Just having arrived back from a series win in Chicago, Ron Roenicke was caught off guard when he received a phone call Sunday night summoning him to general manager Doug Melvin's office at Miller Park.
It was then Melvin delivered the news that the Milwaukee Brewers were firing Roenicke at the 25-game mark of his fifth season as skipper of the club.
The rest of Milwaukee's coaching staff has been told to report as usual for Monday's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
"I know it was difficult coming off winning two out of three in Chicago, but I had to look beyond that," Melvin said. "Going into the Chicago series is basically what I looked at. The last 100 games we've been 30 games under .500.
"It didn't have a good feel to it, winning six games in the month of April. It just didn't feel good. When all is said and done, that's what it comes down to, wins and losses. We were in first place (150 days last season) but over the last 100 games we've been 30 games under .500 (38-62)."
Despite sitting at 7-18, the Brewers have won three of their last four games and took two of three from the Chicago Cubs this past weekend.
"It surprised me a bit because of the timing," Roenicke said. "If this had happened last week, I would have got it a lot better. We had started to play well and that's why it surprised me."
There was some question as to if Roenicke would return in 2015 after the Brewers lost 22 of their final 31 games in 2014 to become just the fourth team since 1969 to miss the postseason after leading a division for at least 150 days.
But the Brewers not only brought Roenicke back but also exercised his team option for 2016 in March.
With expectations of competing for a postseason berth, Milwaukee lost eight of its first 10 and 18 of its first 23 before collecting consecutive wins in Chicago on Saturday and Sunday.
"It did start getting concerning when we were 2-6 and 2-8," Melvin said. "We gave Ron an extension in spring training. Both (owner) Mark (Attanasio) and I felt that we would get off to a better start. We didn't have injuries coming out of spring training. Those happened a little later.
"If we are a couple of games under .500 or playing .500 baseball — that's where the Reds are, that's where the Pirates are — I probably could have lived with that and felt good about it. I didn't feel good about 7-18."
Roenicke feels the team was going to start playing better baseball in the near future, likely an accurate assumption considering the talent on the roster. The Brewers have been playing without injured starters Jonathan Lucroy, Scooter Gennett and Carlos Gomez, who returned from the disabled list Saturday.
"We knew it wasn't going to go on forever," Roenicke said. "We're too good of a team to do that. We started pitching better over the last week, week and a half. Not just the one win in Cincinnati, but we had a good ballgame down there that we just didn't hit facing (Cincinnati ace Johnny) Cueto. I think we just started getting it together. The energy was good and things were starting to turn around.
"Guys were starting to feel good. The energy had been there all season, but it was a much more relaxed and happier feeling because we were starting to play good ball again. That's kind of what I saw. Guys had been good all year but it was always underlying with how we were playing and what our record is and that's always there."
The 58-year-old was named as the 18th manager in franchise history on Nov. 14, 2010, replacing Ken Macha. Roenicke signed a contract extension through 2014 with a club option for 2015 in May of 2012. The Brewers exercised the 2015 option and added the 2016 option last March.
Roenicke went 342-331 in four seasons as manager of the Brewers, but Milwaukee went 16-40 since Aug. 25, 2014. The Brewers won the National League Central and made the National League Championship Series in 2011 but have failed to qualify for the postseason since.
"It's my job to win ballgames," Roenicke said. "When you want to manage and you take that on, you know if you don't win, you know you're not going to be there very long. That's just part of the job."
Melvin indicated that the change in managers does not immediately signal the direction the Brewers will go in for the remainder of 2015.
"That will be a decision made later," Melvin said. "I still feel confident there's enough talent there to play good baseball. We didn't do that early on.
"I always feel the overall performance of the team will dictate which direction we go. I do have to look at the long term. I try to manage the club to win immediately, but I also have a responsibility that if something is there to help us over the long haul, then we make those decisions."
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