Manager Bombard Elected to IL Hall of Fame
The International League has announced that former Indianapolis Indians manager, Marc Bombard, has been elected to the league's Hall of Fame. Bombard, who served as the Tribe's skipper from 1993-95 during the franchise's tenure in the American Association, will be enshrined for his time in the IL as manager of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (1997-2004) and Charlotte (2007-08).
While overseeing the Indians, Hall-of-Fame inductee Bombard led the club back-to-back American Association East Division titles from 1994-95. The impressive feat stood as the Tribe's lone set of consecutive division crowns for a nearly 20-year stretch, until current manager Dean Treanor captured IL West Division championships in 2012 and 2013.
Bombard debuted with the Indians with a 66-77 record before notching 85-plus-win campaigns in 1994 and 1995. Combined, he posted a 240-190 record through his three seasons as team skipper and capped off his Tribe tenure with a pair of playoff appearances and an American Association championship in 1994.
Entering the 1994 postseason as the league's top overall seed, Bombard and the Indians notched a three-game sweep of the Louisville Redbirds in the opening round to set up a showdown with the No. 2 Nashville Sounds in the Championship Finals.
The Tribe would jump to a 5-3 win in the series opener, but were thwarted by a complete-game, six-hit shutout from reigning league Pitcher of the Year, Scott Ruffcorn, in Game 2 against Nashville.
Bombard then rallied his Indians squad to a 6-3 victory on Sept. 13 and a 7-5, series-deciding triumph on Sept. 14 to down the Sounds - four games to one - and claim the 1994 AA championship.
His title still stands as the franchise's last championship as members of the American Association.
Bombard gets the nod for the IL Hall of Fame following a stretch of four consecutive playoff appearances with the SWB Red Barons from 1999-2002. He concluded the historic run with a franchise-record 91 wins and honors as both the IL Manager of the Year and the Sports Weekly Minor League Manager of the Year.
Overall, Bombard won 700 games in the IL, including a record of 574 wins with the SWB franchise that stood until being surpassed by a fellow former Tribe skipper, Dave Miley, in 2014. In addition, he was named the International League All-Star Team manager in 2000 and 2003, and currently ranks as the last IL skipper to have led a team to 90 wins in a single season.
Bombard is joined on the 2015 Hall of Fame class by 1980 league MVP, Marshall Brant, and former Buffalo, Syracuse, and Rochester general manager, Don Labbruzzo.