Former first baseman becomes manager, stabilizes the ship, wins three consecutive division titles, runs into a hot pitcher in the Division Series, loses his job.
Not Don Mattingly. Not yet.
It’s the Mike Hargrove story. His 1999 Cleveland Indians scored 1,009 runs in the regular season. They were more dangerous than even the ’95 Indians, who went 100-44 and lost a six-game World Series to Atlanta.
Cleveland won Games 1 and 2 in the American League Division Series and strutted into Boston. It lost to Pedro Martinez in Game 3, was battered 23-7 in Game 4, and lost Game 5 at home, 12-8, as Martinez entered the game in the fourth inning and never left.