KANSAS CITY -- The Indians may not be in the thick of a postseason hunt, but the team is still in a race with itself.
Cleveland entered Tuesday sitting two games under .500 with six games to go in the regular season. The club is attempting to avoid its first losing season since 2012 -- the year before Terry Francona took over as manager. And acting skipper DeMarlo Hale is hoping to keep the losing season off Francona’s record books.
“I think there’s some meaning to it,” Hale said prior to opening a three-game set with the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
Francona will make history this season regardless of how the final six games play out, assuming he returns as skipper in 2022. Cleveland and the Elias Sports Bureau determined when Francona stepped away from the game to address his health concerns at the end of July that the remaining wins and losses the Indians incur for 2021 will only be credited to Francona if he is back in his position next season. If he’s not, the results would count toward Hale’s managerial record.
As of now, the expectation is that Francona will be back in 2022, which means he’ll own the most managerial wins in Indians history. When he was forced to take his second leave of absence in as many years, Francona was just six wins shy of setting the record, surpassing Lou Boudreau’s 728 victories. And Hale is hoping to push his friend well beyond that mark.
He’ll probably yell at me at some point and then I will definitely hug him and congratulate him in the same breath,” Hale joked about Francona’s inevitable reaction to setting the record. “He’s done a lot for this game, this organization. I think his record speaks for itself. ... That’s something to maybe reach for, being .500 or more at the end of the season.”
Francona has gotten back to the ballpark occasionally after his most recent foot procedure, but he’s sure to keep his distance so that he’s not stepping on Hale’s toes after being away for two months. But as the regular season comes to a close, it’s likely that Hale’s time as Cleveland's manager is soon to expire. So, how does Hale think he’s handled the transition?
“I think that’s a question that I think other people might be able to answer that as far as evaluating me of what I’ve done over these last few months,” Hale said. “As they say, ‘You’ve been doing this and this is a good chance to show your worth,’ I’ve interviewed quite a long time, so if I haven’t showed the worth through all the interviewing process and the name being out there, that’s for other people to decide what these 60 some games has done.”
It’s not over just yet. And while he’s trying to keep his team above .500, Hale is also trying to fight off the Tigers, who are tightening the gap between second and third place in the American League Central. Anything outside of the eight teams that make the playoffs don’t benefit from placing higher or lower than another. However, the Indians want to prevent slipping lower in the division standings if at all possible.
“I think there’s some truth to that because what happens is you feel like you’ve been caught,” Hale said. “At the end of it, where you end up is where you end up. I think there’s always going to be disappointment when you’re not playing in the playoffs. There are going to be a lot of teams whose season is ending on [Sunday]. Those eight other teams are feeling pretty good about themselves. I think that’s the main thing. You try to learn and understand what you went through this year so you can be better next year.”