Indianapolis Indians Finish Season Strong

The Indians’ end to the second half of their season was just short of a postseason berth, but it was a successful first year for Shawn Bowman.
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Photo courtesy Indianapolis Indians

WITH A 6-4 win on the road against the Gwinnett Stripers, the Indianapolis Indians clinched a share of first place in the International League’s West Division for the season’s second half. The AAA Affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates also secured the Indians’ most home wins (50) since they started playing at Victory Field in July of 1996.

Unfortunately, the postseason in the International League consists of the overall (both divisions) winner of the first and second half, and the Indians fell short on those markers in spite of the successful season, so their 2025 season is over.

Adding to how impressiveness is the fact that the Indians were led most of the way by first-year manager Shawn Bowman. Bowman took the reins in the middle of May after Chris Truby, who was also in his first season in the role, was called up for a coaching role with the Pirates.

“I can’t say enough about both the staff and the player group,” Bowman says. “The transition from what I was doing before and then jumping into the manager role … you talk about the kind of core values you want a clubhouse to be about and what your team should represent—[the] effort and attitude and professionalism. They all embody that. … It was easy to come to work every day because of those two groups of people.”
 
Bowman has held onto his title as the Pirates’ assistant director of player development even while managing the Indians, and he also remembers playing at Victory Field (and injuring his oblique) with the Gwinnett Braves toward the end of his own playing days.
 

Bowman initially started as a player in Canada before spending a decade in the minor leagues. “You learn how to fail,” Bowman says, looking back. “You think you have the world figured out, and you realize you don’t if you’re reflecting properly.”

Baseball Canada coach and director of national teams Greg Hamilton has watched Bowman’s arc. Hamilton initially coached Bowman as a teenager, and he compares the physical tools Bowman had as a player to professional stars like Troy Glaus and David Wright.

”I really believe with health, he probably would’ve played in the major leagues,” Hamilton says. “He wasn’t missing anything. … But you know, when you’re fighting a back issue … it’s a bit of a challenge.”

Bowman struggled with his injury for a couple of seasons, eventually resulting in an L5-S1 discectomy with fusion surgical procedure. Bowman now plays regular pickleball these days in the mornings before he shows up at the ballpark.

Bowman says that as his playing career wound down, he realized he thinks about the game like a coach. “I knew as a player that I wanted to be in the game probably for my life. And then I was just intrigued when … it was coming near the end that my lens and how I looked at the game kind of lined up with how a manager would look at the game.”
 
If Bowman’s first season on the bench in Indianapolis is any indication, this may not be his last stop. When asked whether he hopes to manage in the majors someday, Bowman pauses and answers, “If the timing’s right.”

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