(Jim Riggleman will be back at the helm for the Nationals for at least the start of the 2011 season. Photo by UPI/Alexis C. Glenn Photo via Newscom.)
"Yes, he will be back next season. He has done a terrific job. We have a great relationship. He is a baseball rat. I can't beat him to the ballpark. One of these days I'm going to beat him to the ballpark. He runs at 8:00 a.m. and he is at the ballpark by 11."
(Mike Rizzo, via Bill Ladson/Nationals.com, 7/23/2010)
A little job security and a sigh of relief for Jim Riggleman.
On Nationals Journal, Adam Kilgore points out that the upshot is that Rizzo's decision removes any possibility of the Nationals buying him out for $100,000 at the end of this season.
And this means another year of managing every game like it is the 7th game of the World Series. Jim Riggleman doesn't buy into the old saw: "It's a marathon, not a sprint." And he's a runner, too.
Also, the topic has been raised elsewhere in the past, but it is pretty awesome that Riggleman's agent is named Burton Rocks, a name that just screams "porn star" or "WWE" or "private detective". Here's Mr. Rocks, via Nationals Journal, apparently talking about how the tenuous contract status has been weighing on Riggleman:
"Absolutely. Whenever somebody's future is a little uncertain, there's pressure to win. ... Jim wants to be the Nationals manager. He doesn't want to be a manager. There's a difference."
(Burton Rocks, via Nationals Journal, 7/23/2010)
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