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Reflections from Terry Francona, Rob Gronkowski, and the rest of the 2024 Tradition honorees
“If [Roberts] had been out, [Kevin Cash] would have been here giving Bobby Valentine the award."
It’s been two decades since Terry Francona helmed a Red Sox squad that erased an 86-year title drought.
But the former Sox manager sounded much like the rest of us, who have combed over the same highlight reels from that October, when asked Wednesday night about one pivotal play.
With each viewing, the throw from Jorge Posada and tag from Derek Jeter against Dave Roberts in Game 4 of the ALCS looks closer and closer.
“If [Roberts] had been out, [Kevin Cash] would have been here giving Bobby Valentine the award,” Francona noted, drawing a laugh from the crowd at TD Garden during the awards program for The Sports Museum’s 23rd-annual Tradition.
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Cash, who played for Francona as a backup catcher in Boston and coached with him in Cleveland before taking the helm as Rays manager in 2014, is happy to see “Tito” back in the managerial ranks with the Reds.
“Baseball is better with Terry Francona in it,” said Cash, baseball’s longest-tenured manager. “So the Reds are very fortunate to have what I would consider the best manager in baseball.”
Here are other highlights from Wednesday’s event.
Iron sharpens iron
Each honoree can select who introduces them during the awards program. For Rob Gronkowski, Rob Ninkovich was an easy choice.
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While the iconic tight end became a legend in Foxborough for his play on Sundays, Gronkowski credited grueling practices matched up against Ninkovich for setting him up for success.
“I wouldn’t have been the player that I was. And I’m being serious,” Gronkowski said. “I mean, we used to go at it in the run game, one-on-ones.”
“They moved me to the defensive line, because I couldn’t cover him,” Ninkovich added. “There were a lot of practices where I think they were trying to kill him because he was running go routes and he was so tired. And he’d come back to the huddle and do it again and again.”
“I’m feeling those practices right now,” exclaimed the 35-year-old Gronkowski, now a regular on Fox’s NFL coverage. “I wish we were still 21 years old. I mean, I would still be playing if I was Mr. ‘Yo Soy Fiesta.’”
Always something special
Former Bruins blueliner and Hall-of-Famer Brad Park had a simpler reason why he chose longtime Boston netminder Gerry Cheevers to introduce him Wednesday.
“I beat him in golf. So he owes me,” Park said with a smile.
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Park spent his first eight years in the NHL with the Rangers, but has called the Boston area home since that blockbuster Phil Esposito trade in 1975.
“This is a great spot. Family-oriented, easy to get around — not all the time,” the 76-year-old Park acknowledged.
Even before Park anchored Boston’s blue line during the “Lunch Pail A.C.” era, the fleet-footed defenseman relished whenever the Blueshirts played at Boston Garden.
“Some buildings you walk into … there’s electricity in the air. And this was one of those buildings,” Park said. “When I came in as a Ranger, I’d say, ‘It’s going to be a humdinger tonight.’ ”
His piece of history
Former Celtics guard Dee Brown played eight seasons in Boston, becoming a beloved figure on the parquet after winning the 1991 Slam Dunk Contest with his “no-look” jam.
The high-flying guard is looking forward to the day when he sees his No. 7 raised to the Garden rafters … even if it’s for Jaylen Brown.
“I’m going to tell everybody it’s me,” Brown joked. “When I talk to Jaylen, I’ll say, ‘We’re going up there together, buddy.’ He’s going to eventually go up there. He’s that type of player that he’ll eventually get his number up there.”
No limits
Dara Torres won 12 Olympic medals — four of each color — over her illustrious swimming career. Amid that run were two separate retirements, after both the 1992 and 2000 Summer Games.
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Both times, she returned and took home more hardware on swimming’s highest stage, including three silver medals at 41 years old during the 2008 Beijing Games.
“To look back on my career, it’s just the longevity,” said Torres, the first-year head swimming and diving coach at Boston College. “You don’t have to be a certain age to do things. When I was growing up, my first Olympics was in ‘84. … I think proving to people you don’t have to put an age limit on your dreams is really important.”
Flipping pain to motivation
Scott Hamilton was one of the most dominant forces in figure skating in the 1980s. With his innovative footwork and signature backflip, he won a gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics, along with four consecutive world championships.
For Hamilton — who has taken an active role in multiple charitable endeavors including cancer research — it was his mother, Dorothy, who elevated him on the ice after she passed away due to breast cancer in 1977.
“I just sort of woke up and just decided that I wanted to be something more — something more like what she thought I could be,” Hamilton said. “I’m taking her with me to the ice every day.”
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