Did Tribe Make Right Decision?

CLEVELAND, Updated 4:50 p.m. EDT July 11, 2002 -- Tribe manager Charlie Manuel has been fired.

NewsChannel5 has learned that the team has relieved Manuel, 58, of his duties, effective Thursday.

General Manager Mark Shapiro addressed the media at a 4 p.m. press conference and made the official announcement. Third-base coach Joel Skinner has been named interim manager.

Manuel is in the final year of his contract with the disappointing Indians, who enter the season's second half Thursday night at 39-47. They're 9.5 games behind division-leading Minnesota.

Manuel was seen on his way to the parking garage at Jacobs Field a few hours before the Indians opened a three-game series with the New York Yankees.

Manuel is the seventh manager in Major League Baseball to lose his job this season.

The Indians have sputtered offensively this season after trading Roberto Alomar and not re-signing Juan Gonzalez. Owner Larry Dolan apparently told Shapiro to trim $15 million off last season's $91 million payroll.

As the team has scored fewer runs, fan support has dwindled. The normally sold-out Jacobs Field has seen some of its smallest crowds this season since the park opened in 1994.

Manuel was in the final year of his contract after Cleveland exercised his option in October.

Manuel had hoped to get an extension and stay with the defending AL Central champions, who have looked nothing like the Cleveland clubs that have won six titles in seven years.

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He met with Shapiro after returning from Milwaukee on Wednesday and talked with Dolan on Thursday, the source said.

"Charlie felt strongly that now was the time to make a long-term commitment to him going forward," Indians general manager Mark Shapiro said at the press conference. "I felt strongly with the changes that have been made, with the uncertain ground we're on for the rest of the season ... I wasn't ready in that environment to make that commitment."

Shapiro told Manuel he wanted him to stay on for the rest of the season, but Manuel insisted on a longer commitment.

"I told him yesterday to go home and think it over. He came back today and hadn't changed his position. He was adamant," Shapiro said. "But there was no animosity. I told him how much I wanted him to stay. I brought Larry Dolan in and he tried to talk him into staying also. But I couldn't go with the pressure right now at this moment, so I had to make this decision."

Manuel spoke with NewsChannel5 Thursday afternoon.

"It's tough to walk away from the players," he said.

The Indians started the season 11-1, but injuries and a lack of production in key spots has led to their freefall.

Cleveland moved into a rebuilding phase last month when it traded ace Bartolo Colon to Montreal. The Indians are looking to make other deals before the July 31 deadline as they rebuild with young position players and a strong pitching staff.

Manuel was in his third season after replacing Mike Hargrove in November 1999.

The Indians won 90 games under Manuel in 2000 but failed to win the Central and make the playoffs for the first time since 1995.

They won 91 games in his second season, reclaiming the division from Chicago, but were knocked out of the playoffs by Seattle in the first round.

Manuel, who underwent heart surgery while with the team as a coach, suffered health problems in his first two seasons as manager, battling an infected colon.

He missed 13 games during the 2001 season because of colon surgery, and wasn't with the club to celebrate when it clinched the Central.

Manuel had a 210-190 record with the Indians, who finished the season's first half as the AL's worst hitting club.

It was Manuel who helped keep Cleveland's prolific offense in tune from 1994 to 1999 as the team's hitting coach.

With a lineup featuring Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome, Cleveland led the AL in homers twice and runs scored three times in the '90s. The Indians scored 1,009 runs in 1999, becoming the first team since the 1950 Boston Red Sox to surpass 1,000 runs.

Manuel also served as the Indians hitting coach from 1988-89 and managed the team's Triple-A affiliate from 1990-93.

He had just 73 hits and four home runs in his six-year major league career with the Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Dodgers, but found success playing in Japan where he hit 189 homers in six seasons from 1976-81.