Wedge, the new Mariners manager, tells Seattle Times columnist he doesn't want to criticize anyone for how the Indians lost the 2007 ALCS to Boston after leading, 3 games to 1.
Indians manager Eric Wedge (left) in the dugout during the ninth inning of a 7-1 loss to Boston in Game 5 of the 2007 ALCS in Cleveland.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The 2007 Cleveland Indians were one win from the World Series when they led the Boston Red Sox, three games to one, in the American League Championship Series.
Indians fans remember what happened. So do Bosox backers.
Boston bounced back with three straight wins, then swept the Colorado Rockies in the World Series.
The Indians haven't been in contention since.
Eric Wedge was then in the fifth of his seven seasons as the Indians' manager. Cleveland slumped to 81-81 in 2008. Wedge was informed several days before the 2009 Indians' season ended that he would be fired. He stayed on for the last few games, seeing the Tribe finish 65-97.
Wedge, 43, will begin his first season as the Seattle Mariners' manager with a road game against the Oakland Athletics on Friday night. Several hours earlier, the Indians, with Manny Acta in his second campaign as their skipper, will have opened at home against the Chicago White Sox.
The Indians' inability to close out Boston in the 2007 ALCS still bothers Wedge.
Jerry Brewer writes about Wedge and the 2007 ALCS, and about Wedge's new job, for the Seattle Times:
At 39 years old, Wedge was on the cusp of managerial genius. And then Cleveland suffered another infamous sports collapse.
The Red Sox whipped the Indians by a combined score of 30-5 the next three games. Then Boston won the World Series. Cleveland, rocked. Again.
Though the Indians still seemed to be a rising team, it turned out to be Wedge's best chance at a championship during his seven seasons in Cleveland. Two years later, the team had been dismantled, and Wedge was fired.
He really doesn't like talking about that series.
"I learned a great deal, both good and not so good," Wedge says now. "That experience will make me more prepared when we get there in Seattle."
And, writes Brewer:
So I press Wedge on the 2007 ALCS, telling him I think he hasn't gotten over it. His answer was quite revealing, even though it came with a veil attached.
"It's not about me," Wedge says. "If I lay out a map for you, if I tell you everything about that experience, I might wind up criticizing individuals, and I don't want to do that. I want to be very respectful of the players and everyone on the team at the time. We just didn't get it done. You reflect like you have to, and you learn from it. I parked that a long time ago, and I'm better for it."
Source: http://www.cleveland.com/ohio-sports-blog/index.ssf/2011/04/eric_wedge_on_eve_of_first_gam.html
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