Wrong Turn: A GM/Manager Career Story

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ROUND ROCK EXPRESS (44-62) AT ALBUQUERQUE ISOTOPES (53-53)
And here it was. Facing my old team. The Express were not a very good team and this was a good chance to get back to a winning record.

August 1: Austin House was back with us again. Returning to the role as our closer. Mike Tauchman hit a two run homer in the third inning and Stephen Cardullo reached base four times as we took a 6-3 lead in the third and never looked back. Isotopes 11 Round Rock 6.

August 2: This. Was. Embarrassing. Round Rock 10 Isotopes 1.

August 3: This hurts. Raimel Tapia is second on the team in batting average, hitting .333 for the season. He got called up to Colorado. I move Willy Garcia to center field and put Justin Ruggiano as the designated hitter. We get shutout and lose the series to the woeful Express. Round Rock 6 Isotopes 0.

NEW ORLEANS BABY CAKES (49-60) AT ALBUQUERQUE ISOTOPES (54-55)
The problem of being a minor league team. Your best guys get yanked from you and you are left scrambling.

August 4: Derek Holland suffered a herniated disc but will only miss six days. New Orleans 5 Isotopes 3.

August 5: Relief pitcher Chien-Ming Wang will miss anywhere from two to three weeks due to forearm inflammation. A rainout meant we would have a double headertomorrow.

August 6: Chris Rusin would need another four days to recover from a calf strain. Austin House was sent down to Hartford. Noel Cuevas and Matt Flemer both returned to us from Hartford. Cuevas went immediately to starting in center field. We had fallen to eleventh in the Power Rankings. Jan Vazquez went three for four with a home run and Daniel Castro went two for three with a home run as we ended our losing streak in the first game of the double header. Isotopes 7 New Orleans 5. In the second game, David Holman left with mild shoulder inflammation and will be listed as day to day. He had allowed just one hit in six innings. The bullpen only gave up one more hit the rest of the game. Isotopes 6 New Orleans 0.

August 7: We were back at .500. And tied for first place. And our offense explodes. Noel Cuevas and Jordan Patterson led the charge to give Devin Burke his fifth win of the season. And with Salt Lake losing again, we were alone in first place. Isotopes 14 New Orleans 3.

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We were in a tough jam as we headed out to Fresno. We had two injured starting pitchers, leaving us with a three man rotation. Derek Holland and David Holman were unable to travel.

We did get Jairo Diaz back from Colorado and I moved him into the closer's spot.

Another picture showed up on Facebook. David. My son in the Marine Corps wearing his Isotopes shirt.

I made a few calls and the equipment managers were soon boxing up several Isotopes jerseys and sending them to David's unit.

I put together a batch of pretzel crusted chicken bites and off to Fresno we went.

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ALBUQUERQUE ISOTOPES (57-56) AT FRESNO GRIZZLIES (56-57)
It aggravated me that we were playing these guys so damn much. They had been a real thorn in our side all season.

August 9:Jordan Patterson hit a two run homer in the top of the ninth. Unfortunately, we were down by three at the time. Fresno 3 Isotopes 2.

August 9: Jairo Diaz was sent back up to Colorado and Matt Flemer was sent down to Hartford. Austin House again returned to the team in our closer role.

August 10: We fell behind 5-1 after five innings but rallied behind home runs by Mike Tauchman and Jordan Patterson. Isotopes 6 Fresno 5.

August 11: Anthony Phillips has knee tendinitis. But he will still play. For now. And today he goes 3 for 4 with a double, home run, a pair of RBI and scores twice. And we still lose. Fresno 5 Isotopes 4.

August 12: A three hit game from Mike Tauchman was the only bright spot. Fresno 7 Isotopes 2.

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We were still at eleventh in the Power Rankings and tied for first in the division. And we got Raimel Tapia back from Colorado as we began a seven game home stand.

TACOMA RAINIERS (68-49) AT ALBUQUERQUE ISOTOPES (58-59)
August 13: Welcome back Raimel Tapia. He doubled twice and drove in three runs as we scored six times in the first and then held on to win. Isotopes 6 Tacoma 5.

August 14: Jordan Patterson had three hits and drove in a pair but their four run fifth did us in. Tacoma 7 Isotopes 4.

August 15: Stephen Cardullo had a home run and we got six solid innings from Brett Oberholtzer. But the game was tied 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Mike Tauchman sent the first pitch 331 feet into left for a walk off grand slam. Isotopes 7 Tacoma 3.

SACRAMENTO RIVER CATS (56-64) AT ALBUQUERQUE ISOTOPES (60-60)
August 16: Stop me if you have heard this one before. Austin House has been called back up to Colorado. Leaving us without a closer. Peter Moylan suffered a finger blister. Willy Garcia tripled twice but our pitching was really bad. Sacramento 18 Isotopes 7.

August 17: We get Austin House back. Mike Tauchman drove in three runs and Derek Holland allowed just two runs in seven innings for his sixth win of the season. Isotopes 6 Sacramento 3.

August 18: We can't get a win streak going this way. Sacramento 11 Isotopes 5.

August 19: Shawn O'Malley drove in three as we leave the home stand still at .500. Isotopes 9 Sacramento 8.

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We jumped a spot to number ten in the Power Rankings as we found ourselves once again a game behind Salt Lake.

Fourteen games remained.

We hopped on a bus and headed down to El Paso.

On the way, so many conversations turned to politics.

Security clearances. Porn stars. Payoffs.

I scanned my phone for something to tune it out but, of course, I found just more politics.

Then I came across a story of a couple of bikers who, in order to prove that ISIS people are good people, decided to try to travel on bicycles through a country with a heavy ISIS influence.

And now they are dead.

Killed by ISIS.

And their own naivety.

This story stood out to me because I could see my youngest daughter Tanya trying to do something like that.

And meeting the same fate.

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ALBUQUERQUE ISOTOPES (62-62) AT EL PASO CHIHUAHUAS (50-74)
August 21: My sister turned 47 today. I wished her a happy birthday on Facebook and then watched us lose again to a team we need to be beating. Brett Oberholtzer allowed three earned runs in six innings but the two unearned he gave up hurt. El Paso 7 Isotopes 3.

August 22: Austin House headed back to the Rockies and we got Jairo Diaz back in return. Derek Holland gave us seven strong to put us back at .500 once again and officially eliminate the Chihuahuas from playoff contention. Isotopes 4 El Paso 2.

August 23: The Rockies called up one of my setup men, Chris Rusin. Still, they get a pair of unearned runs, again, this time to beat Antonio Senzatela. El Paso 4 Isotopes 2.

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RENO ACES (70-57) AT ALBUQUERQUE ISOTOPES (63-64)
We have these four games at home before we head out on the road again. We trail Salt Lake by two games with eleven to play.

August 24: They get five runs in the fourth and we can never catch up. Reno 7 Isotopes 5.

August 25: David Holman gave us six innings but we entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 3-1. We loaded the bases with nobody out and then Daniel Castro singled to score two and tie the game. A couple batters later and we had runners at second and third with two out. Willy Garcia then got his fourth hit of the game, a walk off run scoring single. Isotopes 4 Reno 3.

August 26: Imagine what it is like being Austin House or Jairo Diaz. Diaz heads back to Colorado and House is back in our closer role. Let's not talk about the game. Reno 11 Isotopes 4.

August 27: We remain at number ten in the Power Rankings. Mike Tauchman's two doubles do not help. They scored six in the fifth and we are now three games below .500. Reno 10 Isotopes 4.

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ALBUQUERQUE ISOTOPES (64-67) AT SACRAMENTO RIVER CATS (65-66)
August 28: Shawn O'Malley and Mike Tauchman led a 15-hit attack and Antonio Senzatela gave up just three hits in six innings. Isotopes 7 Sacramento 4.

August 29: Anthony Phillips is finally back. But we aren't. Sacramento 12 Isotopes 4

August 30: Chien-Ming Wang has returned from the DL. This season has just fallen apart here at the end. Sacramento 10 Isotopes 2.

ALBUQUERQUE ISOTOPES (65-69) AT RENO ACES (74-60)
We have to sweep this series just to finish .500.

August 31: One down. Three to go. Isotopes 7 Reno 5.

September 1: And the callups begin. Heading to Colorado will be Antonio Senzatela, Austin House, Raimel Tapia, Mike Tauchman, Jordan Patterson and Shawn O'Malley. We get from Hartford 1B Brian Mundell, 2B Brendan Rodgers and RF Drew Weeks. Mundell went 3 for 4 with two doubles and Weeks went 4 for 5. Noel Cuevas had a big triple with two men on in the third and we never looked back. .500 is still a possibility. Isotopes 9 Reno 4.

September 2: We stand two games back with two to go. Devin Burke pitched well for five and a third but the run support wasn't there. And it's all over for us. Reno 3 Isotopes 2.

September 3: The final Power Rankings of the season have us 11th. We end the season with a one run loss. Which pretty much sums it up. Justin Ruggiano went three for four with a solo home run. Reno 9 Isotopes 8.

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We finished 67-71. After having been battling for the division title, we ended with a losing record. We went 10-14 in July and 13-16 in August.

Salt Lake was swept in the first round by Tacoma and Nashville beat Oklahoma City to send the Rainiers and Sounds to PCL Championship series.

Mike Tauchman was starting in right for the Rockies. German Marquez, Kyle Freeland and Jeremy Gabryszwski were all in the starting rotation.

I decided to stay in Albuquerque until the MLB season ended before finding out what my future would hold. I was willing to renew with Albuquerque if they wanted me back. It was next to home and I felt like I had some unfinished business after the way the season ended.

Finishing what I start has never been my strongest asset so it would be nice to accomplish that here.

It was a few months away still but I was already talking to Mike and Tina about Thanksgiving plans.

All that was left was to wait it out and see what developed.

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The Tacoma Rainiers are the 2018 PCL Champions as they sweep the Nashville Sounds in three games.

Chien-Ming Wang decided to retire at the age of 38.

I spent the few weeks after the season ended with my other favorite hobby. Food.

Cooking everything from French onion chicken bake to lasagna stuffed chicken.

The woman at the food mart has gotten to know me as a regular and seemed surprised and intrigued that I am actually cooking these things myself.

Her name is Stephanie.

She is 27.

A quarter of a century younger than me.

My oldest kid is older than her.

Nope.

Nope.

Nope

Not making that mistake again.

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As the MLB season wound down, we got word that a couple Isotopes players won PCL season awards. 2B Daniel Castro and RF Mike Tauchman each was named Platinum Stick Award winners at their position.

School started and Tina posted another picture of my grandkids on Facebook. This time wearing their Isotopes jerseys to school.

I'm almost surprised they weren't suspended for offending someone by wearing it.

This is how cynical I have become about this "I'm offended" culture that has become a part of our society.

I don't know what could be offensive about an isotope but I am sure someone somewhere could find something about it to trigger them.

As for myself, I continued to stay in Albuquerque. I relaxed with several visits to Tingley Beach. Just a nice early evening fishing and just observing fathers teaching their sons how to bait a hook and cast a line.

Like my father taught me.

And I never took the time to teach my own kids.

I really was a miserable failure as a father.

Mike had grown up to be a really good father.

I don't know how.

He certainly didn't learn it from me.

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The Rockies would go on to finish 84-78. The Astros would win their second straight pennant before falling to the Cardinals in five games in the 2018 World Series.

The 2018 NFL season got underway amidst a strong wave of political controversy. In many stadiums, kneeling players were met with a cascade of boos that tended to drown out the singing of the National Anthem.

I felt very fortunate that this climate had not yet made its way to Major League Baseball.

College football was the same old story with Alabama once again the team to beat.

Then, on Halloween, I met with the Rockies and Isotopes management and ownership.

"We are pleased with the job you did," Jeff Bridlich told me.

I didn't know why anyone would be pleased with a record that was four games below .500.

"We want to offer you an extension. Same money. $150,000 a year. But this time for three years."

It took me all of one second to accept.

I would remain with the Isotopes through the year 2021.

At least.

I could hear my ex wife, both of them, as I left the meeting that night.

Nope. I'll never change.

Baseball will always be my first and only wife.

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I was never a fan of Jerry Jones.

As a kid, I had grown up with the Tom Landry/Roger Staubach Cowboys.

A little bit of my sports innocence died when I was just 13. Roger Staubach retired.

The rest of it died when I was 22.

Tom Landry was fired.

Even with the success of the short-lived Jimmy Johnson era, the Cowboys were never the same.

When ego became more important to "Jerrah" than Lombardi trophies and he fired Jimmy, my interest in the Cowboys and the NFL suffered severely.

But here we were. On Thanksgiving Day. Myself and a couple of my kids and a few of my grandkids. At Jerry World as I liked to call it.

Watching the Cowboys take on the Redskins.

It was an ugly atmosphere.

Protesters had assaulted quite a few people trying to get into the stadium. Then they were assaulted by police. The entire issue being over Jerry allegedly releasing a couple of players for refusing to stand during the National Anthem.

The players apparently took a stand, or in this case a knee, as during the pregame, Cowboys and Redskins players came together to kneel at midfield.

Then there was the issue of would this be the last season the Cowboys played the Redskins.

Once again, political pressure was coming down upon the NFL to force a name change. And, Roger Goodell, having already a reputation to caving in to political pressure, had stated he would be having some serious talks with one Daniel Snyder over the name of the Washington football team.

Which was what many mainstream media outlets had begun calling them. They simply refused to call them the Redskins, opting to refer to them as the Washington Football Team.

Except for Fox News. Imagine that.

We had our own family drama over Thanksgiving as well with Tanya.

Who else.

She ranted on everyone's Facebook status, basically claiming she was disowning us all for celebrating, in her words, the complete genocide of the Native American people.

I should have just taken Mike and his family fishing.

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Tbc