Francona was shifted to left field when the Indians acquired Kuenn for home run leader Rocky Colavito just prior to the start of the 1960 season. With Colavito gone, Francona was inserted in the clean-up spot in manager Joe Gordon's batting order. After hitting only six home runs through the month of July, Francona was dropped to the number six spot in the batting order for August, and up to the number two spot in September. The moves helped, as he hit eleven home runs over the rest of the season to finish with seventeen. His 36 doubles led the American League.