Eric Wedge Fired from Indians, Finishes Season | IXGAMES

Eric Wedge will no longer be managing the Cleveland Indians next season, but he still has this season to finish. On Wednesday, Wedge was fired as manager of the Indians, who are now almost at the end of a lackluster season. Although Wedge will no longer be managing the team for the upcoming season, he will still need to manage the remaining six games during his seventh year with the Cleveland Indians. Wedge has been quoted as saying that he still wants to finish what he has begun for the year. It was Wedge who steered the Indians to one playoff appearance, beginning the year 2003. According to Mark Shapiro, the general manager, it was a collective decision between him and Larry and Paul Dolan, the owners. The decision over Wedge’s leaving the team just came recently and on Tuesday night the coaches for Cleveland were told that they will no longer be returning for the 2010 season. Wedge had a contract until 2010. There has been some speculation for weeks about Wedge getting the axe, but he has expressed relief over the final decision, despite the awkwardness of him being around for the last six games. Wedge’s last few days Wedge returned to his office to begin preparations for his last two home games, after spending time at the interview room at Progressive Field. His walking down the corridor made for an uncomfortable scene, as a few White Sox players passed by him and said hello, apparently quite surprised to see him still donning his Chief Wahoo cap. The reasons for firing Wedge were not made clear by Shapiro, who refused to release any details regarding the dismissal. Under the helm of Wedge the Indians continually suffered through slow starts and during this season they were unable to surmount early injuries. The 11-game losing streak of Cleveland recently may have been the primary contributor to Wedge’s dismissal from the team. Shapiro has said, however, that the decision to fire Wedge did not stem from just a single incident. According to him, the decision came about after due consideration on a lot of things until they finally reached a position where change seemed necessary and inevitable. Shapiro also stated that soon the Indians will start their search for a new manager. There have been names mentioned, such as pitching coach John Farrell of Boston, erstwhile manager of the Indians, Mike Hargrove, ex-manager of Arizona, Buck Showalter, and finally, Torey Lovullo who was the manager for the Indian’s Columbus franchise. Some of the players think that finding a replacement for Wedge could be difficult. According to all-star center fielder Grady Sizemore, Eric Wedge had some excellent qualities as a manager. “You don’t want to lose a man like Eric”, he said.