Detroit – At 2 p.m. Saturday, Ron Gardenhire was on his daily Zoom meeting with the media, answering questions like it was just another day.
A couple of hours later, he informed general manager Al Avila that he was retiring – effective immediately.
“It started out as a pretty routine thing, just talking to Al,” said Gardenhire, who was finishing up the third and final season of his three-year contract. “We talked about a few things and I just told him that I was going to retire.
“I’d thought about (doing it) at the end of the season, but with the way I’ve been feeling since the bout of food poisoning I had in Minnesota and stomach problems and the tension and the stress that goes along with this job – I told Al I will step out right now.