[nfbwatlk] Hargrove resigns as Mariners manager amid successful fun

[Mike Freeman]

Hargrove resigns as Mariners manager amid successful fun
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/322073_hargrove02.html

Hargrove resigns as Mariners manager amid successful fun

Last updated July 1, 2007 11:25 p.m. PT

By JOHN HICKEY
P-I REPORTER

It may be that Mike Hargrove will never adequately be able to explain to 
outsiders why he retired Sunday.

Managers usually get fired. A few quit. Hardly any walk away while their 
team is in the middle of a winning streak after a long period of losing.

Hargrove is doing that. Sunday was his last game as the Seattle manager. 
John McLaren, the bench coach under Hargrove, will be the Mariners' 
skipper starting
Monday. Hargrove gave McLaren his blessing. General manager Bill Bavasi 
gave McLaren the manager's job without the word "interim" in front of 
it.

In the wake of an eighth consecutive win Sunday, Hargrove did his best 
to provide answers as he talked about his decision.

In a statement made before he met with the team, then later the media, 
Hargrove said his "passion has begun to fade." Later, he said that 
wasn't true, that
his passion for baseball was as strong as ever.

"I haven't lost the drive, the desire, the passion, whatever you want to 
call it," he said.

So maybe the words didn't come out right the first time.

Hargrove did make it clear, however, that there was no ambiguity in his 
mind.

"It's an accumulation of 35 years," Hargrove said.

"I've always asked players and coaches to give me their best physically 
and mentally. I've found that I haven't been able to do that myself. In 
my head
I feel the players deserve more than I can give them right now."

Hargrove's wife, Sharon, said once the topic was broached, she never 
thought it would go this far. Bavasi thought he'd talked Hargrove into 
staying.

But after a 10-day mental wrestling match, Hargrove came to the 
conclusion Saturday that he was doing the right thing.

"This will probably be my last (managerial) job," Hargrove said. "I've 
been in the game for 35 years, and that takes its toll."

Bavasi, who first learned Hargrove was thinking about leaving on June 
20, said he and club president Chuck Armstrong and others tried to talk 
Hargrove out
of leaving.

"At one point, I thought we had him turned around," Bavasi said. "There 
are two sides to this. We're not happy about it. But for Mike, we're 
happy for him
and that he'll be able to do exactly what he wants to do. For us, those 
are extreme opposite emotions."

Hargrove, who came in after a 99-loss season that ranks as one of the 
low points in Seattle sports history, stepped out Sunday on a relative 
high. Jose
Guillen's RBI single in the bottom of the ninth gave the Mariners a 2-1 
win, their eight consecutive victory.

After a series of victory hugs on the field, the players called Hargrove 
into the clubhouse and gave their outgoing manager an ovation.

Still, it was hard for players to understand why their boss was leaving, 
and that came as no surprise to Hargrove, who said, "sometimes I don't 
know myself.
But I know it's the right decision."

Pitcher Miguel Batista spoke for many of the players when he said, "I 
respect his decision, but I don't understand it."

"A lot of things happen in this game you don't like, but you understand 
that's just the game," Batista said. "I think a lot of us are looking 
for a reason
for this, because I don't see it.

"He did such a great job to get us here, and now things are really going 
well."

Hargrove said he'll wake up Monday in Seattle while the Mariners are in 
Kansas City. And while they're preparing to play the Royals in the first 
game of
a three-game series, he's going to go out and buy a red truck.

"He's always said that when he got out of managing, he was going to buy 
himself a red truck," Sharon Hargrove said. "Now we can drive around and 
see our
son (Andy) play baseball. We can visit (former Mariners coach) Ron 
Hassey and his wife.

"We have a cabin we've built in New Mexico that he's never seen in the 
summer. Now we'll go there and stay as long as he wants. And if he wakes 
up and decides,
'What have I done?' we'll find a way to fix that."

The now former manager spent the late afternoon cleaning out his office. 
Several players dropped by to offer their best wishes, including rookie 
reliever
Brandon Morrow and center fielder Ichiro Suzuki, who had trouble with 
Hargrove when the manager first took over the office in 2005 but has 
grown to appreciate
him as a manager.

When the Mariners return after the All-Star break, the office will be 
clean for McLaren.

"I've been waiting for 21 years to be a manager, but I never wanted to 
get it like this," McLaren said. "When Mike told me, I tried to talk him 
out of it.
He's done such a great job here.

"I could tell the last 10 days that things weren't quite right. After 
wins, he didn't seem to be Mike."

To illustrate how unexpected the move was, McLaren had arthroscopic 
surgery to repair rotator cuff damage in his right shoulder on Thursday. 
His right arm
is in a sling. He said had he known this was in the offing, he would 
have held off on the surgery.

The Mariners gave Hargrove one more victory, then said their goodbyes as 
he remained behind.

"This team has given me everything I asked of them," Hargrove said. "I 
always wanted them to be there 100 percent physically and mentally, and 
without exception
they've done that. What does it say about me if I can't give them the 
same? I have never had to work at getting that level myself ever, until 
recently.
I've found that I've had to work harder in making that same commitment 
to my bosses, to my players and to my coaches. And that's not right.

"I couldn't have asked for a better working environment. Bill Bavasi is 
the best general manager and best boss I've ever worked for. I can't say 
enough
good things about them. I've always been willing to do the work. But 
it's taken more and more energy to be able to do the best I can. They 
deserve better,
so it's time for me to leave.

"I don't want to be messing with a good thing here."

Hargrove took off for his daughter Shelly's graduation June 1. He was 
back the next Monday, and while he said the two things aren't related, 
it wasn't long
after that he began looking at an exit strategy.

Shelly is the youngest of the five Hargrove children, so the Hargrove 
house in the Cleveland area is an empty nest now, although most of the 
kids live within
20 minutes in the Cleveland suburbs. Finances aren't a problem and both 
Mike and Sharon are in good health. After 35 years in baseball, that 
seemed to
be the perfect storm, the right time to think about doing something 
else.

And even if some of the players didn't understand, others did their best 
to see what was happening with the boss.

"At first it was a little shocking," said first baseman Richie Sexson, 
who came up to the big leagues in Cleveland when Hargrove was already a 
veteran manager.
"After you think about it for a while, though, it makes more sense.

"He's been doing this for 35 years, and there are things you miss. When 
he went home, maybe that hit him. But we are not robots, none of us. We 
have lives
and families. And if he wasn't feeling good about it, we can understand 
that."

Coming into this year, there were calls for Hargrove (and Bavasi) to be 
fired because of losing seasons in 2005 and 2006.

Batista said most players didn't see it that way.

"Last year he had two rookies up the middle (shortstop Yuniesky 
Betancourt and second baseman Jose Lopez, neither of whom was 
technically a rookie), a rookie
closer (J.J. Putz, ditto) and a bunch of rookies in the bullpen," 
Batista said. "Nobody can win with that.

"But look at what he's done since. Look at where this club is now. He 
gets a lot of credit for what's happened here."

Hargrove, who played in the big leagues for a dozen years with Texas, 
San Diego (briefly) and Cleveland, first managed in the big leagues in 
1991. By 1995,
the Indians were the best team in the AL Central for five years running. 
He was let go after the fifth of those first-place seasons, but landed a 
job with
Baltimore for four seasons. After a year away, he landed the Mariners 
gig. In his career, he had 192 wins as a Mariner and 1,188 wins overall.

And now the helm of the Good Ship Mariner has been turned over to 
McLaren, the 12th manager in the 40-year history of the franchise.

"This is not a perfect scenario to take over a ball club," McLaren said. 
"But Mike gave me his blessing, which means a lot to me. I'll do my 
best. I'll
take the ball and run with it."

And Hargrove believes a good, long run is ahead.

"Seattle fans, and that's me included, are in for a good ride with this 
club," Hargrove said. "These guys are pros. They're coming into their 
own. And nothing
would be better than if I had to buy a ticket to see Seattle in the 
World Series.

"There isn't a problem with my players, with the front office, or 
anything like that. It's not a contract thing. It's just where I'm at in 
life. I'm 57
years old. I've got my health. I've got a great family. It's time."

And with that, it was back to packing boxes and getting ready to find 
that red truck.

MARINERS MANAGERS

table with 4 columns and 13 rows
Years
Manager
Games
Record
77-80
Darrell Johnson
588
226-362
80-81
Maury Wills
82
26-56
81-83
Rene Lachemann
320
140-180
83-84
Del Crandall
224
93-131
84-86
Chuck Cottier
217
98-119
86-88
Dick Williams
351
159-192
88
Jimmy Snyder
105
45-60
89-91
Jim Lefebvre
486
233-253
92
Bill Plummer
162
64-98
93-02
Lou Piniella
1,551
840-711
03-04
Bob Melvin
324
156-168
05-07
Mike Hargrove
402
192-210
table end

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

P-I reporter John Hickey can be reached at 206-448-8004 or 
johnhickey at seattlepi.com. Follow his Mariners blog at
blog.seattlepi.com/baseball.

© 1998-2007 Seattle Post-Intelligencer 
-------------- next part --------------
Hargrove resigns as Mariners manager amid successful fun
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/322073_hargrove02.html http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/322073_hargrove02.html
 
Hargrove resigns as Mariners manager amid successful fun
 
Last updated July 1, 2007 11:25 p.m. PT
 
By JOHN HICKEY
P-I REPORTER
 
It may be that Mike Hargrove will never adequately be able to explain to outsiders why he retired Sunday.
 
Managers usually get fired. A few quit. Hardly any walk away while their team is in the middle of a winning streak after a long period of losing.
 
Hargrove is doing that. Sunday was his last game as the Seattle manager. John McLaren, the bench coach under Hargrove, will be the Mariners' skipper starting
Monday. Hargrove gave McLaren his blessing. General manager Bill Bavasi gave McLaren the manager's job without the word "interim" in front of it.
 
In the wake of an eighth consecutive win Sunday, Hargrove did his best to provide answers as he talked about his decision.
 
In a statement made before he met with the team, then later the media, Hargrove said his "passion has begun to fade." Later, he said that wasn't true, that
his passion for baseball was as strong as ever.
 
"I haven't lost the drive, the desire, the passion, whatever you want to call it," he said.
 
So maybe the words didn't come out right the first time.
 
Hargrove did make it clear, however, that there was no ambiguity in his mind.
 
"It's an accumulation of 35 years," Hargrove said.
 
"I've always asked players and coaches to give me their best physically and mentally. I've found that I haven't been able to do that myself. In my head
I feel the players deserve more than I can give them right now."
 
Hargrove's wife, Sharon, said once the topic was broached, she never thought it would go this far. Bavasi thought he'd talked Hargrove into staying.
 
But after a 10-day mental wrestling match, Hargrove came to the conclusion Saturday that he was doing the right thing.
 
"This will probably be my last (managerial) job," Hargrove said. "I've been in the game for 35 years, and that takes its toll."
 
Bavasi, who first learned Hargrove was thinking about leaving on June 20, said he and club president Chuck Armstrong and others tried to talk Hargrove out
of leaving.
 
"At one point, I thought we had him turned around," Bavasi said. "There are two sides to this. We're not happy about it. But for Mike, we're happy for him
and that he'll be able to do exactly what he wants to do. For us, those are extreme opposite emotions."
 
Hargrove, who came in after a 99-loss season that ranks as one of the low points in Seattle sports history, stepped out Sunday on a relative high. Jose
Guillen's RBI single in the bottom of the ninth gave the Mariners a 2-1 win, their eight consecutive victory.
 
After a series of victory hugs on the field, the players called Hargrove into the clubhouse and gave their outgoing manager an ovation.
 
Still, it was hard for players to understand why their boss was leaving, and that came as no surprise to Hargrove, who said, "sometimes I don't know myself.
But I know it's the right decision."
 
Pitcher Miguel Batista spoke for many of the players when he said, "I respect his decision, but I don't understand it."
 
"A lot of things happen in this game you don't like, but you understand that's just the game," Batista said. "I think a lot of us are looking for a reason
for this, because I don't see it.
 
"He did such a great job to get us here, and now things are really going well."
 
Hargrove said he'll wake up Monday in Seattle while the Mariners are in Kansas City. And while they're preparing to play the Royals in the first game of
a three-game series, he's going to go out and buy a red truck.
 
"He's always said that when he got out of managing, he was going to buy himself a red truck," Sharon Hargrove said. "Now we can drive around and see our
son (Andy) play baseball. We can visit (former Mariners coach) Ron Hassey and his wife.
 
"We have a cabin we've built in New Mexico that he's never seen in the summer. Now we'll go there and stay as long as he wants. And if he wakes up and decides,
'What have I done?' we'll find a way to fix that."
 
The now former manager spent the late afternoon cleaning out his office. Several players dropped by to offer their best wishes, including rookie reliever
Brandon Morrow and center fielder Ichiro Suzuki, who had trouble with Hargrove when the manager first took over the office in 2005 but has grown to appreciate
him as a manager.
 
When the Mariners return after the All-Star break, the office will be clean for McLaren.
 
"I've been waiting for 21 years to be a manager, but I never wanted to get it like this," McLaren said. "When Mike told me, I tried to talk him out of it.
He's done such a great job here.
 
"I could tell the last 10 days that things weren't quite right. After wins, he didn't seem to be Mike."
 
To illustrate how unexpected the move was, McLaren had arthroscopic surgery to repair rotator cuff damage in his right shoulder on Thursday. His right arm
is in a sling. He said had he known this was in the offing, he would have held off on the surgery.
 
The Mariners gave Hargrove one more victory, then said their goodbyes as he remained behind.
 
"This team has given me everything I asked of them," Hargrove said. "I always wanted them to be there 100 percent physically and mentally, and without exception
they've done that. What does it say about me if I can't give them the same? I have never had to work at getting that level myself ever, until recently.
I've found that I've had to work harder in making that same commitment to my bosses, to my players and to my coaches. And that's not right.
 
"I couldn't have asked for a better working environment. Bill Bavasi is the best general manager and best boss I've ever worked for. I can't say enough
good things about them. I've always been willing to do the work. But it's taken more and more energy to be able to do the best I can. They deserve better,
so it's time for me to leave.
 
"I don't want to be messing with a good thing here."
 
Hargrove took off for his daughter Shelly's graduation June 1. He was back the next Monday, and while he said the two things aren't related, it wasn't long
after that he began looking at an exit strategy.
 
Shelly is the youngest of the five Hargrove children, so the Hargrove house in the Cleveland area is an empty nest now, although most of the kids live within
20 minutes in the Cleveland suburbs. Finances aren't a problem and both Mike and Sharon are in good health. After 35 years in baseball, that seemed to
be the perfect storm, the right time to think about doing something else.
 
And even if some of the players didn't understand, others did their best to see what was happening with the boss.
 
"At first it was a little shocking," said first baseman Richie Sexson, who came up to the big leagues in Cleveland when Hargrove was already a veteran manager.
"After you think about it for a while, though, it makes more sense.
 
"He's been doing this for 35 years, and there are things you miss. When he went home, maybe that hit him. But we are not robots, none of us. We have lives
and families. And if he wasn't feeling good about it, we can understand that."
 
Coming into this year, there were calls for Hargrove (and Bavasi) to be fired because of losing seasons in 2005 and 2006.
 
Batista said most players didn't see it that way.
 
"Last year he had two rookies up the middle (shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt and second baseman Jose Lopez, neither of whom was technically a rookie), a rookie
closer (J.J. Putz, ditto) and a bunch of rookies in the bullpen," Batista said. "Nobody can win with that.
 
"But look at what he's done since. Look at where this club is now. He gets a lot of credit for what's happened here."
 
Hargrove, who played in the big leagues for a dozen years with Texas, San Diego (briefly) and Cleveland, first managed in the big leagues in 1991. By 1995,
the Indians were the best team in the AL Central for five years running. He was let go after the fifth of those first-place seasons, but landed a job with
Baltimore for four seasons. After a year away, he landed the Mariners gig. In his career, he had 192 wins as a Mariner and 1,188 wins overall.
 
And now the helm of the Good Ship Mariner has been turned over to McLaren, the 12th manager in the 40-year history of the franchise.
 
"This is not a perfect scenario to take over a ball club," McLaren said. "But Mike gave me his blessing, which means a lot to me. I'll do my best. I'll
take the ball and run with it."
 
And Hargrove believes a good, long run is ahead.
 
"Seattle fans, and that's me included, are in for a good ride with this club," Hargrove said. "These guys are pros. They're coming into their own. And nothing
would be better than if I had to buy a ticket to see Seattle in the World Series.
 
"There isn't a problem with my players, with the front office, or anything like that. It's not a contract thing. It's just where I'm at in life. I'm 57
years old. I've got my health. I've got a great family. It's time."
 
And with that, it was back to packing boxes and getting ready to find that red truck.
 
MARINERS MANAGERS
 
table with 4 columns and 13 rows
Years 
Manager 
Games 
Record  
77-80 
Darrell Johnson 
588 
226-362  
80-81 
Maury Wills 
82 
26-56  
81-83 
Rene Lachemann 
320 
140-180  
83-84 
Del Crandall 
224 
93-131  
84-86 
Chuck Cottier 
217 
98-119  
86-88 
Dick Williams 
351 
159-192  
88 
Jimmy Snyder 
105 
45-60  
89-91 
Jim Lefebvre 
486 
233-253  
92 
Bill Plummer 
162 
64-98  
93-02 
Lou Piniella 
1,551 
840-711  
03-04 
Bob Melvin 
324 
156-168  
05-07 
Mike Hargrove 
402 
192-210 
table end
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
P-I reporter John Hickey can be reached at 206-448-8004 or mailto:johnhickey at seattlepi.com johnhickey at seattlepi.com
. Follow his Mariners blog at
blog.seattlepi.com/baseball.
 
© 1998-2007 Seattle Post-Intelligencer