Rakeville Times: Rockets say adios to O'Leary

Troy O'Leary will no longer be setting the course for the Rockets. How will the man with the nicest kicks rebound?


Rockets say adios to O'Leary
By Hernandez Firstname, Rakeville Times

He brought the franchise back from the brink of mediocrity in 2005, taking a group of young offensive players and seasoned pitchers and got them to play as a team. In three seasons, Troy O'Leary led the Rockets to two regular season titles, but that wasn't enough to keep his job. Yesterday, all the rumors proved true as the Rakeville front office made the firing of their manager official.

"The Rockets organization is grateful for everything Troy has done for the team," said Jack Reed. "He was the perfect manager for a team with young, up-in-coming players, but now we must look to build on our success. We feel a move in a different direction is needed."

Despite his regular season success, O'Leary has only won a single playoff series. In three seasons, his teams posted a combined 402-216-42 record. They were the only team to score at least 130 categories during that span and won an Eastern Division title. Having arguably the best team in the EHCC during his reign, the Rockets inability to make the championship game, much less win the title, has been his biggest criticism.

"The Rockets are a classy organization," said O'Leary during a conference call. "When I left Bye Week, I thought my career was over. I thank the team for giving me a chance and I hope that my work in Rakeville will warrant a position elsewhere in the EHCC. Preferably someplace indoors or with a turf field so I don't dirty my new shoes."

No word on possible replacements for O'Leary. Longtime Rakeville Pitching Coach Justin Fuller is a top candidate, along with Las Vegas Pitching Coach Chet Steadman and Tijuana's Bench Coach Ernesto Gonzalez.

"We will be talking to a bevy of candidates," said Reed. "I don't want to tip our hand, but I think we have a good idea of what we are looking for and the candidates that best fill those needs."

Reed also announced former Interim General Manager Rich Garces has been brought back into the fold as a special consultant, and is expected to take the role of assistant general manager after his fail bid to return to baseball as a player.