Joey's Soapbox: Farewell To Jerry Sloan

I wasn't supposed to writing an edition of Joey's Soapbox today, but my colleague has been quite distraught over the news that long-time Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan has resigned after nearly 23 years on the job.

You see, he has been a fan of Jerry Sloan and the Utah Jazz since John Stockton was backing up Rickey Green and Frank Layden was coaching the team. Needless to say, the news came as quite a shock to my colleague.

Before submitting his resignation last night, Sloan was the longest tenured coach/manager in professional sports, leading the Jazz since becoming their head coach on December 9, 1988. With Sloan no longer coaching the Jazz, the title of longest tenured coach/manager now belongs to Tony La Russa, who will be entering his 16th season as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011.

Under Sloan's guidance, the Jazz made a whopping 19 trips to the playoffs, winning seven division titles, reaching the Western Conference Finals six times and making two appearances in the NBA Finals. Compare that to the Mets, who have only reached the postseason seven times in 49 years, and you can see just how great of a coach Sloan was.

Before you say "why are you talking about basketball in a Studious Metsimus blog?", allow me to share this tidbit of information. Four different managers (Gil Hodges, Yogi Berra, Davey Johnson, Bobby Valentine) have led the Mets to the World Series. Hodges managed the team for four seasons (1968-1971). After his untimely death, Berra took the helm for 3½ years (1972-August 1975). Johnson became the most successful manager in Mets history in his nearly 6½ years with the team (1984-May 1990), while Valentine (August 1996-2002) was right behind Davey when it came to winning ballgames during his six-plus years managing the Mets.

Along with Willie Randolph, who was the only other manager to lead the Mets into the postseason, Hodges, Berra, Johnson and Valentine have been the best managers in franchise history. However, that quartet combined to manage the Mets for 19 seasons and parts of three others. That total is still less than the number of years Jerry Sloan served as the head coach in Utah. In other words, the best the Mets have had to offer over the course of nearly half a century does not compare to the efforts of one man in Salt Lake City.

I can understand why my colleague is so bent out of shape over the sudden resignation of Jerry Sloan. The NBA (and perhaps all of the other major sports) might never see a coach/manager like Sloan again. In today's "what have you done for me lately?" world of professional sports, Sloan never had to worry about losing his job. In nearly 23 years as head coach, his Jazz teams only finished below .500 once, and that was due to an assortment of injuries to key players during the '04-'05 season (sound familiar, Mets fans?).

Terry Collins has quite a while to go before he can catch up to Jerry Sloan's mark. Considering that no Mets manager has been able to hold his job for even one-third of the time Sloan did in Utah, it goes to show just what a special job Sloan did for the Jazz.

The Studious Metsimus staff (especially my colleague) would like to thank Jerry Sloan for proving that a little consistency can go a long way in the sports world. Sloan will be missed in Utah, but his legacy will last forever.