Just minutes after the Nationals beat the Mariners with a walk-off sacrifice fly in a 1-0 game to move above .500 manager Jim Riggleman announced his resignation.
According to general manager Mike Rizzo this morning Riggleman expressed displeasure about his contract, which includes a 2012 option that the Nationals haven’t picked up, and said he would step down from the job if it wasn’t handled by the end of this afternoon’s game.
It wasn’t and he did.
What an odd situation, particularly with the Nationals playing their best baseball in ... well, ever. Riggleman was clearly extremely frustrated by the entire situation, but to quit 75 games into the season, with the team winning 11 of their last 12 games, is shocking. Or maybe he’s just a huge George Costanza fan and a big believer in leaving on a high note.
By quitting now Riggleman does finish a season with a winning record for just the third time in 12 years as a big-league manager. His overall career mark is 662-824, which equals a .445 winning percentage that ranks as the fourth-worst in baseball history among managers with 10 or more years of experience.
UPDATE: Riggleman held a press conference and said he approached Rizzo requesting to “just have a conversation” about the contract and Rizzo refused, at which point Riggleman felt it was clear “I’m not the guy they want to go down the road with” and quit with three months remaining on his current contract.