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Hargrove lost his passion long before arriving in Seattle
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Mike Hargrove announced his resignation before Sunday’s game with his Mariners sitting in the middle of a playoff hunt. Columnist Phil Wood says that Hargrove lost his fire years ago, before taking the O’s job.
BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Mike Hargrove's sudden resignation and retirement last weekend as manager of the Seattle Mariners caught most observers by surprise. The Mariners were in second place in the AL West, 12 games over .500, and with half the season yet to play, the timing of his departure couldn't be more bizarre.
In a statement he claimed he had been “losing his passion” for the game. From my perspective, his passion for the game deserted him a long time ago, right around the time he accepted the job of managing the Orioles.
Hargrove has many friends in baseball, friends whom he has confided in over the years. After being let go by Cleveland in 1999, where he won five straight division titles and a pair of AL championships (1995 and 1997), he told several of those friends that he couldn't see himself taking the open Baltimore job, based upon the meddlesome reputation of the Orioles' owner and the fact that the Indians still owed him some money. He simply didn't need to work at that point.
When the Orioles approached him with a four-year offer worth considerably more than the Tribe owed him, he changed his mind. He never really had the players to compete in Baltimore, and when his 2002 club finished the season 4-32 over their final 36 games after reaching the .500 level at 63-63, he likely returned home to the Cleveland suburbs that fall thinking he was done in Charm City.
The '02 Orioles had probably overachieved when they reached .500 on Aug. 23; their collapse thereafter was dismal, but Hargrove stayed the same as he'd been since he arrived: stoic, laid-back, without a whiff of what one would expect from the skipper of a team playing its way into oblivion. I tend to think he was disappointed to find out they wanted him back to fulfill the final year of his contract. No golden parachute? Shucks.
Hargrove finished 97 games under .500 for his four-season tenure in Baltimore. He finally took a year off before accepting the Seattle job, taking over a team that had lost 99 games in 2004. Getting the Mariners back into contention this year may have scared him into accelerating the process of his retirement. (“Omigosh, what do I do if they want to extend my contract? Better check my investments … hmmmm, OK, enough cash to last the next 20 years. ... I’m outta here!”)
When he was named Orioles team president, one of the qualities Andy MacPhail said he was looking for in a manager was passion, specifically a passion for managing the Orioles. He knows there's no shortage of ex-managers with resumes who wouldn't hesitate to take the team's money and do the best they could. Joe Girardi certainly fit the criteria, but he apparently wanted assurances he could leave if something better came along.
Hargrove's managerial legacy is secure in Cleveland, and I believe the trauma of losing that job on the heels of a fifth straight division title killed his passion for the game then and there. His inexplicable departure from Seattle leaves the unpleasant aftertaste of someone who hung around enough additional years to insure a more comfortable life in retirement, just another dispassionate baseball mercenary.
Contact Phil Wood at pwood@baltimoreexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
6:33 PM MST on Sun., Apr. 27, 2008 re: "‘The 21st Century Ripken’"
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2:00 PM MST on Tue., Apr. 22, 2008
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12:59 PM MST on Thu., Dec. 13, 2007
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Examiner Reader said:
There are many Nationals fans who are still patient with the team. I remember how Edward Bennett Williams as well as Peter Angelos tried---and failed---to build a winner with the Orioles by buying free agents. But my biggest nightmare is that once Zimmerman's contract runs out, he will sign a lucrative deal with another club because (a) the Lerners are unwilling to pay the money to keep him when they have the chance, (b) Zimmerman has no faith that the franchise will become a playoff contender anytime in his career, or (c) all of the above. Maybe the Lerners are smart by forcing Zimmerman to prove his worth this year, but if he has a breakout year and then flies the coop like Alfonso Soriano, fans' faith in The Plan will vanish like the wind. Edward J. Cunningham Rockville, MD
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Examiner Reader said:
Gee, Phil, thanks. I'm glad you reminded us that we're all raving idiots and that you have been appointed by MENSA to set us straight. "It’s perfectly plain that the issue is offense." I'm glad we have an "expert" like you to tell us this. Hm. All along, I thought the problem was that Nationals Park doesn't have enough cupholders!!!
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Examiner reader said:
Phil, is it ok for fans who call in to your radio show to comment on the Nats' play? Or are they also ignorant folks who know nothing about facts or logic?
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Examiner reader said:
What an arrogant, condescending column this is. Fans shouldn't comment about and criticize the team because they don't know enough about baseball? Fans don't know what's going on in the dugout or in the clubhouse? Well why don't you tell us then, Phil, and disabuse us of our shallow, uninformed nonsense. And most fans agree that Lenny Harris did a terrific job last year? Really? Maybe it is you who is uninformed, Phil. (And anyway, who cares what the uninformed *fans* think?) Did you know that the Nats came very close in the offseason to not retaining Harris because they thought that he did not do a good job and was not ready to be a major league hitting coach?
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natsbaseball.com said:
Thanks Phil. Sounds wonderful - can't wait to see it. Being about the same age I remember attending the first baseball game at DC Stadium after experiencing Griffith for one or two seasons as a young child. It was a world of improvement over the falling down older park. After baseball returned 34 years later and about 15 years of going to Camden, RFK was, of course, kind of stark (I think is was designed by Joseph Stalin) but we all knew it was temporary and to have a home team again we would have put up with a lot worse. My only regret is the new stadium is in a location that couldn't be harder to get to for most of the area's fans. People are whining about the lack of parking - but it doesn't matter as there are no roads. Metro is bragging about being able to carry about 10,000 fans and hour. Since most of the 41,000 fans who could show up will have to go by metro - I cringe at the 4 hour trips it will take to get home. In that regard RFK had it all over the new park.
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kjack said:
Another great article Phil. Why those idiots at espn[The world wide leader in crap]and fox don't hire informed,aware, and intelligent individuals like you. To inform the general public of the things that really matter in baseball. I'll personalll never understand.
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EdDC said:
Phil, What do you think of going after Coco Crisp? He is still young and had back to back .300 seasons not long ago in Cleveland. Nats need a CF. Crisp didn't do much in BoSox pressure cooker, like Wily Mo Pena. So Crisp might benefit from just relaxing, knowing the world is not on his shoulders. His contract is reasonable: Covelli Crisp of 3 years/$15.5M (2007-09), plus $8M 2010 club option As to Bowden, I like him asking for the world. He tries hard and contacts many many teams, and if one or two bite, then Nats come out ahead. This is better than just trading to make trades.
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Pope John Paul Ringo George said:
"Did you ever hear any specific player’s names that would’ve ended up here in exchange for the Fonz?" This is a poor argument. The reason the Nats never get serious offers in trade for Soriano, Dmitri, Cordero, Rauch, etc is becuase Bowden's asking price is not serious. He makes it known that you can only trade for a Nat if you're willing to be ripped off in the trade. His asking price starts so high, teams won't even attempt to negotiate with him. Then he comes back and says "hey, we never got any serious offers!" No sane, competent GM will ever trade with him on anyting above replacement level players.
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Norm said:
Trembley has got this team behind him. I like his vision. You can see it in the way this team is playing since he replaced Perlozzo. The Weaver like experience you cite nails it and is a huge bonus. It's precisely what the O's need to get to the next level. The way I see it, NONE of the other current candidates brings anything comparable to the table. With McPhail and Trembley, we are already on the right track.
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Examiner Reader said:
I agree in that the Orioles should trade for Teixeira. There will be many teams after him. The "Dallas News" has an article that Boston, Dodgers, and Tigers may be interested. We should offer Cabrera, and two other players. Texas needs a starting pitcher. In the article he says the other teams would offer a pitching prospect. At least Cabrera has pitched in the majors the last three years. The Orioles would be set for the next 8 years at first base. That would be a nice infield. Also, go get Torri Hunter next year in free agency for center field.
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Dan said:
So is MLB saying that the score of a game has no impact on strategy? As far as Jay's comment: "The rules were followed." I don't think I ever read anywhere in the MLB rule book where you can score a run while you are on defense. The apeal was not that the run should not count, but that it is not fair to the Tribe that the run was awarded 3 innings after the fact. Contrary to MLB I beleive that the score of the game is the #1 item that determines strategy. The Tribe was denied 3 innings of basing their strategy on the current situation. my thought is that the game should be continued from the point where the controversial run scored, with Baltimore leading 3 to 1. In every other instance I can recall you must apeal a decision before the next pitch. Runner leaves too early when tagging up. Appeal has to be made before next pitch. G Brett's infamouse non home run? Had to be apealed before next pitch. Same for runner missing a base. O's did not raise issue for 3 inn, but thats O
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Jay said:
The run counted, why are you crying? The rules were followed, and the Indians are tryng to get by on a technicality, shame in them...very unsportsmanlike
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