CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Former Cincinnati Reds manager Tommy Helms said Monday he resigned as manager of the Charlotte Knights over the weekend because minor-league baseball was too much like work.
'The whole thing was just harder than I thought,' said Helms, who informed the Chicago Cubs organization of his decision on Saturday. 'I don't know how to put it into words -- it became like a job. You know?'
Batting Coach Jay Loviglio was named manager of the Knights for the rest of the season.
The Knights, the Cubs' AA team, have not had a stellar season. Monday they were 20-25, second from the bottom in the Southern League's Eastern Division.
Helms, a native of Charlotte, said at 49 he is too old to be back in the minor leagues, where teams travel from town to town on buses for back-to-back road trips that take their toll.
'I can't stand the bus rides,' he said. 'I just want to go to sleep and not wake up until we get there.'
And he said he has felt depressed since former Reds Manager Pete Rose was sentenced to prison last month. Helms coached under Rose and then replaced him as manager last season after Rose received his lifetime ban. The Reds the dumped Helms in favor of Lou Piniella.
'It was just a different story,' he said. 'Ever since the Pete incident baseball just seems different to me.'
But Bill Harford, director of minor-league operations for the Cubs, said the reason Helms quit had more to do with life in the minors.
'I don't think it had anything to do with baseball,' Harford said. 'I think he was just not enjoying life in the minor leagues. It just wasn't where he wanted his career to go.'
Helms averaged .269 for four major league teams in a 14-year career before joining the Reds' coaching staff in 1983.
Helms was on the road with the Knights when he decided to quit, leaving right after Saturday night's 7-1 victory over Memphis. Loviglio managed that game.
'Jay being there made it easier to go,' he said. 'I didn't leave the Cubs out in the cold.'
'I think we all knew he didn't want to be a double-A manager forever,' said Knights General Manager Bill Lavelle. 'He is a major-leaguer. Once you are a part of it, you get used to the big leagues.'
Helms said he will rest for a while, then look for a major-league job next season. But he said it won't be easy.
'There are so many organizations and they're all looking out for their own people,' he said.
The Knights left Memphis Saturday night for Birmingham, Ala., where they played against the Barrons Sunday. The team traveled by bus.
Helms caught a plane back to Charlotte.
