessarily be the best way to win.”

By this point, Francona was aware that the issue was brought up because of Coco Crisp’s triple in the decisive five-run eighth. Torre did not have Doug Mientkiewicz guard the line and Crisp’s hit bounced by the first baseman and the bag. Francona went out of his way to defend Torre, even though he never mentioned him by name

“I’d rather play them where you normally play them. You spend a lot of time working on your defense,” he said. He paused and then added:

“I would have had him in the same place.” Terry Francona defending Joe Torre? That’s sure how it sounded.

Perhaps the most obvious example of how this more confident Francona both stands by his players and refuses to give in to public opinion, came last week on another Crisp issue.

As Crisp slumped and slid well below the Mendoza line, Francona heard questions almost daily, for perhaps a week, about Crisp. All had much the same premise. That is, are you considering benching him? Or, when will you bench him?

Francona not only stood behind Crisp, he gave a little lecture. He spoke about how baseball is a long season and how he — and everyone else — needed to be patient.

“If you’re not, you’re going to miss out on what players can do,” he said.” Coco’s got some history here of what he can do. If I react like a fan, then we miss out on him getting hot. Players get to their level. He’s going to get to that level unless I semi-panic and get him out of there. Then he might not. So we can’t have that. As cold as players get, they get that hot. We want to live through that too.”

In some ways, that part has not changed. Francona has been a players’ manager ever since he arrived. Jason Varitek, the team captain, spoke about both how his manager has stayed the same and how he has changed.

“Personality-wise no, he hasn’t changed. He’s been the same from day one,” the captain said. “But I think the longer you are in a place and you understand a place, the more you gather yourself. He’s definitely done that.”

Francona might be a players’ manager when it comes to public discussion, but he definitely is in charge, the captain said.

“It doesn’t mean that he doesn’t attack issues and deal with issues,” Varitek said. “It just might not be public. I think it’s important that he handles a lot of stuff in-house because of where we are and what this team does.”

With a franchise that is conscious of public image, Francona is articulate and personable and an excellent representative of the organization. On a team that emphasizes statistics, Francona spends time poring over reports and making decisions based on the numbers. In short, right about now he seems like the right man in the right spot.

It all gives him plenty of reason to celebrate today.

pkenyon@projo.com