Joe Paterno's head coaching career at Penn State spanned 46 years. When he recorded his first victory as the Nittany Lions' head man, the year was 1966 — it concurrently marked the Red Sox' 48th straight season without a championship.
Much has changed since then Paterno Era started in Happy Valley. On the eve of the legendary coach's funeral, it's worth taking a glance at the state of the Red Sox from his hiring in 1966 until his firing in November 2011, and everything in between.
1966 Opening Day lineup:
George Smith, 2B
George Thomas, CF
Carl Yastrzemski, LF
Tony Conigliaro, RF
George Scott, 3B
Tony Horton, 1B
Rico Petrocelli, SS
Mike Ryan, C
Earl Wilson, P
Manager: Billy Herman
1966 record: 72-90, missed the playoffs
Home run leader: Tony Conigliaro, 28
RBI leader: Tony Conigliaro, 93
Batting leader: Carl Yastrzemski, .278
Leader in wins: Jose Santiago, 12
Leader in ERA: Don McMahon, 2.65
2011 Opening Day lineup:
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Carl Crawford, LF
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
David Ortiz, DH
Mike Cameron, RF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Marco Scutaro, SS
Manager: Terry Francona
2011 record: 90-72, missed the playoffs
Home run leader: Jacoby Ellsbury, 32
RBI leader: Adrian Gonzalez, 117
Batting leader: Adrian Gonzalez, .338
Leader in wins: Jon Lester, 15
Leader in ERA: Alfredo Aceves, 2.61
In between Paterno's time at Penn State:
- The Red Sox shuffled through 16 managers: Pete Runnels, Dick Williams, Eddie Popowski, Eddie Kasko, Darrell Johnson, Don Zimmer, Johnny Pesky, Ralph Houk, John McNamara, Joe Morgan, Butch Hobson, Kevin Kennedy, Jimy Williams, Joe Kerrigan, Grady Little, Terry Francona.
- The Red Sox rotated through seven general managers: Richard O'Connell, Lou Gorman, Dan Duquette, Michael Port, Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer, Ben Cherington
- The Red Sox' championship drought reached 86 years, but the team went on to capture World Series titles in 2004 and 2007.
- The Red Sox made six appearances in the World Series: 1967, 1975, 1986, 2004, 2007
- The Red Sox had five Most Valuable Player award winners: Carl Yastrzemski (1967), Fred Lynn (1975), Jim Rice (1978), Roger Clemens (1986) Dustin Pedroia (2007)
- The Red Sox had three Cy Young award-winning pitchers: Jim Lonborg (1967), Roger Clemens (1986, 1987, 1991), Pedro Martinez (1999, 2000)
Have a question for Didier Morais? Send it to him via Twitter at @DidierMorais or send it here. He will pick a few questions to answer every week for his mailbag.
