KEVIN B. KLAUS/Arizona Daily Wildcat Red Sox Manager and UA alumnus Terry Francona talks with players in the dugout at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix on Thursday. Francona has been involved with numerous championship-winning teams, including the 2004 Red Sox team and 1980 Wildcat team.

GOLDEN ALUMNI

His No. 32 adorns Sancet Field's left-field wall, but many students nowadays would forget he once roamed the infield for the UA.

The current manager of the reigning World Series champion Boston Red Sox, Terry Francona remembers his time as a Wildcat fondly.

"I lived there for so many years," he says. "Some of my best friends in the world live there; it was a great time of my life. I learned how to be a baseball player, how to grow up - it was just a great experience."

A shortstop for the Wildcats from 1977-80, Francona will forever be linked with Wildcat baseball, as he is the only player in the history of the program to win the Golden Spikes award, given annually to the best collegiate baseball player in the nation.

He accomplished the feat during his team's run to the 1980 National Championship.

That year, Francona batted .401 with nine home runs and 84 RBIs en route to his Golden Spikes award. Francona was also named the Most Valuable Player of the College World Series that same year.

Known as the "Cardiac Cats" to some, the 1980 Arizona baseball squad was a team of incredible resilience.

Heading into winter break, the Wildcats found themselves sitting dead last of what was then the Pacific 6 Conference.

As history tells us, they turned their season around following a big loss at the University of San Diego in a vacation-ending tournament, due in large part to a players-only meeting led by Francona.

From then on, teams had a tough time beating Arizona, who stormed into the College World Series by consistently winning games with late-game surges in the eighth and ninth innings.

After a three-year career with the Wildcats, Francona was drafted by the Montreal Expos following the 1980 season. During his five-year career, Francona played for five different teams.

Before becoming the manager of the Red Sox prior to last season, Francona rose through the managing ranks by starting at the Chicago White Sox's Single-A South Bend affiliate in 1992. From there, he skippered the White Sox's Double-A team, the Birmingham Barons, from 1993 to 1995, leading them to the league title in 1993 and being named Minor League Manager of the Year that same year by Baseball America.

Francona then took his managerial skills to the Dominican Republic, where he led Aguilas of the Dominican Winter League to the 1995 championship. In 1996, he finally broke into the major league coaching ranks, getting hired as third base coach for the Detroit Tigers.

Then Francona got his big break, becoming the youngest manager in the majors at the age of 37 in 1997. After struggling through four losing seasons with the Phillies, Francona was fired in 2000.

Four years later, coming off one of the largest postseason collapses in the history of baseball, the Boston Red Sox were in search of a new manager.

Enter Terry Francona.

KEVIN B. KLAUS/Arizona Daily Wildcat Red Sox manager Terry Francona talks things over with infielders and pitcher Cla Meredith in an exhibition game against the Diamondbacks Thursday.

Eighty-seven years. Zero championships.

Apparently, something about Francona just screams "resiliency."

Down 3-0 to the New York Yankees heading into Game 4 of the best-of-seven American League Championship Series, his Red Sox staged arguably the greatest comeback in the history of sports.

Three outs away from being sent home by the hated Yankees in Game 4 and yet another heartbreaking season, third baseman Bill Mueller singled home the tying run in the ninth, allowing David Ortiz to blast a walk-off home run, his first of two walk-off hits in the series, a two-run shot in the 12th.

As we're all aware of by now, the Red Sox went on to win that series in the seventh game and then proceeded to march through the World Series, sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in four games.

So, how does Francona compare the two championships?

"Well, Arizona had won it (four) years before (in 1976)," he says with a smile, referencing Boston's 87-year drought, "but, wherever you are, whatever you're doing, that's the most important thing in the world."

"At the time," he says of the 1980 championship, "that was the best thing that's ever happened to me. Last year was great too. It just depends on where you are. When we won in Double-A (Birmingham), I thought that was great, because it's where you are, it's what's important at the time."

With this year's Arizona squad primed to make a return-trip to Omaha this summer, Francona, who had his number retired on Feb. 9, 1997, says it's nice to see the Wildcats returning as a national powerhouse.

"They had such a good reputation for such a long time, and (Arizona head coach Andy Lopez) has come in there and really done a great job," he says. "I know they're doing very well, and I'm glad for them."

Francona speaks highly of fellow manager Lopez.

"I think they're probably getting pretty good advice from Andy and those guys," he says, when asked what advice he would give to those trying to climb the ranks to the majors. "They have good coaches there. They have people that know what they're doing."