Longtime Cleveland fixture Luis Isaac dies at 79 

TORONTO -- Luis Isaac, a longtime member of the Cleveland organization who held a variety of roles in the Majors and Minor Leagues during his 43-year tenure, has passed away, the Guardians announced on Sunday. He was 79 years old.

Isaac was born in Puerto Rico on June 19, 1946. A catcher during his playing days, he began a 16-year career in the Minors in 1962 with the Pirates' organization and later joined Cleveland ahead of the ‘66 season.

Over nearly the next half-century, Isaac was either a player, coach, manager or scout for Cleveland. He played in the farm system from 1966-77 and in ‘79. His tenure also included a stint managing the organization’s Single-A Batavia affiliate in ‘78 and serving as a player-coach with the club’s Double-A Chattanooga affiliate in ‘79.

Isaac became a scout for Cleveland in 1980 and held the role into the ‘87 season while also coaching the club’s Rookie-level teams. He then served 20 years on Cleveland’s big league coaching staff as its bullpen coach, from ‘87-91 and ‘94-2008.

Isaac’s collective 20 seasons is the longest coaching tenure in Cleveland history, ahead of Sandy Alomar Jr., who’s currently in his 17th season. The two shared a long connection; Isaac once recalled scouting Alomar in 1983, when the latter was a teenage prospect. The connection they shared went back years prior to even that.

“I remember Sandy when he was 4 or 5 years old," Isaac told the Washington Post in 1990. "I played winter ball with his father [Sandy Sr.] at Santurce [in Puerto Rico], and Sandy [Jr.] was always around the clubhouse.

"I used to play catch with him. He would squat down like a catcher and give me the sign. I would tell him, 'I'm going to make you a catcher.' Of course, I didn't know it was going to come true, although that's what he always said."

Alomar ultimately signed with the Padres, but he was traded to Cleveland ahead of the 1990 season. He went on to become one of the best catchers in franchise history, during the heart of Isaac’s extended run with the franchise.