Louisville manager Jim Riggleman moves past stormy breakup with Washington Nationals

Jim Riggleman's current four-day visit to Syracuse is as close as he wants to come to re-living the dramatics that resulted in his walking away from the Washington Nationals manager's job two seasons ago.

Riggleman is now the skipper of the Louisville Bats, the Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. The Bats are in town for a four-game set against the Syracuse Chiefs, the Nationals' affiliate.

Under different circumstances, Riggleman could be in line to manage some of the current Chiefs when they reach Washington. But in June of 2011, Riggleman abruptly and surprisingly took a stand by quitting his job as manager of the Nationals.

Riggleman was upset that Washington had not yet picked up his contract option for 2012 and felt the issue at least deserved a discussion. When that talk didn't come, Riggleman resigned.

Monday, before the first game of the Syracuse-Louisville series, Riggleman declined to discuss his decision in specifics.

"It's history now. I'm just in a good place with what I'm doing. I have a lot of great relationships in Washington,'' he said.

"People read articles. There's no way for me to address that without bringing on negativity. That's been hashed out a lot.''

Riggleman has also managed the Padres, Cubs and Mariners He managed Double-A Pensacola last year before getting the Bats' gig this season. Riggleman said he remains good friends with Syracuse manager Tony Beasley and before Monday's game checked in with some of the Chiefs he knew from his days with Washington.

"I'm a baseball junkie,'' Riggleman said. "I follow everybody.''

In light of his having to work his way up through the minors again, Riggleman danced around the issue of whether he would have handled anything differently in Washington and indicated no particular urgency in getting another major league job.

"I did what I did. I was prepared for the consequences. It didn't take me long (to get another job),'' he said. "The goal (in the minors) is to get these players ready for the next level. What happens to the managers in the minor leagues is sometimes a by-product of what opens up. It (returning to the majors) is certainly not something that's in the forefront of my mind. When the umpire says 'play ball,' your competitive juices are flowing.''

Source: http://blog.syracuse.com/sports/2013/07/jim_riggleman.html

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