By Bob Albright
Staff Writer
Take a walk around the Strike One sports complex in
Hire a contractor? No way. That's been half the fun for Wedge and his partner Mark Lombardi, both of whom clearly view the complex as a lot more than just a business.
"We've done everything ourselves. When we moved in here these three levels were not connected," noted Wedge, motioning to the sprawling complex which includes two indoor dirt fields, numerous batting cages and a large function area.
It's a drastic overhaul to the 40,000-square-foot building on Route 1, once used to house a tennis and racquet club that was collecting dust when Wedge and Lombardi first started renting it in 1997. Earlier this year, they bought the building.
"All the hard work and the tough days you go through make it all the more worthwhile," pointed out Wedge, who clearly has no problem getting motivated to go to work each day. "When you put all your blood and sweat into something, it's hard to leave it behind. That's why when I'm not here, I'm always talking to Mark."
That won't change. It's just that many of those conversations may take place
from the dugout phone at Jacobs Field in
Wedge has another job, you see. He manages baseball teams.
In fact, just last month at the tender age of 34, Wedge was named manager of
the Cleveland Indians. In doing so, he became the major leagues' youngest
skipper by some nine years.
"The dugout is probably the only place where he won't give me a call," says Lombardi with a chuckle about his anything-but-silent partner. "He usually calls after the game. I'll tell him how things are going here, and he'll tell me the score."
Wedge definitely has the resume -- four years of playing in the bigs and a stellar managerial record at every level of the Indians' organization -- to sit on a major league bench.
But a big league persona? Let's just say Bobby Valentine and Lou Pinella don't come to mind while watching Wedge seamlessly wade knee-deep into a first-grade birthday party on the upper level at Strike One, all the while keeping an eye on the youth baseball academy that's taking place below him.
"I'm sure most of them don't even know (about the Indians' job)," said Wedge, surveying a bunch of youngsters taking ground balls on one of the fields. "They know me as Eric from Strike One. I don't go around wearing it on my chest.
"I love baseball and I love managing," he added, "but as passionate as I'm about it, I'm equally passionate about this. "I always tell people that I have two full-time jobs."
Lombardi agrees that Wedge checks any kind of ego at the door.
"Now you see more people coming in and pointing him out as the new manager of the Indians," said Lombardi. "But for the last four years he's always been 'Eric the hitting instructor' around here. We've got a large staff of part-timers here, and the message is that everyone does everything that needs to be done. When they see Eric taking out the trash, that message comes across."
Lombardi and Wedge first hooked up back in 1997 when Wedge had finally hung
up his catcher's gear and was traveling throughout
Spend just a little time with Wedge, and it's quite apparent that a positive attitude is just one of the reasons why he'll be filling out a major league lineup card this spring.
Another is his no-nonsense approach. Like many of the walls at Strike One, Wedge isn't afraid to step in and tear something down that isn't working.
In baseball terms his is a meteoric rise to say the least. But it's one that Wedge feels is the natural progression, just like the steps he's taken fulfilling his and Lombardi's ever-evolving vision for Strike One.
"I didn't really put a time table on it," said Wedge, who was named International League Manager of the Year last season while piloting the Indians' AAA affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons, to a second straight pennant. "Instead, I just wanted to go out and do the best job that I possibly could at each level and let that speak for itself."
Before
He's very cognizant of the fact that today's major league ball player is a
far different animal from even the guys he shared the clubhouse with as
recently as 1994. He knows getting an 8-year-old from
"The players are very different," says Wedge, who will actually be younger than two of his starters -- Ellis Burks (38) and Omar Vizquel (35). "I consider myself an old-school coach in the way I approach the game, but new school in dealing with players. You really are a manager. That's probably more than a half of the job -- managing the guys. You have to know how to deal with them and take the time to get to know each guy's personality."
But until it's time to load up the equipment truck and head down to spring
training, you'll be able to find this personality most days
right here in