New Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt managed his first spring training game Saturday, a 4-0 … [+] loss to the Cincinnati Reds. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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New Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt has a tough act to follow. That is usually not the case when a major league team changes managers.
Normally, when a team changes managers the new manager has an easy act to follow. That’s why the team is changing managers – because the departing manager wasn’t getting the job done.
In Vogt’s case, the departing manager departed a hero, because he had climbed all the mountains, won all the accolades, and earned the right to ride off into the sunset on his own terms.
So Terry Francona did.
He is an almost certain Hall of Famer, which, for Vogt, makes following Francona as the Cleveland Guardians’ manager one of the toughest acts to follow.
When Francona was hired as Cleveland’s manager in 2013, the ballclub was coming off a dismal 2012 season in which it flirted with a 100-loss season, staggering across the finish line with a record of 68-94. At the time of Francona’s hiring Cleveland had made only two postseason appearances in the previous 11 years.
Francona immediately put a halt to that. In his first season as manager he ended Cleveland’s five-year absence from the postseason by guiding the team to a regular season-ending 10-game winning streak, and a spot in the wildcard game.
It was a managerial tour de force. After winning just 68 games pre-Francona in 2012, Cleveland won 92 in 2013, Francona’s first year on the job, earning him the first of three Manager of the Year awards he would win in Cleveland.
The winningest manager in Guardians history, Francona walked away from the game following the 2023 season. Cleveland officials wasted no time in hiring the newest manager in Guardians history: the 39-year-old Vogt, who has a tough act to follow, but is looking forward to it.
Day one of the Vogt era began Saturday as the Guardians played their first exhibition game under their new manager. It was a forgettable 4-0 loss to Cincinnati, but the loss in no way dimmed Vogt’s enthusiasm for his new job.
“There’s something exciting about the first day,” Vogt said. “It’s like the first day of school. You got the new outfit you picked out, a haircut. It’s all those things. It’s a new beginning. A fresh start. You get to see your hard work pay off. You start bonding with teammates. I love spring training.”
The Cleveland franchise is no stranger to managerial changes, although it has been a long time since they last made one. Since 1901, as a charter member of the American League, Cleveland has employed 34 different managers. There have been a lot of swings and misses, but also some home runs.
Six former Cleveland managers are in the Hall of Fame: Frank Robinson, Al Lopez, Lou Boudreau, Walter Johnson, Tris Speaker, and Napoleon Lajoie. A seventh will be added to that list when Francona gets the call from Cooperstown. Francona ranks 13th all-time with 1,950 career wins. All the men ahead of him on the managerial wins list are in the Hall of Fame, except for Dusty Baker and Bruce Bochy, who both seem to be certain Hall of Famers as well.
Despite having had six Hall of Fame managers – and a seventh with Francona waiting in the wings – Cleveland has only won two World Series: in 1920 under Speaker, and in 1948, with Boudreau as player/manager.
There was even a time in which, for 15 consecutive years, Cleveland had Hall of Fame managers: Boudreau from 1942 to 1950, followed by Lopez from 1951 to 1956.
A few years after that, in a move of desperation that was both ahead of and behind its time, the Indians and Tigers orchestrated what is still – and understandably – the only straight-up manager-for-manager trade.
On August 3, 1960, Cleveland traded manager Joe Gordon to Detroit for Tigers manager Jimmie Dykes. At the time of the trade Cleveland was in fourth place in the American League and Detroit was in sixth place. Both teams – well, it seemed like a good idea at the time – were still in those slots when the season ended.
All of which brings up an interesting question: how much does changing managers help a team? In Cleveland’s case, the franchise has changed managers 33 times. In 19 of those changes the incoming manager, in his first year on the job, improved on the record of the last year of the manager he replaced.
In Francona’s farewell season in Cleveland, he had the fewest wins (76) and lowest winning percentage (.469) in his 11 years as manager, which is the longest tenure of any manager in franchise history. Francona’s franchise record of 845 wins is 117 more than any manager in franchise history.
Translation: Steven Vogt has a tough act to follow, but he’s all in on the challenge.
“Spring training means a crowded dugout,” he said. “We need to never forget this is a kid’s game.”
