| Eric Wedge | |
|---|---|
 Wedge as manager of the Indians in 2008 | |
| Catcher /Manager | |
| Born: (1968-01-27)January 27, 1968 (age 57) Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| October 5, 1991, for the Boston Red Sox | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| July 29, 1994, for the Boston Red Sox | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .233 |
| Home runs | 5 |
| Runs batted in | 12 |
| Managerial record | 774–846 |
| Winning % | .478 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Managerial record at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
| As player As manager | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Eric Michael Wedge (born January 27, 1968) is an American formerbaseballMajor League Baseball (MLB)catcher andmanager.
As a player, Wedge attendedNorthrop High School in Fort Wayne and played on the school's state champion baseball team in 1983. He went on to attend Wichita State, and played on theShockers team that won the1989 College World Series. From 1989 to 1997 he played in theminor league systems of theBoston Red Sox,Colorado Rockies,Detroit Tigers, andPhiladelphia Phillies, and played in 39 major league games with the Red Sox and Rockies between 1991 and 1994.
Wedge managed in theCleveland Indians minor league system from 1998 to 2002 before being named manager of the Indians for the 2003 season. He led the Indians to a postseason berth in 2007, and won theAmerican LeagueManager of the Year Award that year.[1] He managed the Indians through the 2009 season. He then managed theSeattle Mariners from 2011 to 2013, and then worked as player development advisor for theToronto Blue Jays from 2016 to 2019.[2] Wedge returned to manage the Wichita State Shockers from 2020 to 2022.
Wedge playedcatcher and center field forWichita State University from 1987 to 1989, leading the school to a 68–16 record and theCollege World Series championship in 1989. Hehit .380 for the Shockers that year, led theNCAA inwalks andtotal bases and finished second inruns,RBI, andhome runs.[citation needed] Wedge's performance earned him first-teamAll-America honors,[3]theMissouri Valley Conference Player of the Year award[4]and he was runner-up toBen McDonald for theRotary Smith Award for College Baseball Player of the Year.[1]
In 1987, Wedge played for theLima Blues (now theLima Locos). He was the MVP of the firstGreat Lakes Summer Collegiate League (GLSCL) All-Star Game.[5]
In 1988, Wedge playedcollegiate summer baseball in theCape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) for theYarmouth-Dennis Red Sox, where he was named to the all-league team. In 2011, he was inducted into theCCBL Hall of Fame.[6]
TheBoston Red Sox selected Wedge in the third round of the1989 Major League Baseball draft.[7] While in the Red Sox major league system, he played for theElmira Pioneers (1989),New Britain Red Sox (1989–1991),Winter Haven Red Sox (1991) andPawtucket Red Sox (1991–1992, 1994–1995). On October 5, 1991, he made his major league debut in his only appearance of the season for Boston with apinch hitsingle offChris George of theMilwaukee Brewers.[8]In 1992, he appeared in 27 games for Boston (20 as adesignated hitter, five as a catcher and two as a pinch hitter), hitting .250 with five home runs and 11 RBI.[9]
In November 1992, theColorado Rockies selected Wedge from the Red Sox in the1992 MLB expansion draft.[10] He played for theCentral Valley Rockies andColorado Springs Sky Sox in 1993 and was aSeptember call-up for Colorado that season, appearing in nine games (eight as a pinch hitter and one as a catcher) and hitting .182 with 1 RBI.[9]
The Rockies released Wedge at the end of spring training in 1994 and he was re-signed by the Red Sox on May 2.[9]He split catching duties withScott Hatteberg for Pawtucket that season and made his final major-league appearances with Boston in July, going 0-for-6 in two games as a designated hitter.[9] He returned to Pawtucket for the 1995 season and again split catching duties with Hatteberg.[11]
Wedge played his final two seasons with theToledo Mud Hens in theDetroit Tigers organization and theScranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons in thePhiladelphia Phillies organization in 1996 and 1997, respectively.[11]
Wedge made his managerial debut in 1998 with theColumbus RedStixx of theSouth Atlantic League, leading the Cleveland single-A affiliate to an overall record of 59–81. In 1999, he was the manager of theKinston Indians, Cleveland'sCarolina League affiliate. His team took first place during the first half of the season with a 37–32 record and second place during the second half with a 42–26 record. After the season, he was named the Carolina League Manager of the Year.[11]
The Indians promoted Wedge to manager of theDouble-AAkron Aeros in 2000. The Aeros finished the season 75–68, just missing theEastern League post-season after losing a one-game playoff with Harrisburg.[11][12] In 2001, he continued his ascent through the Indians' managerial ranks, leading theirTriple-A affiliate,Buffalo Bisons, to a 91–51 first-place finish in theInternational League's North Division and a berth in the postseason, where they lost toScranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons in the semi-finals.[11] Wedge again earned post-season honors when he was named theInternational League Manager of the Year andBaseball America's Triple-A Manager of the Year.[12] He returned at the helm of the Bisons in 2002 and again led them to the post-season, finishing 87–57 and second in the North Division.[13] This time, they defeated Scranton in the semi-finals but were swept by theDurham Bulls in the finals. Wedge was honored with his third post-season award whenThe Sporting News named him Minor League Manager of the Year.
On October 29, 2002, Wedge was named the 39th manager of theCleveland Indians.[12] Over his first three years as manager, the Indians improved steadily from fourth place in theAmerican League Central with a 68–94 record in 2003, to 80–82 and third place in 2004 and to 93–69 and second place in 2005.[14] The 93 wins in 2005 were the eighth-most in the more than hundred-year history of the franchise and the team narrowly missed qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 2001 when they were eliminated on the last day of the season.[15] In the American LeagueManager of the Year balloting for 2005, Wedge finished as runner-up toOzzie Guillén.[16]
The2006 season was a disappointing one for Wedge and the Indians. Entering the season, they were expected to compete for the division title, but got off to a poor start and were essentially out of the race by mid-season, trailing the division-leadingDetroit Tigers at the All-Star break by18+1⁄2 games. They finished the season in fourth place with a 78–84 record, 18 games behind the Central Division champion,Minnesota Twins.[17]
Wedge and the Indians had more success in the2007 season going 96–66 and winning the Central Division title for the first time since 2001.[14] Wedge then led the Indians to beat the Yankees in four games to win theDivision Series, and moved on to play theBoston Red Sox in theChampionship Series, where they lost in seven games after losing three straight games when leading the series 3–1.[18] Wedge receivedThe Sporting News Manager of the Year Award and theAmerican League Manager of the Year Award in 2007.[19] The following year theIndians would go 81–81, finishing third in the Central. The club, which was just four wins shy from winning 100 games in 2007, fell to the other end of the spectrum in2009, finishing three losses from the century mark at 65–97 and further down in the Central standings at fourth.[14]
On September 30, 2009, the Indians announced that Wedge would not be retained as manager after the season ended.[20]
On October 18, 2010, Wedge was named the Mariners manager, and agreed to a three-year contract.[21] In 2011, the team finished 67–95, in last place in the AL West Division, 29 games out of first place.[22] The following year, he led the team to a 75–87 record, another last place finish.[23] Wedge suffered a stroke in July 2013 and missed 28 games.[24] On September 27, 2013, Wedge announced he would not return as the Mariners manager for the 2014 season, declining their contract offer for a one–year contract extension.[25]
On February 6, 2016, Wedge was hired as a player development advisor by theToronto Blue Jays.[26] He interviewed for the vacantNew York Yankees managerial position in November 2017.[27]
On May 29, 2019, Wedge was named head baseball coach of theWichita State Shockers.[28] On December 8, 2022, the school announced he would not return as coach.[29]
On January 23, 2025, he was announced as manager of theTulsa Drillers, theLos Angeles Dodgers affiliate in the Double–ATexas League.[30]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| CLE | 2003 | 162 | 68 | 94 | .420 | 4th in AL Central | – | – | – | – |
| CLE | 2004 | 162 | 80 | 82 | .494 | 3rd in AL Central | – | – | – | – |
| CLE | 2005 | 162 | 93 | 69 | .574 | 2nd in AL Central | – | – | – | – |
| CLE | 2006 | 162 | 78 | 84 | .481 | 4th in AL Central | – | – | – | – |
| CLE | 2007 | 162 | 96 | 66 | .593 | 1st in AL Central | 6 | 5 | .545 | LostALCS (BOS) |
| CLE | 2008 | 162 | 81 | 81 | .500 | 3rd in AL Central | – | – | – | – |
| CLE | 2009 | 162 | 65 | 97 | .401 | 4th in AL Central | – | – | – | – |
| CLE total | 1134 | 561 | 573 | .495 | 6 | 5 | .545 | |||
| SEA | 2011 | 162 | 67 | 95 | .414 | 4th in AL West | – | – | – | – |
| SEA | 2012 | 162 | 75 | 87 | .463 | 4th in AL West | – | – | – | – |
| SEA | 2013 | 162 | 71 | 91 | .438 | 4th in AL West | – | – | – | – |
| SEA total | 486 | 213 | 273 | .438 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
| Total[14] | 1620 | 774 | 846 | .478 | 6 | 5 | .545 | |||
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wichita State Shockers(American Athletic Conference)(2020–2022) | |||||||||
| 2020 | Wichita State | 13–2 | 0–0 | Season canceled due toCOVID-19 | |||||
| 2021 | Wichita State | 31–23 | 18–13 | 3rd | The American Tournament | ||||
| 2022 | Wichita State | 21–36 | 9–15 | T-6th | The American Tournament | ||||
| Wichita State: | 65–61 | 27–28 | |||||||
| Total: | 65–61 | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||
Wedge joinedBaseball Tonight onESPN as a Studio Analyst for the 2014 and 2015 seasons alongsideOzzie Guillén andDallas Braden.[31] Wedge's analysis was featured in a segment called "Cutting The Wedge."
2018 marked Wedge's fourteenth year hosting a baseball camp organized by World Baseball Academy and sponsored by Automotive Color &Supply Corp at The ASH Centre in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Also in January 2007, he was inducted into the Indiana High School Baseball Hall of Fame[32]and in February 2007, he was inducted into the Kinston Professional Baseball Hall of Fame.[33]In total, Wedge has been inducted to 16 Hall of Fames.
Wedge and ex-wife Kate have a daughter and a son. Eric Wedge's son, Dalton Cash Wedge, appears to be with the Dodgers as well as Eric Wedge, as he was seen traveling with the team during the 2025 season. Wedge resides inWichita, Kansas.[34]
· Baseball Reference (Minors) · Retrosheet · Baseball Almanac