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Paul Hoynes
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Have confirmed that Mickey Callaway, Tribe pitching coach, will be Mets new manager.

New York Mets to name Mickey Callaway manager after five seasons as Cleveland Indians pitching coach
Updated on October 22, 2017 at 3:11 PM Posted on October 22, 2017 at 2:32 PM


By Joe Noga, cleveland.com

jnoga@cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Mickey Callaway, who guided the Cleveland Indians pitching staff for the last five seasons, is set to be named the next manager of the New York Mets.

A deal is being finalized and could be announced as early as Monday, according to reports.

Callaway, 42, spent eight years as a coach in the Indians organization, including stints as pitching coach at Lake County (2010) and Kinston (2011) before becoming the organization's minor league pitching coordinator (2012).

Mets hitting coach Kevin Long and former Indians manager Manny Acta were also considered for the position after Terry Collins resigned earlier this month.

News of the hiring was first reported by Joel Sherman of the New York Post, and confirmed by cleveland.com's Paul Hoynes.




Under Callaway, Indians pitchers led the American League in strikeouts over the last four seasons. In 2017, Indians pitchers led the AL in earned run average, after posting the second-lowest ERA in 2015 and 2016.

Callaway led a staff that set a major league single-season record for strikeouts (1,450) in 2014 as Corey Kluber won his first Cy Young Award.

Shortly after Game 5 of the American League Division Series, Indians manager Terry Francona said he would be surprised if teams did not come looking at some of his coaches to fill managerial positions, adding that the pride he feels for his coaches would outweigh the sense of loss.

"Guys deserve a chance because of the work they do, and then it's on us to find the next best person," he said. "It hurts when you lose guys, but believe me, the pride wins out, because they deserve that."

Callaway pitched professionally for 14 seasons, including parts of five seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays, the Los Angeles Angeles and Texas Rangers. He was a seventh-round pick in 1996 out of Ole Miss.

He inherits a talented, if not underachieving young pitching staff in New York that finished near the bottom of the league with a 5.01 staff ERA.

Congratulations Mickey! Mets were routinely blasted for mismanaging their young pitching staff. Mickey knows how to that right. I was always impressed with the way he and Tito made roster moves and pitching assignments thinking about a week or more ahead.
Has he ever made out a lineup or is experience all with pitching?

Jordan Bastian @MLBastian
From 2013-17 under Callaway, the Indians led the AL in strikeouts (7,248) and fewest pitches per inning in (16.1). Think about that.

Tough act to follow!

The good ones always get away.

Big hole to fill.

Mickey has never managed before. Alex Cora hired by the RedSox has never managed before. Teams apparently are looking for different skills in today's managers.

Posted this in Articles folder:

Who will replace Mickey Callaway? Cleveland Indians start search for new pitching coach Monday

Jason Bere? He's been helping out in the bullpen for a few years.

Bob DiBiasio (@BDbaseball6):

Saddened by the passing of PD Tribe scribe/author Russ Schneider. As passionate about the game we all love as anyone I have ever met. RIP

J.R. wrote:Bob DiBiasio (@BDbaseball6):

Saddened by the passing of PD Tribe scribe/author Russ Schneider. As passionate about the game we all love as anyone I have ever met. RIP

Indeed, RIP Russ

Cleveland Plain Dealer's Russ Schneider -- a remembrance: Bill Livingston
Updated on October 24, 2017 at 4:17 PM Posted on October 24, 2017 at 4:15 PM

Former Plain Dealer sports writer Russ Schneider of Seven Hills died Tuesday at the age of 89. (Linda Kinsey / cleveland.com)


By Bill Livingston, The Plain Dealer

blivingston@plaind.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio - A diamond is forever? So was a baseball diamond to Russell Schneider.

In all likelihood, all the old baseball men are getting an earful in their sky boxes from Russ today. The long-time Plain Dealer reporter died this morning at 89 after years of declining health.

He probably is looking up Frank "Trader" Lane so he can ask him what in the world was he thinking when he traded Rocky Colavito?

He'll look up George Steinbrenner, too and they can debate what it would have been like had the Boss purchased the Indians, as he had wanted to do, and not the New York Yankees.

This newspaper's Cleveland Indians beat reporter from 1964-78, Schneider was tough, dogged, competitive to the point of combativeness, and my friend.

The friend part took a while. Schneider wanted the columnist job I got in 1984. Eventually, however, we became not only friends, but confidants. Knowing him was certainly one of my great privileges.

Baseball lifer

Schneider also covered the Cleveland Browns for a time in the 1980s and became great friends with former Browns coach Sam Rutigliano.

Before that, he realized his life-long dream of covering the Indians because he simply would not give it up. Russ wore down former Plain Dealer sports editor Gordon Cobbledick, beating a path to his door every day from the spring of 1963 until he got the Indians beat in December.
Russ Schneider talks with former Cleveland Indians manager Birdie Tebbetts in a 1965 file photo. (Plain Dealer file)


On the beat, he was so competitive he would not talk to rival reporters, zealously guarded his sources, and once almost brawled with former Indians president Peter Bavasi when Bavasi tried to confiscate Schneider's tape recorder during a heated interview at the old stadium.

You won't see those "Front Page" types in the business anymore.

After retirement, he had a second home at the Indians' old Winter Haven spring training headquarters so he could check the prospects out in person.

Tough and passionate

Schneider was an ex-Marine. It was a cold day in May when he would back down from a challenge, any challenge -- and May was often far from a nice day here with ice mantling the Lake Erie shoreline long past Opening Day.

A former catcher, Schneider coached amateur baseball in the area. He approached every game as if it were the seventh game of the World Series. The joke was that umpires around town asked for hazardous duty pay when they had his games.

Last visit

The last time I saw Russ was Oct. 16, a few days after the Indians' lost the divisional series to the New York Yankees.

Schneider's final days were spent in an assisted living facility in Broadview Heights. It was near the Cavaliers' practice building, so I swung by there after their practice session ended.


I had brought a small notebook, hoping to ask Russ about his favorite players and the highlights of his long career. But by then there would be no more interviews in this life for Russ.

He was asleep when I entered his room. I'm not sure whether he knew me or not after I gently roused him. I think there was a gleam of recognition in his eyes and the faintest nod, but I'm not sure. I left a note for him with the nurses.

Before I left, I leaned over and lightly kissed the tough old Marine on the top of his head. It might be best that he never knew about that.

There are worse things to lose than a baseball game.

Terry Francona, Craig Counsell voted Sporting News Managers of the Year


Updated at 2:30 p.m. ET

Indians manager Terry Francona and Brewers skipper Craig Counsell have been named Sporting News' 2017 managers of the year, as selected by a panel of 19 MLB managers.

Francona, who also received the award in 2016, is just the third manager to win in consecutive seasons, joining Billy Southworth of the Cardinals (1941-1942) and Bobby Cox of the Braves (2002-2005). It is the first win for Counsell. Sporting News has given Manager of the Year awards since 1936.

MORE: Yankees' Aaron Judge named Sporting News AL ROY

Francona, in his fifth year with Cleveland, led the defending AL champion Indians to 102 wins, a record 22-game winning streak in the second half, and a second straight AL Central title. Meanwhile, Counsell, in his third year with Milwaukee, kept the surprising Brewers in the playoff hunt until the end, finishing with an impressive 86 wins.

Those who play for both men tout their abilities to relate to players and keep the team motivated during the long MLB season.

“One of the first things that you understand about Tito when you first meet him is that he truly cares about everyone in here,” Indians closer Cody Allen told SN this season. “He’s going to absolutely listen to what you have to say.”

For Francona, relating to players means also spending time with them. That includes playing Cribbage in the clubhouse to help keep things loose.

“I’ve never been on another team where the manager is playing card games with players, but it’s not a fluke,” Indians reliever Andrew Miller told SN. “The way he does it works. It’s a way for him to keep his finger on the pulse of the team.”

Meanwhile, Counsell's communication skills and ability to inspire confidence have helped earn the respect of players, many of whom enjoyed breakout campaigns under his leadership this past season.

“He’s a player’s manager. If you come in and do what you’re supposed to do, you’re not gonna have any issues," said Brewers slugger Travis Shaw, who was among those who enjoyed a resurgence in 2017. "It’s fun to play for a guy like that.”

MORE: Dodgers' Cody Bellinger voted Sporting News NL ROY

Counsell's approach can likely be attributed to a 16-year big-league career that taught him to understand the ebbs and flows of a season, his players said.

“He knows when the team needs a little bit of a drive and he knows when to just let guys play,” starting pitcher Zach Davies told SN. “He knows when guys are on a roll. He knows when to just see the game and play on.”

Said veteran catcher Stephen Vogt: “The team a lot of times is a reflection of the manager. And so everybody here carries themselves professionally, come ready to play every day. And that’s the mark of playing for a good manager.”

Francona's second win gives Cleveland its fourth in the category. Mike Hargrove (1995) and Eric Wedge (2007) were the previous winners.

Counsell is the second Brewers manager to win the award, following George Bamberger in 1978.

VOTING RESULTS

American League (voting by AL managers)

1. Terry Francona, Indians: 7

2. Joe Girardi, Yankees: 2

3. Paul Molitor, Twins: 1

National League (voting by NL managers)

1. Craig Counsell, Brewers: 5

2. Torey Lovullo, Diamondbacks: 2

3. Dave Roberts, Dodgers: 1; Bud Black, Rockies: 1

THIS WEEK’S SN AWARD SCHEDULE

Monday: Rookies of the Year (AL and NL)

Tuesday: Comeback Players of the Year (AL and NL) and Managers of the Year (AL and NL)

Wednesday: AL All-Star Team | NL All-Star Team

Thursday: MLB Player of the Year

This newspaper's Cleveland Indians beat reporter from 1964-78,

I thought he was there forever, or at least after Harry Jones moved to the broadcast booth. Who followed Schneider? Was that Terry Pluto already in '79?

Wow. I wasn't all that impressed with him the first time around.

Cleveland Indians hire Carl Willis as their new pitching coach
Posted on October 26, 2017 at 10:00 AM


By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com

phoynes@cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Indians have a new pitching coach, who really isn't new, but just listen for a minute.

Carl Willis, 56, has been hired to replace Mickey Callaway, who was named manager of the New York Mets on Monday. Willis joins the Indians after spending the last 2 1/2 seasons as John Farrell's pitching coach with the Boston Red Sox.

Willis has history with the Indians.

He was the Indians' pitching coach from 2003 through 2009 under manager Eric Wedge. During his tenure the Indians won the AL ERA title in 2005. He coached Cy Young winners CC Sabathia in 2007 and Cliff Lee in 2008.

Four pitchers have won the Cy Young award with Willis as their coach including Sabathia and Lee, Boston's Rich Porcello in 2016 and Seattle's Felix Hernandez in 2010.

Willis, 56, will begin his 15th season as a big-league pitching coach with stops in Cleveland, Seattle and Boston. Willis rejoined the Indians in 2014 as a special assistant. In 2015, he was the Tribe's Class AAA pitching coach before joining Farrell's staff in Boston during the season.

He inherits one of the best pitching staffs in the big leagues. The Indians led MLB in ERA this year for the first time since 1954. In the AL, they had the best ERA among starters and relievers.

No.1 starter Corey Kluber, an 18-game winner, is expected to win his second Cy Young award this offseason. Carlos Carrasco joined him as an 18-game winner with Trevor Bauer adding 17 wins.

Tribe pitchers set an MLB record for strikeouts this year, while walking the fewest batters in the AL.

Willis pitched nine years in the big leagues with Detroit, Cincinnati, the White Sox and Minnesota.