Richard Eugene Manning (born September 2, 1954) is a former center fielder and current broadcaster in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB), who played for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

(1975-) and Milwaukee Brewers (1983–1987), and has been a

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main ( play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and ...

for

Cleveland Guardians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

telecasts since 1990.

Major league career

Manning, who was the second overall selection in the 1972 MLB draft, made his major league debut with the Indians during the 1975 season. In 1976, he was recognized for his defensive play by winning the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

Gold Glove Award. Manning had a romantic involvement with teammate

Dennis Eckersley Dennis Lee Eckersley (born October 3, 1954), nicknamed "Eck", is an American professional baseball pitcher and former color commentator. Between 1975 and 1998, he pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, ...

's wife, Denise; they eventually married, and then divorced. This may have led to the Indians' front office's decision to trade one of the players; there were other "official" and "unofficial" reasons given. Eckersley, a future Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher, was traded with

Fred Kendall Fred Lyn Kendall (born January 31, 1949) is an American former professional baseball player and coach who appeared in 877 games, primarily as a catcher, in Major League Baseball from to for the San Diego Padres, Cleveland Indians and Boston Red ...

on March 30, 1978, to the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

for Rick Wise, Mike Paxton,

Bo Díaz Baudilio José Díaz Seijas (March 23, 1953 – November 23, 1990) was a Venezuelan professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from to , most prominently with the Cleveland Indians where he rose to prominence ...

and Ted Cox. After playing five more seasons with the Indians, Manning was traded along with Rick Waits to the Milwaukee Brewers for Gorman Thomas, Jamie Easterly and Ernie Camacho on June 6, 1983. As a member of the Brewers, he hit a 10th-inning single on August 26, 1987 as the Brewers defeated the Indians 1-0. Brewers fans actually booed Manning for driving in the winning run because

Paul Molitor Paul Leo Molitor (born August 22, 1956), nicknamed "Molly" and "the Ignitor", is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) player and former manager of the Minnesota Twins, who is in the Baseball Hall of Fame. During his 21-year baseball car ...

was on deck and looking to extend his 39-game hit streak. Manning's walk-off single deprived Molitor of one last chance to reach 40 games as he went 0-for-4 in the contest.

Career highlights

On May 15, 1981, Manning caught Ernie Whitt's fly ball, the final out of Len Barker's perfect game, in one of the most memorable images in Cleveland sports history; the Indians defeated the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

3-0.

Broadcasting career

Since 1990, he has served as a color commentator for Indians telecasts. Manning has the longest tenure of any television announcer in team history. Manning can be seen doing Guardians games on Bally Sports Great Lakes (alongside Matt Underwood). He resides in

Chesterland, Ohio Chesterland is a census-designated place (CDP) in Geauga County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a population of 2,521. History A post office called "Chester Cross Roads" was established in 1826, and the name was changed t ...

during the season, and Scottsdale, Arizona in the offseason. He also occasionally provides color commentary on regional broadcasts for ''

Major League Baseball on FOX ''MLB on Fox'' (also known as ''Fox MLB'') is an American presentation of Major League Baseball (MLB) games produced by Fox Sports, the sports division of the Fox Broadcasting Company (Fox), since June 1, 1996. The broadcaster has aired the Worl ...

'', mainly when FOX shows a Guardians game.

Awards

*1976 American League Gold Glove Award (Center Field) *1980 BBWAA (Baseball Writers' Association of America) Good Guy Award *2014 Cleveland Association of Broadcasters Excellence in Broadcasting Award * Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame (class of 2017) *2018 Lower Great Lakes Emmy Award winner as part of the Indians broadcast team

References

External links