The Cleveland Guardians (formerly known as the Indians) are a professional baseball franchise based in Cleveland, Ohio that formed in 1901. They are members of the Central division of Major League Baseball's American League. The current manager of the Guardians is Stephen Vogt, who replaced Terry Francona after he stepped down at the end of the 2023 season.
Cleveland has had 47 managers in their major league history. Jimmy McAleer became the first manager of the then Cleveland Blues in 1901, serving for one season. In 1901, McAleer was replaced with Bill Armour. Cleveland made their first playoff appearance under Tris Speaker in 1920. Out of the seven managers that have led Cleveland into the postseason, only Speaker and Lou Boudreau have led Cleveland to World Series championships, doing so in 1920 and 1948, respectively. Al López (1954), Mike Hargrove (1995 and 1997) and Terry Francona (2016) have also appeared in World Series with Cleveland. The highest winning percentage of any manager who managed at least one season was López, with a percentage of .617. The lowest percentage was Johnny Lipon's .305 in 1971, although he managed for only 59 games. The lowest percentage of a manager with at least one season with Cleveland was McAleer's .397 in 1901.
Francona managed more regular season games (1,678) than any other Cleveland manager. Francona is also the winningest manager in Cleveland MLB history, with 921 wins. Charlie Manuel, Eric Wedge, Speaker, Boudreau, López, Hargrove and Francona are the only managers to have led Cleveland into the playoffs. Speaker, Boudreau, López, Walter Johnson, Joe Gordon, Nap Lajoie and Frank Robinson are the seven members of the Baseball Hall of Fame who are also former managers of this club. Of those seven, López is the only one inducted as a manager. Wedge and Francona are the only Cleveland managers to win the Manager of the Year award; Wedge in 2007, and Francona in 2013, 2016, and 2022.
Table key
WPct | Winning percentage: number of wins divided by number of games managed |
PA | Playoff appearances: number of years this manager has led the franchise to the playoffs |
PW | Playoff wins: number of wins this manager has accrued in the playoffs |
PL | Playoff losses: number of losses this manager has accrued in the playoffs |
WS | World Series: number of World Series victories achieved by this manager |
| † or ‡ | Elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame (‡ denotes induction as manager) |
Managers
Statistics current through the 2023 postseason.
| # | Manager | Seasons | Games | Wins | Losses | WPct | PA | PW | PL | WS | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jimmy McAleer | 1901 | 136 | 54 | 82 | .397 | — | — | — | — | |
| 2 | Bill Armour | 1902–1904 | 427 | 232 | 195 | .543 | — | — | — | — | |
| 3 | Nap Lajoie† | 1905 | 58 | 37 | 21 | .638 | — | — | — | — | |
| 4 | Bill Bradley | 1905 | 41 | 20 | 21 | .488 | — | — | — | — | |
| — | Nap Lajoie† | 1905–1909 | 628 | 340 | 288 | .541 | — | — | — | — | |
| 5 | Deacon McGuire | 1909–1911 | 208 | 91 | 117 | .438 | — | — | — | — | |
| 6 | George Stovall | 1911 | 136 | 74 | 62 | .544 | — | — | — | — | |
| 7 | Harry Davis | 1912 | 125 | 54 | 71 | .432 | — | — | — | — | |
| 8 | Joe Birmingham | 1912–1915 | 361 | 170 | 191 | .471 | — | — | — | — | |
| 9 | Lee Fohl | 1915–1919 | 637 | 327 | 310 | .513 | — | — | — | — | |
| 10 | Tris Speaker† | 1919–1926 | 1,137 | 617 | 520 | .543 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | |
| 11 | Jack McCallister | 1927 | 153 | 66 | 87 | .431 | — | — | — | — | |
| 12 | Roger Peckinpaugh | 1928–1933 | 817 | 415 | 402 | .508 | — | — | — | — | |
| 13 | Bibb Falk | 1933 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | — | — | — | — | |
| 14 | Walter Johnson† | 1933–1935 | 347 | 179 | 168 | .516 | — | — | — | — | |
| 15 | Steve O'Neill | 1935–1937 | 367 | 199 | 168 | .542 | — | — | — | — | |
| 16 | Ossie Vitt | 1938–1940 | 460 | 262 | 198 | .570 | — | — | — | — | |
| — | Roger Peckinpaugh | 1941 | 154 | 75 | 79 | .487 | — | — | — | — | |
| 17 | Lou Boudreau† | 1942–1950 | 1,377 | 728 | 649 | .529 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | |
| 18 | Al López‡ | 1951–1956 | 924 | 570 | 354 | .617 | 1 | 0 | 4 | — | |
| 19 | Kerby Farrell | 1957 | 153 | 76 | 77 | .497 | — | — | — | — | |
| 20 | Bobby Bragan | 1958 | 67 | 31 | 36 | .463 | — | — | — | — | |
| 21 | Joe Gordon† | 1958–1960 | 335 | 184 | 151 | .549 | — | — | — | — | |
| 22 | Jo-Jo White | 1960 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | — | — | — | — | |
| 23 | Jimmy Dykes | 1960–1961 | 218 | 103 | 115 | .472 | — | — | — | — | |
| 24 | Mel Harder | 1961 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | — | — | — | — | |
| 25 | Mel McGaha | 1962 | 160 | 78 | 82 | .488 | — | — | — | — | |
| — | Mel Harder | 1962 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | — | — | — | — | |
| 26 | Birdie Tebbetts | 1963 | 162 | 79 | 83 | .488 | — | — | — | — | |
| 27 | George Strickland | 1964 | 72 | 33 | 39 | .458 | — | — | — | — | |
| — | Birdie Tebbetts | 1964–1966 | 375 | 199 | 176 | .531 | — | — | — | — | |
| — | George Strickland | 1966 | 39 | 15 | 24 | .385 | — | — | — | — | |
| 28 | Joe Adcock | 1967 | 162 | 75 | 87 | .463 | — | — | — | — | |
| 29 | Alvin Dark | 1968–1971 | 587 | 266 | 321 | .453 | — | — | — | — | |
| 30 | Johnny Lipon | 1971 | 59 | 18 | 41 | .305 | — | — | — | — | |
| 31 | Ken Aspromonte | 1972–1974 | 480 | 220 | 260 | .458 | — | — | — | — | |
| 32 | Frank Robinson† | 1975–1977 | 375 | 186 | 189 | .496 | — | — | — | — | |
| 33 | Jeff Torborg | 1977–1979 | 358 | 157 | 201 | .439 | — | — | — | — | |
| 34 | Dave Garcia | 1979–1982 | 491 | 247 | 244 | .503 | — | — | — | — | |
| 35 | Mike Ferraro | 1983 | 100 | 40 | 60 | .400 | — | — | — | — | |
| 36 | Pat Corrales | 1983–1987 | 635 | 280 | 355 | .441 | — | — | — | — | |
| 37 | Doc Edwards | 1987–1989 | 380 | 173 | 207 | .455 | — | — | — | — | |
| 38 | John Hart | 1989 | 19 | 8 | 11 | .421 | — | — | — | — | |
| 39 | John McNamara | 1990–1991 | 239 | 102 | 137 | .427 | — | — | — | — | |
| 40 | Mike Hargrove | 1991–1999 | 1,312 | 721 | 591 | .550 | 5 | 27 | 25 | — | |
| 41 | Charlie Manuel | 2000–2002 | 410 | 220 | 190 | .537 | 1 | 2 | 3 | — | |
| 42 | Joel Skinner | 2002 | 76 | 35 | 41 | .461 | — | — | — | — | |
| 43 | Eric Wedge | 2003–2009 | 1,134 | 561 | 573 | .495 | 1 | 6 | 5 | — | |
| 44 | Manny Acta | 2010–2012 | 480 | 214 | 266 | .446 | — | — | — | — | |
| 45 | Sandy Alomar Jr. | 2012 | 6 | 3 | 3 | .500 | — | — | — | — | |
| 46 | Terry Francona | 2013–2023 | 1,678 | 921 | 757 | .548 | 6 | 16 | 17 | — | |
| 47 | Stephen Vogt | 2024–present | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Totals | 19,060 | 9,760 | 9,300 | .512 | 16 | 60 | 58 | 2 | |||
- Jimmy McAleer became the first manager of the then Cleveland Blues in 1901.
- Nap Lajoie served as player-manager from 1905 to 1909.
- Tris Speaker led the Indians to a World Championship in 1920.
- Mike Hargrove (seen here as the manager of the Seattle Mariners) led the Indians to five playoff appearances in the 1990s.
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