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Ex-Tribe manager Hargrove: Indians in a ‘building process’
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Former Cleveland Indians manager Mike Hargrove speaks to those in attendance at the Scrappers’ All-Star lunch Tuesday afternoon.
By LARRY RINGLER
HOWLAND
Former Cleveland Indians manager Mike Hargrove knows the heartbreak of Cleveland sports all too well, but he urged patience with the current struggling baseball team.
“Obviously, we’re not as good as we thought we were early in the season, and we’re not as bad as we showed in the 11-game losing streak. It’s a building process,” the Indians’ special advisor said before speaking at the New York-Penn League All-Star luncheon at the Magnuson Grand Hotel Tuesday.
The Indians are the Major League parent of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, host of Tuesday night’s game at Eastwood Field, won by the NL.
Hargrove managed the Indians through one of Cleveland sports’ most gut-wrenching defeats, a 3-2 loss to the Florida Marlins in 11 innings in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series.
Hargrove said someone asked him afterward how long it took for him to get over the loss.
“I said as soon as it happens, I’ll let you know,” he said.
Hargrove said lack of depth in the starting pitching rotation and at key positions are factors in the current team’s slide from a 26-18 start through May 24 that put them on top of the division. The Tribe is 27-44 since, miring them in third place.
Whether some of the Scrappers can help the parent club in coming years, as one-time ace starter CC Sabathia and others have done over the years, remains to be seen.
“Grover” said the goal is to build a contender not for one or two years but for five or 10 years.
The product of a small Texas Panhandle town who scrapped his way into the major leagues had some advice for the young all-stars listening to him.
He told them mental toughness, even more than physical ability, is the “big separator.”
“You have a unique chance to play in the big leagues,” he said. “Don’t play ‘What ifs.’ What if you’d lost that extra pounds? What if you’d run that extra half-mile? Give it everything you’ve got to realize your dream. It’ll be worth it because the big league is a lot of fun.”