The 5-Hole: Blue Jackets News and Notes – 1/18/11
January 18, 2011While We’re Waiting… NFL Work Stoppage, Arbitration and Return of the Cadavaliers?
January 19, 2011Select fans have been clamoring for Omar Vizquel, Jim Thome or even Manny Ramirez to have another run as a member of the Cleveland Indians. While the Indians front office won’t be committing player dollars to any of the aforementioned, they were willing to harness a little nostalgia today with the addition of Mike Hargrove as a special advisor to their staff.
When not filming commercials for local car dealerships, Hargrove’s chief responsibilities will be in the form of aid in baseball, broadcast and business operations. Hargrove spent 22 years in an Indians uniform as a Player, Coach and Manager, but will forever be known as the skipper of the era which many still cling to today.
“I am very excited about the opportunity to once again be a Cleveland Indian and am very much looking forward to helping any way that I can,” said Hargrove earlier today. “Even when I was away and managing other teams I always had an interest in what was happening with the Indians. All I can really say is that it is good to be home.”
The Indians Hall of Famer will assist the team in a variety of roles including assisting Manager Manny Acta’s coaching staff in spring training, joining the STO broadcast team on select telecasts and serving as a resource for the many business, community and charitable endeavors of the franchise. A smart move from a fan sentiment perspective, Hargrove (along with Sandy Alomar who is currently the team’s first base coach) personifies the Glory Days of the mid-90s where he remains as the only head coach to win two American League pennants with the Cleveland Indians.
Hargrove ranks second all-time in club history in managerial wins behind Lou Boudreau (728), third in managerial winning percentage (.550). At this stage, it would surprise no one if there was a Mike Hargrove bobblehead night at some point this summer as the team attempts to milk nostalgia for all it is worth.
“We are excited to have Mike back in the Indians’ family,” said Indians President Mark Shapiro. “His legacy here is as a Player and Manager, as well as his consistent role in the community, provide him with a unique platform to impact our team, our fans and our community.
“It will be an honor to once again work with Mike and we know his impact will be felt by generations of Indians’ fans and players who will all benefit from his knowledge of the game and love of Cleveland Indians baseball.”
21 Comments
Chief Propaganda Minister? O wait that job is already taken. Could we spend this money on players?
Glad to have my childhood and all-time favorite Indian and baseball player back with the Tribe. They’ve already claimed their first nostalgia victim. I now no longer care if they win a single game. The Human Rain Delay is back!!!
his first advice should be: you get what you pay for.
Glad to hear Grover is back in the organization. One of my favorite all time Indians he never got enough credit, in my eyes, for his daily management of the characters he had on his teams.
Sweet! WHERE DO I BUY TICKETS?!?!?!
Oh, wait, they’re still trotting Austin Kearns’ corpse out there?
nevermind…
Now get off to a good start Acta or else…
They only way they could do better with a move like this would be to bring in Lou Brown
“Hey Kip, you know anything about time travel?”
“It was made very clear to me what I’m supposed to do here. I smile, wave my little hat… I did that, so when do I get paid?”
This will last a year before Mike gets tired of the miserly Dolans.
In an unrelated story the Indians picked up 20 free agents over the age of 40. Most notable are Charles Nagy, Jose Mesa, Kenny Lofton, Jim Thome, Julio Franco and Manny Ramirez. Even with this new (old) Indians team, built mostly on retired old farts, the Indians are still projected to lose 100 games.
I appreciate the “effort” by the Indians, but until they start signing players who can make an impact, bone of this really matters. It’s just living in the past.
I’ve always wondered how those 90s Tribe teams would stack up to the Yanks, Sawx, and Phillies of today. Let’s get the band back together and find out! Can’t end worse than the past 2 seasons have.
Too bad such a good and classy guy as Hargrove has to associate with such a miserable and pathetic organization.
@mattyfos
Julio Franco is in his 50’s now so he is a really old fart. lolol
“Head coach”? Is the author of this piece so ignorant of baseball that he doesn’t know that the boss of the team on the diamond is called a *manager”?
If only we could bring Dick Jacobs back
They should just bring him back as the coach!
So…Sled rides and skateing in the winter, Probably a twin for Slider this summer, and now we have a an unemployed coach to tell us how good the Indians USED to be! Dolan is absolutely useless and has run this thing into the ground as well as he did his daddys cable company! Sell it to another city and we’ll start all over…..please!!!!
Please we must unite to run Dolan out of town! He’s done nothing but run this franchise into the ground and give away our best players. Give it to Grover and let him run the show! Can’t stand the Dolans anymore!
I refuse to believe this is about anything except trying to run a MLB team on the cheap and throw up some more of the dog and pony show to distract you! This team under Jacobs Leadership ran multip[le years of sold out games, with the SAME MARKET! This garbage about a changeing Market in just 10 years or so is another excuse to call it a farm team and spend accordingly! Dolan didnt have the cash to play in the big leagues and should have been steered clear by smarter folks at the time! NOW Cleveland fans continue to suffer because of it! The only option at this point is to hope that all the stars align like they did several years ago, just to lose to Boston in a rigged series, or hope for a change in ownership!
We need pitching, and we get the guy who took us close-twice.
Mike would be the first guy to tell you that if had a closer in the ninth inning he’d have a World Series ring.