Arizona Baseball gets Million Dollar Donation from Alumni Terry Francona

Always great to hear of news involving notable Wildcat Alumni, Arizona Baseball learned that MLB Manager Terry Francona will be giving a million dollar donation.

Nice to have friends in high places, and as Arizona Baseball has fostered not only a rich tradition of winning but becoming an MLB Training Ground. It’s great to see some come back and be so involved with and supportive of the program.

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Terry Francona, the manager of the 2016 MLB Runner-up Cleveland Indians, has been one of those notable alumni of Arizona Athletics. Since being a former standout player and champion for the Wildcats in 1980, Francona has made himself known as a premier skipper in the Majors. The American League MLB Coach of the year always shows support for his Wildcats as demonstrated during the College World Series.

He does his best to give back to Arizona, and it is always welcomed as we love to see our alumni so involved. Arizona Athletics is very much like a family in some ways, and Francona has been no exception to that either. Francona loves Arizona Basketball, shows up at Football games and puts out supportive tweets for the baseball team.

Always showing his love and respect for his alma mater, Francona has been no stranger to making appearances at Arizona sporting events, even meeting with the baseball team to bring words of wisdom. Here is Francona meeting with the team back in January of 2012.

On Tuesday, he took it a step further, announcing he would be donating a very generous one million dollars to the Arizona Baseball team.

Francona’s donation comes in addition to a $1 million matching gift made by an anonymous donor in June for Stadium capital improvements. More than $300,000 has already been matched towards this summer’s gift, but there is still an opportunity to contribute towards the remaining $700,000.

“The people at the University of Arizona gave me an opportunity to go to the professional level, and not just survive, but be prepared. That’s a big reason why I want to give back.” Terry Francona according to Arizonawildcats.com

The donation will be targeted for the baseball capital projects fund which will include an indoor practice facility that will be named the Terry Francona Hitting Facility.

“Since I moved back to Tucson four years ago, it has been a priority of mine to give back to the University of Arizona,” Francona said. “The reason I am doing this is because of the impact the University has had on my life. The people at the University of Arizona gave me an opportunity to go to the professional level, and not just survive, but be prepared. That’s a big reason why I want to give back.”

Next: Arizona Baseball Snubbed in Pre-Season All-American List

At Zona Zealots, it’s great to see the amount of contributions and support given back to the team as well as the school. We’re excited to see the soon return of baseball and can’t wait for the Wildcats to take the diamond. Bear Down, Arizona!