OK, so I've been agitating for Mike Hargrove's dismissal for about a year now, along with GM Bill Bavasi.  All for, I thought, good reasons--poor trade/acquisition decisions, poor bullpen management, and not so hot on the field performance.

But never, repeat NEVER, would I have begun to thought of or conjured up what happened here in Seattle today.  Today, at 11:30 local time, Mike Hargrove officially called it quits as manager of the Seattle Mariners.

At the "tender" age of 57 (just a bit older than myself), he says that he "no longer has the passion for the game of baseball" that he feels is needed to be the M's manager.  He claims that there are no "dark, sinister, or cloak and dagger reasons for his decision", but something just doesn't feel right about that.

He says that he was not fired or asked to resign, and I don't doubt that part of it, because he was very clearly on the hot seat as recently as last month's six game losing streak, but things have turned around rather dramatically since then and there would appear to have been no reason to let him go before the end of the season at this particular moment.

So why do you walk away from a team that currently owns the longest win streak in the Majors, arguably the best closer in the business (yes, Mariano Rivera fans, JJ Putz is better than Mariano right now), and is either 1/2 or 1 game out in the AL wild card race (depending on whether or not Detroit gets swept tonight by the Twinkies)?

He looks tired, but denies that it is a health issue; and his wife Sharon looks OK, even having brought a broom to the team's sweep of Toronto this afternoon.

And I'm not the only one scratching my head here.  So are all of the analysts on Baseball Tonight; not to mention Ernie Harwell, John Miller and Joe Morgan on Sunday Night Baseball; and all of the local media.  The fact that there was absolutely no leak of this information before about 10:00 this morning our time made the news all the more surprising or, as some put it, shocking.

John McLaren, long the bench coach for Lou Piniella at the Reds, Mariners, and Devil Rays, has been named manager of the team effective tomorrow.  Note that I said manager, not interim manager.  Bavasi made sure that everyone got the emphasis on that one.  I, for one, am happy that Johnny Mac will be the new manager, because he will be a good one.  He spent enough time around Lou to have learned some of his habits, though he has made it clear that he does not plan any Mt. St. Lou type of dirt kicking, base throwing eruptions.

The players, though admitting to confusion at the sudden decision, went out and did their jobs this afternoon, taking the third game of the series from the Jays 2-1, letting Hargrove go on a winning note.  Hopefully they will continue to do so, extending their winning streak incrementally.  Can they tie the A's 20 game post All Star Break streak from a few years back?  I doubt it, but stranger things have happened in the game of baseball, that much is sure.

Hopefully, tiredness and "lack of passion" are all that there is to it, and not something gone afoul on the home and/or family front, and Hargrove will enjoy his sudden retirement.

In the mean time, carry on gentlemen, and keep winning. Good luck to Johnny Mac, as well.