Red Right 88

In Cleveland, hope dies last

Archive for the tag “Terry Francona”

05 Mar 2015

Are we in the golden age of Cleveland coaching?

david blatt cavs

David Blatt seems to think so.

While Cleveland has gone a collective 145 years and counting without a championship from any of its three professional sports teams,* that doesn’t mean we haven’t see our share of quality men calling the shots in the dugout or on the sidelines.

And we might currently be in the golden age of Cleveland managers and coaches.

The argument for the greatest NFL head coach of all-time begins and ends, of course, with Paul Brown. If you went solely by his time in Cleveland, Brown’s .750 lifetime winning percentage would be third best in NFL history, behind only Guy Chamberlin and John Madden. (And ahead of a guy named Vince Lombardi; maybe you’ve heard of him.) But even adding in his time with Cincinnati, Brown still checks in at No. 11 on the all-time list.

New England’s Bill Belichick is rightfully considered the best coach currently in the NFL, but even Belichick has not taken the Patriots to 10 consecutive league title games, let alone win seven of them. As good as Belichick and Tom Brady are, they are not now, and never will be, Paul Brown and Otto Graham.

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20 May 2013

Tribe keeps holding out for a hero

yan gomes indians homerI need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ’til the end of the night
He’s gotta be strong, he’s gotta be fast
And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero

Another day, another improbable win from the Cleveland Indians, who apparently don’t remember what it’s like to lose a game.

On Monday it was Yan Gomes, who hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the 10th (yeah, like everyone saw that one coming) to lift the Tribe over Seattle. It was the Indians 18th win in their last 22 games, their fifth consecutive victory, their first four-game sweep of Seattle since 1981 and the third time in the four-game series that they beat the Mariners in their final at-bat.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, the last time the Tribe had three walk-off wins in a four-day span was 1992 against Kansas City. In that series against the Royals, Carlos Baerga had a 14th-inning sacrifice fly, Junior Ortiz had a game-winning single and Baerga had a walk-off home run.

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11 Oct 2012

When it comes to the Indians, it’s all just a matter of trust

The Cleveland Indians made it official on Monday, naming Terry Francona as the 42nd manager in team history, which raises two questions.

First, if you could manage any team in Major League Baseball, why would you choose the Indians?

Second, does this really change anything for the Indians?

The Indians say they trust Francona is the right man for the job. Francona says he trusts that the front office has his back. The team is asking its fans to trust that it knows what it is doing.

But in a sports town like Cleveland, where fans have been living on hopes and dreams since 1964, is that too much of an ask?

Find out at The Cleveland Fan.

Posted in Cleveland Indians, Cleveland sports history and tagged , | Leave a comment

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