This past week, I finally had the opportunity to meet and chat with Tulsa Drillers manager Eric Wedge, and like most people who have been in baseball a long time, he had some great stories to tell.
Wedge spent parts of four seasons in Major League Baseball as a catcher with the Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies. After his playing career, he began coaching and managing in the Cleveland Indians minor leagues system. Wedge made his managerial debut in 1998 with the Columbus RedStixx Cleveland’s single-A affiliate. While managing in the minors, Wedge three manager of the year awards.
Wedge was promoted to the majors and became Cleveland’s manager in 2003. He spent seven seasons at the helm of the Indians. His best season with Cleveland came in 2007, when his team went 96–66 and won the Central Division title for the first time since 2001. The Indians then beat the Yankees in four games to win the Division Series and played the Boston Red Sox in the Championship Series, where they lost in seven games after leading the series 3–1. Wedge received The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award and the American League Manager of the Year Award in 2007.
Wedge was fired by Cleveland following the 2009 season, and after sitting out a year, he became the manager of the Seattle Mariners, where he led the team for three seasons (2011-2013). Wedge suffered a stroke in July 2013 and missed 28 games, and at the end of the season, he announced he wouldn’t return in 2014.
Wedge spent three seasons as the head coach of the Wichita State Shockers, 2020-2022, and was let go just before the start of the 2023 season.
He was hired by the Los Angeles Dodgers to manage Tulsa in January and is enjoying his first season with the Drillers.
I have had an 8×10 photo of Wedge that I’ve been waiting a long time for the opportunity for him to autograph, and finally last week I had that opportunity. It’s a photo of when he was the manager in Cleveland, arguing with an umpire. I asked him if there was any story behind that photo.
“Not that I remember, but it looks like it was taken in Minneapolis, because I recognize the seats behind the backstop,” he said. “That umpire was Bill Hohn.”
I asked if he had been in many discussions with Hohn over the years.
“No, not really,” he said. “He was a pretty good umpire. I had a few problems with Joe West over the years.”
West was known as an umpire with a bit of an ego and would like to insert himself in the game, but he was considered a really nice guy off the field.
There was one time just before I was let go by the Indians,” Wedge said. “West called me over to talk with him, and I thought, ‘oh no, what did I do?’ He said, ‘is it true they’re thinking about firing you?’ I said yeah, it sounds like it. He said, ‘well, I want you to know I think you’re a great manager and have done a heck of a job.’ That meant a lot to me and was nice of him to say.”
Wedge currently has the Drillers in position to earn a second half playoff spot in the Texas League. Springfield won the first half North Division title and is currently in first place in the second half, however, if they win both halves, the second place Drillers will earn the other playoff spot.
TULSA BEACON RADIO
Tune in to “Tulsa Beacon Weekend” radio show every week, featuring interviews with local and national guests, talking about everything from politics to family issues. This week my guest will be Retired U.S. Army Colonel Eddie Garcia and Bruce Wilbanks with Marriage And Family Initiative. The show airs on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. CST on 970am KCFO.