Ron Gardenhire called his wife, Carol, after an unexpected exchange this weekend with Detroit Tigers general manager Al Avila in his office. He told her that he retired from his managerial career, effective immediately, because of health concerns.
He walked out of Comerica Park before first pitch Saturday without a job. His family members were shocked at the timeline of the decision. For a few weeks, they had been expecting a retirement at the end of the 60-game season, not with eight games remaining.
"He's said that kind of stuff before, too, so I wasn't really sure," Gardenhire's son, Toby, told the Free Press on Sunday.