Did we have enough pitching going into the postseason?" asks Hargrove. "No, we didn't, because a lot of the guys we had were injured or guys that were at the end of their careers."

Hargrove also talked about his relationship with Indians general manager John Hart, the man who fired him.

"We had a good relationship, honestly," says Hargrove. "There is no reason for me to lie. I have already been fired. We had a good relationship. John and I had different personalities, obviously."

The following is an edited transcript of Hargrove's interview:

Miller: On the day you found out that you had been fired by the Indians, you got very emotional in the press conference at your house. How emotional is it still after losing your job?

Hargrove: It's not as emotional as it was that day. I was pretty good about it and then lost it for about 10 to 15 seconds. I almost got through the entire conference without that happening (being moved to tears). For 20 years, that was my identity - Mike Hargrove, minor league manager for the Indians, or Mike Hargrove, first-base coach of the Indians, or Mike Hargrove, big league manager for the Indians, or Mike Hargrove, player for the Indians. For 20 years that was my identity, and then all of a sudden it's not that way. It's a little bit of an adjustment.

Miller: What hurts the most?

Hargrove: What hurts the most? I don't know, probably what it has done to my kids as far as, all of a sudden, the security that they have known their entire lives is not there. It's a little iffy for them. That's not all bad, don't get me wrong, but that's probably the toughest thing is watching them saying, "dad, what about me?" "Well, I don't know. We'll figure that out and things will be okay." That's the toughest part.

Miller: One of the things the Indians said is "maybe it's just time for a change." Maybe it's time for you for a change too. If that's your identity, maybe you need a change to that now.

Hargrove: I don't disagree with that Gary, I really don't. When I had the meeting with John Hart and Mark Shapiro that day, that was the reason it was given. I understood that. I can accept that. I don't necessarily like that or agree with it, but I do understand that and maybe youre right. Maybe it is time for a change for Mike Hargrove, to go somewhere else and to re-establish a program and try to do this again. It certainly is challenging. It certainly is interesting. It certainly is a little bit exciting too - not a little bit, but a lot exciting to do that. I don't totally disagree with the reason. There are times when it's just time for a change and that's probably the best reason that can be given and the best that can be accepted.

Miller: You and your daughter heard about it on the radio. They said, "They wanted to get to the next level" and you said "that's just wrong." Was it "just wrong" that getting to the next level was the reason or that your daughter heard it on the radio.

Hargrove: "That's just wrong" that "getting to the next level was" the reason. We have been to the next level. We just haven't been able to close it off. Getting there has never been the problem. We got within two outs of winning the World Series in 1997. We took a one run lead into the 9th inning of the World Series and ended up losing it in extra innings. To hear that we want to get to the next level - I think that's just a catch-on. I think you hear it too many times. I don't mean necessarily in this situation, but I mean in other situations. "We want to get to the next level." For me that's not acceptable. I don't understand that reason, I don't accept that reason. That really is all I can say, other than if you want to say it's time for a change, then, you bet. I'll agree with that; then that's how you feel. That's an acceptable reason, but to get to the next level, we've been to the next level.

Miller: Did you have enough starting pitching to be a World Series winning team?

Hargrove: I think you look back at reasons for not winning the World Series and reasons for what went on. You've got to go back to pitching in our case, or in any other case. Baseball is built on pitching and defense, especially in the postseason. I agree with what David Justice said (on Up Close in August). We didn't have bad pitching at all. We had good, solid pitching, we really did. But we didn't have that one guy, until Bartolo Colon really came on toward the end of the season. But he still is a 22-23 year-old kid. We didn't have that one guy that we could go after like a Pedro Martinez or a David Cone, or an Orlando Hernandez, or Roger Clemens, Maddux, people like that. We didn't have that, but having said that, a lot of other people didn't have that either. So, we tried to make up for it in different ways. You know, not just having that slam-dunk, No. 1 guy and we thought we could build a bullpen that could do the job for us. And until we started having injuries out in the bullpen, it did do the job for us. There is always more than one way to skin a cat. Did we have enough pitching going into the postseason? No, we didn't, because a lot of the guys we had were injured or guys that were at the end of their careers.

Miller: If you would have won that Red Sox series, that everyone thought you would, up 2-0, would life be different? Would you still be the manager?

Hargrove: Well, I don't know. I have got to believe that maybe so, but since this has happened everybody said, "You know, Mike, the good Lord, when he closes the door, he opens another one." You can play "what if" until you get blue in the face and it doesn't do you a bit of good. Had we won that series, I felt very good about us playing the Yankees. It may not have been the Yankees in the World Series, but they have a very, very good team. And I think everybody likes to believe their team would want to be in there. But we felt good about the Yankees, and we didn't look past the Red Sox to the Yankees. We went into Boston and the Boston fans were absolutely unbelievable. They really lifted their team up and those guys responded and played very well.

Miller: Do you think that the expectations of the Indians got so high that Cleveland fans in general got kind of spoiled?

Hargrove: The fans in Cleveland are absolutely tremendous fans, they really are. I don't think that expectations can be too high. I think that expectations should be high. I think you go into a season with a goal to reach that goal. You go into it to get to the postseason and to reach the World Series. Everybody's stated goals are to win a World Series, and after you have been there a number of times and you can't quite get there, something has got to crack, something has got to give and it usually is the manager that it happens to. To say the expectations were too high for this ballclub and this organization, no, I don't think so at all. If anything, I think our expectations, internally, probably were higher than what our fans expectations were. What that does is create a tremendous amount of pressure and a tremendous amount of stress. There were times this season that I would wake up in the morning and be sick to my stomach because we had lost three games in a row, we needed to get back on the winning track. Things like that. Your job as a manager is to worry about the worst possible thing that can happen and prepare for that eventuality or the potential for that and ways to deal with that, and in a lot of ways this was a very difficult season in that regard, but in a lot of ways it was a very, very rewarding season because I had a good bunch of guys that had a lot of character and a lot of talent and they were good to be around because they went out every day to win and played hard and did that.

Miller: What was the relationship between you and general manager John Hart?

Hargrove: We had a good relationship, honestly. There is no reason for me to lie. I have already been fired (Hargrove chuckles). We had a good relationship. John and I had different personalities, obviously. I thought that we worked together very, very well in the context of what our personalities brought. Did we always get along? No. We didn't always get along. I don't always get along with my wife, though she makes me sometimes. It was a good relationship. We didn't always agree. We didn't always see eye to eye. We could express our opinions to each other and take for what it was worth and come to a good decision. Obviously, the final decision was John's. He was the general manager and does a very good job. But did we not get along? Was there friction? Was there a bad relationship? No. There was none of that. We got along well. There were times, like I said, that we didn't see eye to eye, but it never was a problem to the point that we couldn't get our jobs done and we were on the same page.

Miller: It's your 50th birthday today (gives him a birthday cake). There is an Orioles job, there is an Angels job, there is a Cubs job, there is a Milwaukee job. What job do you think fits you?

Hargrove: I don't know. I do know that I am not trying to limit any of my options. If I'm called to interview, I'll go anywhere to interview. I want to stay in the game. I want to get back in the game as a big league manager and hopefully that opportunity will present itself at some point in time. If it has to wait until Donny Baylor gets to where Donny has to go, that's fine. Donny is a good man. Donny does a very, very good job both as a hitting instructor and as a manager. We'll just wait and see, see if the phone rings and go from there. I appreciate the cake. I really need this cake and I appreciate you announcing to everybody in the world that I am 50 years old (laughing).

Miller: Well, we want them to share in your celebration. You are one of several candidates for the Orioles job. Theyve had four managers in five years, what are the negatives of that job?

Hargrove: I don't look at that as a negative situation. I look at it as a very positive situation. You look at the talent that they can put out on the field every day and it's championship-caliber talent. You look at the starting pitching that they have got and at least the first three or four guys are very, very good starting pitchers. So I don't look at that as a negative situation at all. And everything that I have heard about the Orioles situation from people that are with the Orioles, that are close to the Orioles, that understand what is going on, say that the situation there is not as advertised. It is a good place to work. Peter Angelos is a good owner that is loyal to his people. All they ask in return is your honesty and loyalty also. Every situation that you get into, every club is going to have negative situations or negative things here and there. It's the manager job to go into there and deal with those (situations) and bring it all together and make it a winning effort for everybody. Winning cures a lot of ills, so, I don't know where that situation stands but it certainly is an interesting one.