“I thought when I told him I wanted to talk, it probably was going to be over,” Riggleman said. “I’m 58. I’m too old to be disrespected.”
So two phases of Riggleman’s life came to an end Thursday, a bizarre day that stunned the franchise and brought both sadness and resolution for Riggleman. He no longer manages of the Nationals, and he no longer lives with the resentment he has felt since October, when he realized the Nationals were not going to exercise the option for the 2012 season.
The decision saddened Riggleman, but he believed it was the right thing to do, that a major league manager, especially one with more than 11 years of experience, should not operate on a one-year contract. He knew if his decision reached the highest level of the Nationals organization, owner Ted Lerner, there would be no going back.
“You don’t back him into a corner,” Riggleman said. “But I’m from Rockville, too.”
Before Thursday, Riggleman had twice requested to discuss his future with Rizzo, and Rizzo had told him both times he felt the time was not right. When Riggleman asked a third time Thursday, he both sealed his fate and made good on an earlier warning.
“I had told Mike, ‘I’m going to show up one day and just say, ‘I’m done,’ ” Riggleman said late Thursday afternoon. “His answer at that point was, ‘Hey, go win enough games, and we’ll talk about it.’ There’s too much of a feeling that if it doesn’t go well, that you’re going to be out of here. And that’s no way to operate. There’s got to be a little commitment from their end, some incentive from their end to go through the bad times.
“This was not a rash decision,” Riggleman added. “I love it here. I would just recommend to anybody who’s running a major franchise not to hire a coach or a manager on a one-year contract. It’s a little bit dysfunctional.”
Before the 2010 season, after he had spent the second half of 2009 as the Nationals’ interim manager, Riggleman signed a contract, in a strict legal sense, for two years with a team option for 2012 at $600,000 per season — one of the smallest managerial salaries in baseball. But the Nationals could have bought Riggleman out for $100,000 after last season.
Riggleman felt misgivings about signing the contract then, but felt he had no choice. He had not managed in 10 years, and it might be his last chance. It was the big leagues. He had grown up in Rockville. “He wanted to be there,” his son, Jon Riggleman, said. “That was the best-case scenario. You kidding me?”
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