CLEVELAND — American League manager Alex Cora and National League skipper Dave Roberts have a lot in common, including their love of the game of baseball, their ability to manage at a high level and a connection to the Cleveland Indians.
Both Cora and Roberts were members of the Indians organization during their playing careers, and both reflected on that fact ahead of tonight’s All-Star Game at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
“Great organization when I was here,” Cora said of his brief stay with the Indians during the 2005 season. “Mark (Shapiro) was running it and Eric Wedge was the manager. I was just here two-and-a-half months.”
Although Cora’s stint in Cleveland lasted just 49 games, the 14-year veteran player turned World Series-winning manager appreciated the opportunity to play for the very same organization as a fellow Puerto Rico native who built a Hall of Fame resume with the Indians, Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles.
“Always had respect for the organization,” Cora said. “One of my favorite players -- well, my favorite player, Robbie Alomar, he played here, so just watching those teams dominate the AL Central and the way they did it and just watching Robbie do his thing here was fun to watch.
“It's a great place. You remember the stadium being packed. And the energy that those teams had, it was amazing to watch, and they traded me to the Red Sox, so probably that trade set all this up. You never know how things happen. I was very appreciative to the Indians to give me a chance to keep playing, and then, just kept going after that.”
Roberts began his MLB playing career with the Indians at the end of their dominant run through the American League Central Division in the mid and late 1990s after going through the farm system.
“For me, parts of three years here,” Roberts recalled. “I remember staying with a host family in Akron, playing in Double-A, the Buchanans hosted me during the season.
“It's really where I understood Big League baseball. Whether it's Robbie Alomar, whether it's Travis Fryman, Jim Thome, whomever, these guys taught me how to be a Big Leaguer, and the fan base, the Midwest, supports the Indians to the end.
“So to come back here, have my first Major League homer at this ballpark and to kind of see -- being a manager, representing the National League, to take a page from Hyun-Jin Ryu, it's surreal. I'm very grateful.”
Managing in the 2019 MLB All-Star Game has added significance for Roberts, as one of his mentors, former Indians player/manager Frank Robinson, passed away just prior to the start of spring training this year.
Robinson was the first African-American manager in Major League Baseball history.
“I know that Frank is definitely looking down on me,” Roberts said. “He was a good friend of mine, a mentor and shared a lot of thoughts and stories with me.
“My Major League career started in Cleveland. There's a lot of layers to this experience for me, whether it's my African-American side, Japanese side, you know, our starting pitcher is from South Korea. So there's a lot of good things that people can kind of relate to our game.
“For me, for Frank, for his family, yeah, I definitely will have a moment where I'll look up and give him a little thumbs up.”
