Wedge was fired Wednesday as manager of the Cleveland Indians, who are in the final days of a terrible season that began with enormous expectations.

Despite
being told he would not be back next season, Wedge will manage the last
six games of his seventh year with Cleveland, which entered Wednesday’s
doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox one game out of last place
in the AL Central.

“I still wanted to finish what we started this year,” said Wedge, who led the Indians
to one playoff appearance since 2003 and went through two rebuilding
projects with the midmarket club. “I felt it was the right thing to do.
It’s been a long run here as managers go. It will be a tough day.”

General
manager Mark Shapiro said he and owners Larry and Paul Dolan came to a
collective decision on Wedge’s future “fairly recently” and that
Cleveland’s coaches were told Tuesday night that they would not be
retained for the 2010 season. Wedge is under contract for 2010.

Wedge’s
firing had been rumored for weeks, and although him still being around
makes for an awkward situation, he’s glad to have some resolution.

“It’s been a big elephant in the room for a while,” he said.

After
leaving the interview room at Progressive Field, Wedge headed back to
his office to begin preparing for his final two home games. It was a
strange scene as he walked down the corridor. He was passed by several
White Sox players who said hello and seemed surprised to see him still
wearing his Chief Wahoo cap.

Shapiro refused to discuss any specifics about why Wedge was dismissed. The Indians
were plagued by slow starts throughout the 41-year-old’s tenure and
this season they couldn’t overcome some early injuries and an atrocious
bullpen that blew games in April and May.

Cleveland also recently
went on an 11-game losing streak and has dropped 20 of its last 25, a
tailspin that likely sealed Wedge’s fate.

Shapiro said the Indians
will begin their search for a new manager soon. Among names that figure
to be mentioned are Boston pitching coach John Farrell, former Indians manager Mike Hargrove, former Arizona manager Buck Showalter and Torey Lovullo, who managed the Indians‘ Triple-A Columbus franchise.

All-Star
center fielder Grady Sizemore, who battled an elbow injury before
having surgery earlier this month, said replacing Wedge will be
difficult.

“Eric had all the qualities you want,” Sizemore said.
“You don’t want to lose a man like Eric. He’s respected by his peers,
his players, everybody in the game.”

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen expressed sympathy for Wedge.

“As
a manager, you don’t want to see that happen,” Guillen said. “A lot of
things went against him — players being hurt, trades. Somebody had to
pay the price. It’s something you wish that never happens to you.”

Cleveland
has a long history of hiring within the organization. Wedge was a
three-time manager of the year in Cleveland’s system before being
promoted. The last time the Indians went outside was in 1990, when they hired John McNamara.

Shapiro and Wedge enjoyed a close working relationship, and the GM said firing the AL’s 2007 manager of the year was stressful.

“This
is obviously an announcement that I never envisioned having to make,”
he said. “I was hopeful that this wasn’t going to come.”

Two years ago, Cleveland was one win away from a World Series trip. The Indians
fell to 81-81 in 2008, but were expected to bounce back and contend
this season. However, a slow start snowballed and by midseason the
financially strapped club, which is projected to lose at least $16
million this season, traded defending Cy Young winner Cliff Lee and
All-Star catcher Victor Martinez to begin rebuilding again.

Those
moves triggered outrage among Cleveland’s fans and led to questions
about why the team would deal its best players a full season before
they were eligible for free agency.

Paul Dolan acknowledged that Wedge wasn’t solely responsible for the team’s slide.

“The
managers often become the fall guy for what is an organizational
failure, that’s the tried and true way of baseball,” he said. “We will
continue to look at ourselves and look for ways to improve beyond the
manager and the coaching staff. But this was the one area that we can
address right now with a change.”

Dolan believes Cleveland’s next
manager will be stepping into a better situation than Wedge inherited
in 2003, when the club was coming off a 74-win season and was
dismantled.

“We will look for somebody that has some of the
strengths that Eric has,” he said. “Eric was a very good manager and
will be a very good manager again someday.”

Wedge’s style was
never embraced by Cleveland fans, who often criticized his strategy and
nose-to-the-grindstone approach. Shapiro didn’t understand why Wedge
wasn’t more popular in a working-class town.

“He’s very
consistent with the values of northeast Ohio,” he said. “He’s a
blue-collar worker, a hard-nosed guy, extremely honest and consistent.
This is an entertainment business and maybe he wasn’t flamboyant
enough. Fans want to feel the emotion and Eric, to protect the players,
didn’t do that.”

As the Indians dressed for the final time at home this season, there was a mixture of relief and sadness at Wedge’s dismissal.

“I’m
disappointed,” catcher Kelly Shoppach said. “He’s taking all the blame.
He always has for us. He has never thrown any of us under the bus. I
have nothing but respect for him.”

With six games left, Wedge has compiled a 560-568 record with the Indians. He ranks fifth all-time in club history for wins, 10 behind Hall of Famer Al Lopez.