CLEVELAND, Ohio -- All together, Terry Francona and his father, Tito, spent a quarter-century in the big leagues.
As for Francona's mom, Roberta?
"She couldn't catch a ball to save her life," the Indians' manager quipped.
She did, however, believe in her son's baseball abilities. Francona's favorite story about his mother demonstrates that -- and, well, it highlights her frustrated side, too.
When he was 10 or 11, Francona signed up for a pitch, hit and throw competition in their native New Brighton, Pa. Roberta built her son a contraption to use to practice for the contest.