The Cleveland Guardians (formerly known as the Indians) are a professional baseball franchise based in Cleveland, Ohio that formed in 1901. They are members of the Central division of Major League Baseball's American League.[1] The current manager of the Guardians is Stephen Vogt, who replaced Terry Francona after he stepped down at the end of the 2023 season.
Cleveland has had 47 managers in their major league history. Jimmy McAleer became the first manager of the then Cleveland Blues in 1901, serving for one season. In 1901, McAleer was replaced with Bill Armour. Cleveland made their first playoff appearance under Tris Speaker in 1920. Out of the eight managers that have led Cleveland into the postseason, only Speaker and Lou Boudreau have led Cleveland to World Series championships, doing so in 1920 and 1948, respectively. Al López (1954), Mike Hargrove (1995 and 1997) and Terry Francona (2016) have also appeared in World Series with Cleveland. The highest winning percentage of any manager who managed at least one season was López, with a percentage of .617. The lowest percentage was Johnny Lipon's .305 in 1971, although he managed for only 59 games. The lowest percentage of a manager with at least one season with Cleveland was McAleer's .397 in 1901.
Francona managed more regular season games (1,678) than any other Cleveland manager. Francona is also the winningest manager in Cleveland MLB history, with 921 wins. Charlie Manuel, Eric Wedge, Speaker, Boudreau, López, Hargrove, Francona, and Vogt are the only managers to have led Cleveland into the playoffs. Speaker, Boudreau, López, Walter Johnson, Joe Gordon, Nap Lajoie and Frank Robinson are the seven members of the Baseball Hall of Fame who are also former managers of this club. Of those seven, López is the only one inducted as a manager.[2][3][4] Wedge, Francona, and Vogt are the only Cleveland managers to win the Manager of the Year award: Wedge in 2007; Francona in 2013, 2016, and 2022; and Vogt in 2024.[5][6]
- ^ "Cleveland Indians History & Encyclopedia". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on February 19, 2011. Retrieved July 17, 2010.
- ^ "Cleveland Indians Managers". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 24, 2010. Retrieved July 25, 2010.
- ^ "Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame Register". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on June 6, 2009. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
- ^ "Veterans elect '40s star Gordon to Hall". mlb.com. Archived from the original on March 6, 2009. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
- ^ "Manager of the Year Award Winners". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on September 25, 2000. Retrieved July 30, 2010.
- ^ "Vogt wins AL Manager of Year in record speed". MLB.com. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
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