The Braves announced the firing of manager Fredi Gonzalez on Tuesday, but he figured out Monday night what the team was planning to do when he received an unexpected email.
The Braves opened a four-game series in Pittsburgh on Monday. About an hour after their 8-5 loss to the Pirates, Gonzalez received an email that contained information about a Tuesday morning flight to Atlanta, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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Monday's loss dropped the Braves' record to an MLB-worst 9-28. Gonzalez long knew he was on the hot seat, and the email helped him figure out his fate had been sealed. The Braves had made the decision to fire him Monday, then booked his commercial flight home for Tuesday. They wanted to tell him in person, with president of baseball operations John Hart flying to Pittsburgh to join general manager John Coppolella, according to the AJC.
But Gonzalez was able to confirm his firing Monday night after getting the airline email.
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Before leaving Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Gonzalez was able to speak with many Braves players, according to the AJC. He texted former Braves manager Bobby Cox, who told Gonzalez he "never saw this coming."
"I don’t think there’s a perfect time to do it," Gonzalez said of the firing. "I think you do it when they feel like the time is right, so they did it . . . I will tell you this, through all this stuff my team played hard. They busted their asses. They had to answer questions that they shouldn’t have to answer about the manager, and per man they all handled it with class and they played their asses off."
Gonzalez is 710-692 in 10 seasons as a major league manager, including 434-413 in five-plus seasons with the Braves after replacing Cox following the 2010 season.