Gallery: Terry Francona at BJ's in Stoughton for "The Red Sox Years" Book Signing

This past Saturday afternoon, hundreds flocked to BJ's Wholesale Club in Stoughton to meet the man who helped lead the Boston Red Sox to the storied franchise's only two World Series titles since 1918.

Former Red Sox manager Terry Francona was as the Stoughton BJ's at 901 Technology Center Dr. for a book signing.

Francona and Boston Globe sports columnist Dan Shaughnessy co-wrote "Francona: The Red Sox Years," which details Francona's dealings with Red Sox players and management while chronicling "an epic era, from 2004, his first year as the Sox skipper, when they won their first championship in 86 years, through another win in 2007, to the controversial September collapse just four years later," according to the book description on Amazon.com.

"Dan Shaughnessy approached me after the [2011] season was over. My initial reaction was probably that I wasn't real interested but we kind of did it on a trial basis and the more we got into it, [it] really started being fun," Francona said in a brief interview with Stoughton Patch during the book signing.

"Since I wasn't managing I had time to spend doing it and we really worked hard, especially Dan. Once we started it we really really wanted it to be a good book and I'm really proud of it," Francona continued.

The mild-mannered, down-to-earth Francona signed copies of the book as he bantered with fans for more than two hours. He even discussed replacing his cellphone with a Verizon representative at BJ's as he signed books.

Francona managed the Sox for eight seasons, averaging 93 victories a year, winning the aforementioned pair of World Series titles, but he departed after the historic September collapse in 2011 which kept the Sox out of the postseason.

Francona, who still remains popular in Boston, is now the manager of the Cleveland Indians, after spending the 2012 season as an ESPN baseball analyst.

"The Red Sox Years" was released Jan. 22 and Francona spent last week appearing at various book signings in the Boston area, including the one in Stoughton on Jan 26.

Check out a brief video interview with Francona posted in the the media gallery of this article.

Josh Brown contributed reporting.