Eric Wedge is named the manager of the Cleveland Indians.

Wedge had posted four consecutive winning seasons out of five total years as a minor league manager in the Indians organization. At the age of 34, he became the youngest manager in Major League history who was not also on the team’s active roster as a player.

He played briefly in the Majors after being drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the third round of the 1989 amateur draft out of Wichita State University. He debuted on October 5, 1991, and singled in his first plate appearance, pinch-hitting for Jack Clark against Milwaukee’s Chris George. He would play in 27 games for the Red Sox in 1992, batting .250 with five homers and eleven RBI, but was selected by the Colorado Rockies as the 48th pick of the 1992 expansion draft. He did not fare as well relocated, hitting just .182 in eleven at bats of nine games while spending the bulk of the year at Triple-A Colorado Springs. He was released by the Rockies at the end of Spring Training in 1994 and would re-sign with the Red Sox at the beginning of May. He would appear in two games, striking out in three of his seven plate appearances in his final games in the Majors. He logged three more years of action at the Triple-A level, primarily playing first base for Pawtucket (Boston) in 1995, Toledo (Detroit) in 1996, and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Philadelphia) in 1997.

Two of the players on the Cleveland roster heading in to the 2003 season, Ellis Burks and Omar Vizquel, were both older than their new manager.