End of the Story: A Conversation With Brian Boehringer's Former Agent

He didn't have to call me.  He wasn't going to.  But, for some reason, Bob Garber of RMG Sports Management, Brian Boehringer's former agent, called me back. 

I was driving the Hummer and listening to some old ZZ Top when my phone buzzed.  I didn't recognize the number and was going to let it fall into voicemail.  But something made me pick up.  I'm glad I did.

"Hi, it's Bob Garber." 

An unexpected call can send little shockwaves through your brain.  I immediately wondered if I'd been fair to him in all that I've written about his and Brian Boehringer's relationship, I mean, former relationship.  Had I made it clear that everything I wrote was in Brian's opinion, not my own?  Was it understood that I wasn't taking a stand for anybody?  That I was neutral?

My guess was probably not.  I tried, I really did, but I'm not mainstream media.  I'm not Switzerland.  I'm somebody who based a story on one man's words.  It was probably more one-sided than I'd hoped.

"I'm sorry I didn't call you sooner," Bob said.  "We were moving offices and I just got your voicemail today."  He went on to say he wasn't going to call me back.  The conflict with Brian does go back a couple of years now.  Why revisit the past?  "I don't want to make this a tit-for-tat thing." 

I told him Brian's two main issues: 1) That Bob had allegedly not called teams before 2006 to get Brian a contract.  Specifically, the Cubs, the team Brian cut a deal with on his own.  2)  That the contract Brian signed before the 2003 season was only "good for Bob Garber" and not a deal he wanted.  Bob gave me his responses.

BOB GARBER'S RESPONSE TO #1

Bob said he had called teams before the 2006 season.  Why would he not?  It's in both the player's and agent's best interest to get the player a job.  That way both can earn money.  He said GM Jim Hendry of the Cubs had passed.   Brian used his own connections to get his deal.  Mainly, he got to Dusty Baker, who Brian even says in our interview granted him a favor so he could hopefully hook up with another club.  But, no, Bob says it's not true that he did not call any teams trying to get Brian a contract.

BOB GARBER'S RESPONSE TO #2

"He got a great deal with Pittsburgh," Bob says.  If you recall, or don't, Brian's 2-year deal with the Pirates was for $3.5 million.  Brian got hurt in the second year of the pact.  "(Former GM) Dave Littlefield used to curse me out for the deal Brian signed."  While in kidding, Littlefield surely wasn't totally happy that he paid $3.5 million of his small-market money for a reliever who ended up with a sore arm in the second year of the deal.

The key here is that Brian wanted to play for St. Louis.  He lives there now and it's where he always had wanted to play.  "They never made an offer," Bob says.  "I can't get a player a deal with a team if they don't make an offer."  Besides, Bob says, a player doesn't have to sign a contract if he doesn't want it.  "I did my best for him," Bob continued.  "I'm proud to have worked with Brian."

To this day, the only bitterness Brian feels toward his career is towards his relationship with his former agent, Bob Garber.  I can't speak for Brian and say why.  Bob sounded like a respectable gentleman.  He took his time in answering my questions and even called me back again to offer another thought.  Why did Brian and Bob break up?  Who knows.  It doesn't really matter in the long or short run.  But it does illustrate the relationship between a player at the end of his career and an agent trying to manage that player's wishes and expectations.  Make your own judgement over who's right or wrong here.  And maybe it's neither.  Maybe this just happened and there's no blame to be tossed or shared.  Maybe what happened just happened.  And that's the end of it.

Either way, that's the end of it here.