Like some of his predecessors, Guardians manager Stephen Vogt seems like a fit for the job

Some guys are just built for the job, and you realize that very quickly. In 2012, Cleveland's baseball team lost 94 games and finished 20 games out of first place. The next year, the team hired a new manager, won 92 games and came within one game of winning its division. The new manager was Terry Francona. In six of the next 10 years, Francona's teams reached postseason, including the 2016 World Series. The Indians not only reached the World Series, but they almost won it in one of the most electrifying Game 7s in the history of the sport. Sometimes one man can make a difference. Francona did. He made a big difference. In his 11 years as the manager of a franchise that has still not won a World Series in over three-quarters of a century, Francona and, prior to him, the great Mike Hargrove helped teach a team and a town how to win. That meant how to win and how to recover after losing. Incredibly, Hargrove and Francona both lost a World Series Game 7 — in extra innings! In the case of Hargrove, it led to one of the most painful exchanges ever between a reporter and manager. In spring training the following year, a reporter asked how long it took Hargrove to get over his team's excruciating Game 7, extra-innings loss to Florida. Hargrove's reply for the ages: "I'll let you know when it happens." Worse yet (although we're splitting hairs here) was Francona's Indians losing their World Series Game 7 to the Cubs ... in extra innings ... at home! It doesn't get any more gruesome than that. The common denominator in both examples are the way the team's managers handled the worst moment of their professional lives. But both did. It comes with the turf for baseball managers, who must be at their best no matter what. In the case of Hargrove and Francona, they both helped write the book on class under duress. It comes with the managerial turf. Managers who can't handle crushing defeats frequently are not managers for very long. That's because it's not easy having to be the guy who must answer all the questions he hopes won't be asked. Some guys are built for the job and some aren't. Good luck if your manager is behind door No. 2. One way or the other, you realize it very quickly. That's one reason why the lifespan of many managers isn't very long. It's a difficult job, and in many cases it comes down to one of two realities. Either the manager can handle it or he can't. Hargrove could. Francona could. So, it seems to these eyes, at this still very early stage of his managerial career, Stephen Vogt can. He is just 1½ years into his career as Cleveland's manager, but in his 1½ years on the job there have, periodically, been hints that have surfaced and suggest that all the recommendations to Guardians officials seem to be valid. To this point — still, obviously, very early in his managerial career — Vogt seems to have all the managerial genes necessary to follow in the footsteps of Hargrove and Francona. For starters, look at Vogt's under-construction track record. In his rookie season as a major league manager, he guided his team to a 92-win season and AL Central title. That was just for openers. This year, Vogt has had to wrestle with numerous challenges, including another year of endless pitching injuries, a plague that seems to follow the Guards from city to city, hoping to torpedo any hope for success. This season has been another run-up-the-flagpole-and-see-what-happens experience. Vogt has steadied the course without his No. 1 starting pitcher, Shane Bieber, who is now a Toronto Blue Jay, and he is currently without closer Emmanuel Clase. Offensively, the manager is currently trying to win games with a two-man lineup of Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan, while Clase, the best closer in the game, has probably saved his last game in Cleveland. Through it all, Vogt has been Vogt. Instead of his team fading down the stretch, it is playing better than it has all year. Some guys are built for the job. Vogt is one of them. Contact Jim Ingraham at jingraham4@gmail.com.