I received word late last night that something big was up. At one point, I was hearing that Ichiro had signed an extension. That would have been big news I would have loved to break. I did not want to have to break the news I did today, that Mike Hargrove was resigning.

You can probably tell from my posts throughout the year that I am a fan of Mike's. Love him or hate him, I can tell you he is a good man. The back stories that I have heard through the years just reinforce what I felt was always in evidence; that the players and their well being came first. No "this is a business." It never escaped Mike that he was working with humans, not just ball players.

I was told once that one of the reasons Mike was brought on was because those doing the hiring admired how he handled two horribly exceptional situations. Not once, but twice Mike had players on his team who died. Indians pitchers Steve Olin and Tim Crews were killed in a boating accident during spring training. On the morning of March 23, 1993 Mike Hargrove had to tell his players that two of their teammates were gone. Nine years later Steve Belcher, a young pitcher on his Orioles team, collapsed on the field and later died at the hospital.

The aftermath for both teams was stunning. It was up to Mike to collect himself and lead those teams. No one is equipped to deal with those situations but Mike had no choice. He kept that Indians team together, and two years later they won 100 games and the American League pennant.

I had forgotten the tragedies, but one day last year, when I approached Mike Hargrove alone and asked why he handled a player who was struggling the way he did, he relayed the story to me. He told me that from the day after the accident on he looked at everyone differently in that he really looked at them. He wanted to make sure that he was focused not on what this player was showing as to who he was, versus, who he really was. He doesn’t just take his players at face value; rather, it was important to know who they really were.

This is not easy in baseball as there are ways guys are supposed to act. It played to Mike's benefit on a competitive level when he was able to figure a guy out as he then knew which buttons to push to get the guy to perform.

It also helped when problems arose. A player could safely go into Mike's office and air out whatever problem he had, even if it was with the skipper. Think of the Mariners clubhouse in Mike's tenure. You had guys with long reputations of being clubhouse problems in Carl Everett and Jose Guillen. You had aging veterans. You had Ichiro, who is not a problem but requires understanding, which is not always easy. At one time you had guys from seven different countries speaking four (five if you count Australian) different languages.

Add to this countless rookies and it was anything but a veteran clubhouse that policed itself. It needed someone to make sure things didn’t get out of hand and that was Mike Hargrove.

People have stopped me throughout the day and asked me what I think the real reason was that Mike Hargrove was leaving. I think for the most part it was what he revealed to us and his players. Thirty seven years in baseball is a long time. I think this has been on his mind for longer than we know. Sharon Hargrove pointed out that they have spent 37 years in baseball, lived in 19 cities and made over 100 moves. They have five children, and Mike has never been able to spend a summer with them. He has not seen his son Andy play since he was drafted by the Mariners. Mike has always told his players that family comes first. I believe that he is now listening to his own words.

How can he leave while things are just getting good? That’s what his players and coaches are struggling to understand right now.

"He broke our hearts," Jose Gullien told me. J.J. Putz was stunned, but as he has all year, he took on the leadership role and spoke to the media about it. Miguel Batista, our clubhouse detective, is convinced there are other reasons and out of concern, is determined to find out what they are.

The team is left in good hands, although one is in a sling right now. John McLaren was extremely emotional in his press conference. I know that a lot of fans wanted to pit one against the other a la, "Mac was just brought in to take over when Hargrove is fired." The truth is, Mike was never intimidated by John and the two got along well.

I will miss Mike and Sharon Hargrove. Sharon was a kick -- not afraid to hold back on anything and fiercely protective of her husband and his team. I will miss seeing her cheering by dugout and waving her broom (she was not afraid to do this on the road either) after a sweep. Most manager wives in my tenure have been invisible, but she was right there cheering her husband and team on. When we returned home from road trips, sometimes it would be late and the mom in her would make sure that I got to my car safely. She is a great lady.

As for the skipper, he was always good to me as reporter and as a person. He had a great sense of humor and I was able to kid him, which was nice. When you spend almost 200 days year with someone, especially someone who is under the great stress that the job of manager brings, it is great if you can kid with them from time to time. Mike was someone I had no problem spending 200 days with.

Managing a team is a 24/7 job. It is hard to balance life and baseball. Mike has a life. He has a family and he has interests. Whenever I would talk to him at the beginning of spring training, it would always strike me that he seemed to really enjoy his time off. When I interviewed Mike (with Sharon at his side) for Beyond the Baselines, he told stories for almost 30 minutes; stories of baseball, of his childhood, of growing up in Texas, of his passion for reading and of his family. At the end of the interview I just looked at him and said "Mike, you have a good life." I think he is going to enjoy it even more in the coming years and I certainly wish him the best.