Hargrove Resigns

In my years as a sports fan, I've seen a lot of strange things. But this has to be one of the weirdest. The Mariners manager resigned Sunday in the middle of an eight-game winning streak. I've seen plenty of managers/coaches quit when things were going poorly and they figured they were likely to be fired anyway.

Hargrove really didn't give a good answer why -- he said it was harder to give 100% than it had been in the past. There's lots of speculation but it boils down to two ideas -- one is Hargrove is battling with depression, two is with the last kid graduating high school his wife wanted/needed him home more and/or he felt the need to be home more.

On a personal level, this is sad for Hargrove. On a baseball level, this is good for the Mariners. Managers simply don't matter much in major league baseball (unlike football or basketball coaches, they aren't making plays and minute-by-minute substitutions), though Hargrove was a lousy manager who should have been fired at the end of last season if not before. I don't know much about John McLaren, but if he doesn't cost us games that's an improvement.