But the real clue that he was not long for his job was the vote of confidence given him by the team last week. The only more hollow words in sports are an athlete's vows of retirement (Brett Favre might be the poster boy for that, but he was hardly the first to do the retirement dance).
Do a Google search for "vote of confidence"+baseball+manager" and you'll find the word "dreaded" frequently used. It seems unlikely that the owners, general managers and others who pass out these assurances are really lying (at least most of the time).
My guess is that for the most part they tire of being asked everyday by reporters whether or not this manager or that GM is about to be fired. "No comment" just fuels the frenzy for an answer. Not answering doesn't work. Changing the subject, ditto.
So finally an answer is offered. Maybe the decision has already been made, but often I think the matter is still up in the air when the "dreaded" vote of confidence is given.
And that's when it's time to start packing up the office.
Kind of like in the old days of the Soviet Union, when a politician had not been seen in public for a while, and the media reported that he had a cold.
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