Audio: Manny Acta

(Cleveland) - The Cleveland Indians and Manager Manny Acta Tuesday announced the hiring of Sandy Alomar, Jr., as First Base Coach.

Alomar, 43, spent eleven (11) seasons catching with the Cleveland Indians from 1990-2000 where he was a six-time All-Star selection and last summer was the 33rd player to be inducted into the Indians Hall of Fame. During his tenure with the Indians, Alomar hit .277 (944-3409) with 194 doubles, 92 home runs and 453 RBI in 985 games and was the Tribe’s field leader behind the plate on club’s that won five (5) American League Central Division titles and two (2) American League Pennants.

One of the most popular players in club history, Alomar’s best season came during the Tribe’s run to the 1997 World Series when he hit .324 (146-451) with 37 2B, 21HR and 83 RBI in 125 games, earning All-Star Game MVP honors and finishing 14th in the AL MVP voting. His 950 games caught are the third highest total in the 109-year history of the Indians organization. Sandy concluded his 20-year Major League playing career with the New York Mets in 2007 and finished with a career average of .273 (1236-4530) with 249 2B, 112HR & 588RBI in 1377 games. He was the 1990 American League Rookie of the Year and the Rawlings Gold Glove Award recipient that same season.

Alomar spent the last two seasons as the New York Mets Major League Catching Instructor. Additionally, Alomar will mentor and instruct Indians catchers as well.

(Copyright © 2009 Clear Channel. Photo by Getty Images. All rights reserved.)

 Click here to see the 2010 exhibition schedule

(Cleveland) - The Cleveland Indians Monday announced the 2010 Cactus League exhibition schedule at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, AZ.

The Spring Training schedule opens with a weekend slate featuring two games in Goodyear Ballpark against the Cincinnati Reds and a Sunday home game against the Texas Rangers.

The Indians are scheduled to play a total of 32 (15 home/17 road) spring exhibition games in 2010. The Tribe will break 2010 spring training in Arizona following the April 3 game against Cincinnati at Goodyear Ballpark before traveling to face the Chicago White Sox in Chicago in the 2010 regular season opener on April 5.

(Copyright © 2009 Clear Channel. All rights reserved.)

CLEVELAND, OH – The Cleveland Indians Friday announced the hiring of Tim Belcher as Major League Pitching Coach.

Belcher, 48, has spent the last eight (8) seasons in the Indians organization as a Special Assistant to Baseball Operations. In that role Tim worked extensively within the Indians Player Development System, providing instruction and evaluation at each level of the organization. He also spent a considerable amount of time scouting players from outside of the organization and for the last several years provided advance scouting reports to the Major League staff. 

Belcher has assisted the Major League pitching coach during each of his spring training camps during his tenure and at various points served as interim pitching coach at each level (AAA, AA, A) of the Indians system.

The Sparta, Ohio native compiled a major league pitching record of 146-140 with a 4.16 ERA over a 14-year career from 1987-2000 with seven major league teams and 373 starts (394G, 2442.2IP, 2423H, 1130ER, 1519SO). He won 10 or more games in 9 of his 14 seasons at the big league level, topped the 200.0 innings pitched mark 7 times and finished in the top 10 in his respective league’s ERA on 3 different occasions. His 2442.2 big league innings are the most of any active pitching coaching in the Major Leagues at present.

Belcher was an All-American pitcher at Nazarene University in Mount Vernon, Ohio before winning The Sporting News National League Rookie Pitcher of the Year honors in 1988 with the World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers (won Game 4 of the WS for LA). The following season with LA he led the National League in complete games (10) and shutouts (8).

He was the first overall pick in both the 1983 June amateur draft (Minnesota) and the 1984 January secondary phase amateur draft (NY Yankees).

Tim is the first member of Manny Acta's Major League Coaching Staff. Acta was named the 40th manager of the Cleveland Indians on October 25.

(Copyright © 2009 Clear Channel. All rights reserved.)

Associated Press NEW YORK -- Paint the town in pinstripes! Nearly a decade after their dynasty ended on a blooper in the desert, the New York Yankees are baseball's best again. Hideki Matsui tied a World Series record with six RBIs, Andy Pettitte won on short rest and New York beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 in Game 6 on Wednesday night, finally seizing that elusive 27th title. It was the team's first since winning three straight from 1998-2000. Matsui powered a quick rout of old foe Pedro Martinez -- and when Mariano Rivera got the final out it was ecstasy in the Bronx for George Steinbrenner's go-for-broke bunch. What a way for Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and crew to christen their $1.5 billion ballpark: One season, one championship. And to think it capped a season that started in turmoil -- a steroids scandal involving A-Rod, followed by hip surgery that kept him out until May. About 100 miles south, disappointment. For Chase Utley and the Phillies, it was a frustrating end to another scintillating season. Philadelphia fell two wins short of becoming the first NL team to repeat as World Series champions since the 1975-76 Cincinnati Reds. Ryan Howard's sixth-inning homer came too late to wipe away his World Series slump, and Phillies pitchers rarely managed to slow Matsui and the Yankees' machine. In a fitting coincidence, this championship came eight years to the day after the Yankees lost Game 7 of the 2001 World Series in Arizona on Luis Gonzalez's broken-bat single off Rivera. New York spent billions trying to get back. At long last, it did. Hey Babe and Yogi, Mr. October and Joltin' Joe -- you've got company. Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia and a new generation of Yankees have procured their place in pinstriped lore. And for the four amigos, it was ring No. 5. Jorge Posada, Jeter, Pettitte and Rivera came up together through the minors and were cornerstones for those four titles in five years starting in 1996. Now, all on the other side of age 35, they have another success to celebrate. And surely they remember the familiar parade route, up Broadway through the Canyon of Heroes. Indeed, a New York City-sized party is next. Nine years in the making, with all the glitz and glamour this tony town can offer. For Steinbrenner, it was the seventh championship since he bought the team in 1973. The Yankees had talked about winning another for their 79-year-old owner, who has been in declining health. Though he stayed back home in Tampa, Fla., he certainly wasn't forgotten. The grounds crew wore "Win it for The Boss" shirts last week, which were on sale outside the ballpark Wednesday. New York wasted its chance to wrap things up in Game 5 at Philadelphia, then set its sights on clinching the World Series at home for the first time since 1999. While nine years between titles is hardly a drought for most teams, it was almost an eternity in Yankeeland. New York's eight seasons without a championship was the third-longest stretch for the Yankees since their first one, following gaps of 17 (1979-95) and 14 (1963-76). Reggie Jackson's three homers in Game 6 against the Los Angeles Dodgers made the Yankees champs in '77. On this November night, Matsui delivered a sublime performance at the plate that must have made Mr. October proud. Playing perhaps his final game with the Yankees, Matsui hit a two-run homer off Martinez in the second inning and a two-run single on an 0-2 pitch in the third. A slumping Teixeira added an RBI single in the fifth off reliever Chad Durbin, and Matsui cracked a two-run double off the right-center fence against lefty J.A. Happ. A designated hitter with balky knees, Matsui came off the bench in all three games at Philadelphia. Still, he had a huge Series, going 8 for 13 (.615) with three homers and eight RBIs. His go-ahead shot off an effective Martinez in Game 2 helped the Yankees tie it 1-all. Bobby Richardson was the only other player with six RBIs in a World Series game, doing it for the Yankees in Game 3 against Pittsburgh in 1960. Richardson had a first-inning grand slam and a two-run single in the fourth. Matsui's big hits built a comfortable cushion for a feisty Pettitte, who shouted at plate umpire Joe West while coming off the field in the fourth. Still, Pettitte extended major league records with his 18th postseason win and sixth to end a series. The 37-year-old left-hander, pitching on three days' rest, became the first pitcher to start and win the clincher in all three postseason rounds. He beat Minnesota and the Los Angeles Angels in the AL playoffs. Pettitte lasted 5 2-3 innings, allowing three runs, four hits and five walks. Joba Chamberlain and Damaso Marte combined for 1 2-3 innings of scoreless relief before Rivera secured the final five outs. It had been nearly a half-century since players had won five titles with one team. The last to do it? Of course a bunch of Yankees: Yogi Berra (10 titles), Mickey Mantle (seven) and Whitey Ford (six) in 1962, according to STATS LLC. For second-year manager Joe Girardi, a three-time Yankees champion as a player, it was the fulfillment of a mission. When he succeeded Joe Torre in October 2007, Girardi chose uniform No. 27, putting his quest on his back for all to see. His tenure didn't start out so well, with New York missing the playoffs in its final season at old Yankee Stadium following 13 consecutive appearances. Steinbrenner's well-paid players hadn't soaked themselves in bubbly after the season since Bernie Williams gloved Mike Piazza's midnight flyout at Shea Stadium to win the 2000 Subway Series and cap the Yankees' third straight championship and fourth in five years. Two outs from winning in 2001, the Yankees stumbled in the desert. New York then spent more than $1.6 billion after that trying to regain glory, falling short with infamous flops such as Kevin Brown, Javier Vazquez and Carl Pavano. But last offseason the Yankees got smart, adding a trio of top free agents -- Teixeira, Sabathia and A.J. Burnett -- for $423.5 million. They jelled with Rodriguez, the game's highest-paid player but a winner for the first time in 16 major league seasons. A-Rod became a newly minted champion following a sordid spring in which he admitted using steroids from 2001-03 with Texas and then needed hip surgery. Maybe now, demanding fans in the Bronx will consider him a true Yankee. NOTES: Howard set a World Series record with 13 strikeouts. ... Derek Jeter batted .423 in the Series. ... Teixeira had been 2 for 20 before his RBI single in the fifth. ... It was the fourth time Rivera got the final out of a World Series. ... Yankees LF Johnny Damon left after three innings with a strained right calf. ... All-Star CF Shane Victorino was in Philadelphia's lineup despite an injured index finger. Victorino was hit on the right hand by A.J. Burnett's fastball early in Game 5 and removed in the eighth inning.

Associated Press NEW YORK -- Mark Teixeira and Hideki Matsui shook the New York Yankees from their lumber slumber and sent the World Series to Philadelphia all tied up. Teixeira and Matsui hit solo homers off familiar foe Pedro Martinez, backing a sharp performance by A.J. Burnett and giving the Yankees a 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 2 on Thursday night. "Every game in the World Series is a must win," Teixeira said. "After yesterday, getting a win today was big." A night after getting stopped by Cliff Lee in the opener 6-1, the Yanks bounced back from an early deficit and won in the Series for the first time since taking a 2-1 lead against Florida in 2003. After a day off, Game 3 will be at Philadelphia on Saturday night. The Phillies had been hoping for more than a split but were content. "I guess I'll have to be," manager Charlie Manuel said. Light-hitting Matt Stairs put the Phillies on top with an RBI single in the second. Burnett then used a biting curveball to keep Philadelphia from advancing another runner past second base against him. Teixeira, in an 8-for-44 (.182) postseason slump, tied the score when he led off the fourth with a drive into the Yankees bullpen in right field. Matsui then put New York ahead with two outs in the sixth, reaching down for a curveball below his knees and driving it a few rows into the seats in right. Burnett got his first win following three postseason no-decisions for the Yankees, allowing four hits in seven innings and retiring his last eight batters. He struck out nine, -- including Ryan Howard three times -- and started his first 11 hitters with strikes, nine of them looking. Burnett kept his control, walking two, one of them intentional. "The fact I was aggressive getting first-pitch strikes was huge," Burnett said. Mariano Rivera got six outs for his 38th postseason save, his 10th in World Series play. After the Phillies put two on with one out in the eighth, Game 1 star Chase Utley grounded into an inning-ending double play. He fanned Howard looking starting the ninth -- the Philadelphia slugger's first four-strikeout game since July 21 -- then struck out Stairs with a runner at second to end it. Philadelphia, seeking to become the NL's first repeat Series champion since the 1975-76 Reds, lost for just the fifth time in 22 postseason games. The Phillies managed three runs in 14 innings off two starters, CC Sabathia and Burnett. New York won despite getting nothing from Alex Rodriguez. After carrying the Yankees in the playoffs against the Twins and Angels, he is 0 for 8 in his first Series appearance and struck out three times for the second straight night. When the Series resumes, Cole Hamels starts Game 3 for the Phillies against Andy Pettitte in an all-lefty matchup. Both teams will be making the trip through New Jersey by train. Twenty-eight of the 53 teams that won Game 2 to tie the Series went on to win the title -- but just one of the last six, the 2002 Angels. There was another umpiring controversy. With two on and one out in the seventh, first base ump Brian Gorman ruled Howard reached down, caught Johnny Damon's liner and turned a double play. A slow-motion replay appeared to show the first baseman gloved the ball on a short hop. The always entertaining Martinez, pitching four days past his 38th birthday, was nearly as effective as the 32-year-old Burnett, fooling the Yankees with breaking pitches of 70-75 mph. In his first Series start since winning Game 3 for Boston five years ago, he allowed three runs and six hits in six-plus innings, striking out eight and walking two. There were a few muted chants of "Who's Your Daddy?" but nothing like the booming taunts that serenaded Martinez when he came to New York in his final weeks with Boston in 2004. That was after he famously said, "I just tip my hat and call the Yankees my daddy" following a loss at Fenway Park. "I knew it was going to be crazy," Burnett said. "I knew he was going to be on his game. I focus on myself, but you can't help but watch his game. It's the funnest I've had on the field." After singles by Jerry Hairston Jr. and Melky Cabrera put runners at the corners and no outs in the seventh, Martinez came out, pointing at the sky, tapping a fist on his heart and smiling at the crowd. Jorge Posada pinch hit for Jose Molina and singled up the middle off Chan Ho Park for a 3-1 lead. Several moves by Yankees manager Joe Girardi paid off. Molina made his fourth straight postseason start as Burnett's personal catcher and picked off Jayson Werth at first base after a leadoff single in the fourth -- the Phillies next-to-last baserunner off Burnett. Hairston made his first postseason start for the Yankees as the replacement for Nick Swisher, batting just .114 (4 for 35) in the postseason. Hairston, who hadn't started in right field since July 21, had good numbers against Martinez (10 for 27) but had not faced him since 2004. Philadelphia broke on top for the second straight game. Raul Ibanez blooped an opposite-field double just on the left-field line with two outs in the second. Stairs, who took over at designated hitter when Ibanez shifted from DH to left in place of Ben Francisco, followed with a one-hop single off the glove of Rodriguez at third. A-Rod could have come up with the smash by Stairs, who had been in a 4-for-51 (.078) slide dating to July 1. Since June 25, Stairs' only RBIs had been on a solo home run against Pittsburgh on July 11 and a grand slam at Washington on Sept. 10. Ibanez made a diving catch on Robinson Cano with a runner at first in the second to prevent a possible RBI double. Game notes Derek Jeter was presented the Roberto Clemente Award, given annually to a player who combines community service with excellence on the field. ... Utley walked in the second and has reached in a record 27 consecutive postseason games since going 0 for 4 in his debut in 2007.

NEW YORK – Carl Willis, who would be CC Sabathia’s first professional pitching coach, and Mike Brown, minor league pitching coordinator for the Cleveland Indians, drove 40 miles west from Burlington, N.C., to greet their first-round pick, who was flying from Northern California to Greensboro on the Fourth of July, 1998. Sabathia, not yet 18, would be their responsibility. Neither knew Sabathia, but of course knew of him, the reports of his blazing fastball and uncommon maturity. So it was with an earnest sense of duty they’d traveled in Brown’s car and stood shoulder to shoulder at the airport, waiting to greet the future of the Indians’ pitching staff, even their organization. Yankees Game 1 starter CC Sabathia has a 1.19 ERA with 20 strikeouts and a 3-0 record in the ’09 playoffs. The door opened and passengers streamed into the gate area. Mostly, one after another, they were little people. A dozen, then another dozen, more. Finally, Willis turned to Brown and nodded toward one of the gentlemen of short stature. “Suppose that’s him?” he asked. Brown grinned. Just then, every bit of 6-foot-7 ducked through the door. Sabathia spotted them immediately, two baseball guys standing together, and they him. They each hauled a bag and stowed them in the car trunk. Sabathia sat in the front, Willis, the former big league pitcher, in the back. “I knew my place,” Willis would say, chuckling. Sabathia’s education would start on that 45-minute drive back to Burlington, Willis and Brown carrying the conversation, Sabathia nervously and gamely answering their questions. They went straight to the little Appalachian rookie league ballpark, where Sabathia stretched and threw a bullpen session. They all went for something to eat and talked some more. Fewer than three years later, Sabathia reached the big leagues. A year after that, the Indians traded for another left-hander, tall but not Sabathia tall, full of fastball but not quite Sabathia fast. Cliff Lee(notes) arrived from Montreal (with Grady Sizemore(notes), among others) for two players, including Bartolo Colon(notes). After he’d made a few starts in Double-A Akron, the Indians sent Lee to Triple-A Buffalo and to his new pitching coach, Carl Willis. Two months later, Lee, too, had reached the major leagues, if only for a taste. By 2004, Sabathia and Lee were helping lead the Indians’ pitching staff, Willis as their pitching coach. That is how they stayed until Cleveland would no longer pay them. Sabathia, who would win the American League Cy Young Award in 2007, was dealt three weeks before the 2008 trading deadline. Lee, who won the award in 2008, was traded to the Phillies at the 2009 deadline. And Willis, who’d helped nurture and polish them both, was fired along with the rest of Eric Wedge’s staff with a week remaining in this regular season and the Indians. So it is that Sabathia and Lee will oppose each other in Game 1 of the World Series, Sabathia for the Yankees, Lee for the Phillies, both of them at Yankee Stadium. And so it is that Willis will be in front of his television set in Durham, N.C., praying neither fails. “What they’re trying to do, I’m going to be so excited,” said Willis, who pitched nine seasons and won a World Series as a reliever for the 1991 Minnesota Twins. “From the first pitch from CC, to Cliff sprinting out of the dugout before the bottom of the first, if I could have a wish for an outcome, they’d both go nine, have it nothing-nothing after nine, then turn it over to the bullpens.” A young man is raised in an organization, sometimes raised by the organization, and he views the game through it. Teammates become brothers. When Sabathia lost his way in 2005, getting bombed in four mid-season starts, Lee stood by in the bullpen of an opposing club while Sabathia and Willis worked through new mechanics, hoping to find the answer. Lee won 18 games that season, and Sabathia learned the slider he has now. When Lee spent most of 2007 losing games or in the minor leagues or both, Sabathia constantly called him with encouragement. Sabathia won 19 games that season, and Lee learned that throwing harder wasn’t always throwing better, and made more of a commitment to change speeds. “We’re close,” Sabathia said. “It’s just weird because a couple years ago we were talking about maybe pitching in a World Series together. Now we’re in different clubhouses. It’s just a little weird. But, it’ll be fun.” Willis will watch as a father might over two sons. He knew them when they were raw and they needed him. One at a time he’d hugged them and wished them well. And they’ll hope to establish their fastballs on both sides of the plate. “We talked about it so much,” Willis said. They’ll think about pitching well enough to give their teams a chance to win. Nothing is given. Just pitch, then let the game finish how it will. “So much,” Willis said, “is out of their control.” They’ll both pitch hard inside, confident and unafraid. “Their approach,” Willis said, “is very much the same.” But not exactly the same. “The glaring difference,” he said, “other than CC’s size, CC obviously has more velocity and because of that velocity and life he may be able to get away with the occasional mistakes a little more often than Cliff will. And Cliff has that top-to-bottom, spike breaking ball that is much more consistent than it used to be.” By “spike,” Willis was referring to Lee’s grip, in which his index finger curls under itself, raising his knuckle off the baseball. Lee has that, Sabathia has the devastating changeup, and they’ll take turns on the mound once, maybe twice, maybe even three times in this Series. “Wow,” Willis said. “To watch these two guys, them pitching on the biggest stage in baseball, to already have seen them control each and every game they’ve pitched, has been amazing. They have been the deciding factor in every game they pitched, no matter the team or the bad weather. It’s, I don’t know, I sit back and I can’t believe I was a part of these two guys. Hey, I’m biased, but they’re the best two starting pitchers in the game. I really believe that.” -Tim Brown Yahoo Sports

CLEVELAND -- Manny Acta had two choices for his second job managing in the majors. He picked Cleveland over Houston, where his baseball career began. Acta, Washington's former manager who turned down a chance to return to the Astros, was introduced as Cleveland's 40th manager on Monday. Acta signed a three-year contract with the Indians, who outbid the Astros over the weekend for the 40-year-old. "This is a perfect place for me," Acta said. "That's why I'm here. I'm attracted to all these talented young players. I'm looking forward to teaching and leading them and helping this team win a championship." Acta spent 2½ years with the Nationals, who fired him after a 21-61 start this season. He compiled a 158-252 record in Washington, but was confident he would get another chance. Indians general manager Mark Shapiro said Acta's win-loss record became less of a factor as they learned more about him. Cleveland began with an initial list of 35 candidates, which the club whittled to about 10 before inviting Acta, former New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine and Torey Lovullo, the Indians' Triple-A manager, to Cleveland for second interviews. The team had also planned to interview Los Angeles Dodgers hitting coach Don Mattingly a second time. But when the Astros made an offer to Acta, the Indians jumped in and negotiated with his agent before agreeing to a contract on Saturday night. "I knew we might lose him because he got offered a job," Shapiro said. "They offered him a job first while we were still working through our process. We just sped up our time frame, since we were headed in that direction." During the club's search, Shapiro said the team kept getting the same positive feedback on Acta. "When you look at the resume and the characteristics of the person, you combine those and put them into our situation, he's the right man for this organization," Shapiro said. "He's the right man for this city and he's the right man for our team." Acta said he didn't sense the Indians' strong interest in him until they offered the job. "These people are very good poker players," he said. Acta's losing record is a stain on his resume he would like to erase. But he's not the first manager to begin slowly and hopes he can one day be viewed as nothing but a winner. "If you give people the opportunity to chose between Joe Torre after his first three years with the Mets or Joe Torre now, I believe everyone would pick Joe Torre now. Not everybody who is a big shot now was a big shot when they started. Big shots are little shots who keep shooting. "I'm willing to keep shooting until I become a big shot." Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press