John Hart (baseball)
| John Hart | |
|---|---|
| Born |
July 21, 1948 Tampa, Florida |
| Occupation | Baseball executive |
John Henry Hart (born July 21, 1948) is an American Major League Baseball executive. In addition, he is the former general manager of the Cleveland Indians and Texas Rangers; he currently serves as President of Baseball Operations for the Atlanta Braves. He also served as the interim manager of the Indians in 1989, and a studio analyst for the MLB Network.
Hart was born in Tampa, Florida. He attended Seminole Junior College where he was catcher on the baseball team. In 1969 he won All-American honors and began his professional career as a catcher in the Montreal Expos organization. He caught with them for three seasons before leaving the organization and returning to Florida. He graduated in 1973 from the University of Central Florida with majors in history and physical education.
Hart then coached high school baseball in the Orlando, Florida area before joining the Orioles organization in 1982 as a minor league manager. He managed in their minor league organization for six seasons before joining the major league team as third base coach in 1988.
In 1989, John Hart joined the Cleveland Indians as a special assignment scout, but then replaced Doc Edwards as manager for the final 19 games of the regular season (the team put up an 8-11 record during those games). For the next two seasons, Hart served as Director of Baseball Operations for the club. In September 1991, John Hart replaced Hank Peters as general manager and executive vice president of the Indians. During the next 10 years, the Indians were 870-681 under Hart. They won six of the seven possible American League Central division titles, which was introduced for the 1994 strike shortened season (1995–99 and 2001) with appearances in the World Series in 1995 and 1997. Hart built the team's core through the draft, successful scouting and trades. He signed young players before the arbitration process got underway and thus enticed veteran players to stay with the team. Since Hart's departure from the organization in 2001, the Indians have appeared in only two postseasons.
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