After a week in which the New York Yankees lost two of their most important figures, public address announcer Bob Sheppard and owner George Steinbrenner, the rival Cleveland Indians lost one of theirs.

Former manager Lou Brown, who led the Indians to the first of two consecutive American League East titles in 1989, died on Friday after a bout with liver cancer.  He was 70.

Brown was plucked from relative obscurity in 1989 to manage the Indians after a lengthy stint with the International League’s Toledo Mud Hens, and was faced with the difficult task of turning around a team that had not won a pennant since 1954, a team consisting mostly of rookies and veterans past their prime.  Despite this, the Indians, mired just below the .500 mark, shockingly won 32 of their last 41 games (inspired in part by news that philandering owner Rachel Phelps was planning to move the team to Miami) to clinch a first-place tie with the Yankees and subsequently defeated them 3-2 in a one-game playoff to advance to their first American League Championship Series (the ALCS started in 1969), but were swept by the eventual World Series winners, the Chicago White Sox.

He began the next season in the Indians dugout, but was forced to step aside after suffering a mild heart attack during a heated locker room meeting.  His replacement, former catcher Jake Taylor, led the Indians (who were struggling) back to the ALCS, this time winning the series in seven games against the White Sox in a rematch.

Brown, who retired to Costa Mesa, California, is survived by his wife, Nancy, two daughters, and two grandchildren.

For more on Lou Brown’s life and career, visit this page.