It’s an old saying in baseball: Managers are hired to be fired. Except, it seemed, in Minnesota, where the Twins last dismissed a dugout boss in 1986.

That changed Monday, when Ron Gardenhire was axed one day after concluding a fourth consecutive season of more than 90 losses.

Gardenhire lasted 13 years in the job, a long tenure for a major league manager. In the process, he became a household name in Minnesota, no real surprise for a man in a such a high-profile position. And while the criticism grew during the recent down years, he overall wore well with Minnesotans — a self-effacing man of good humor who handled the public aspects of the job better than most managers. He hung around during the winters and probably led the team in commercial endorsements, a testimony to his popularity.

As a manager, his record is mixed — fairly impressive for the first nine years, dismal for the final four, which is why he was ultimately fired. Losing is the cardinal sin for managers, and certainly there was too much of that in recent years. But there was enough winning in the first nine seasons of Gardenhire’s tenure that he still has a winning record for his career.

In the 114 years of the American League, the Washington-Minnesota franchise has had 29 managers. Only two — Bucky Harris and Tom Kelly — had more wins than Gardenhire, and neither Harris nor Kelly had a winning record.

On the other hand, both Harris (1925) and Kelly (1987 and 1991) won World Series. Gardenhire, despite copping six division titles, never got to a World Series, and, indeed, won only one postseason series. October was as unkind to him as it was kind to Kelly, who reached the postseason just twice but won it all both times.

Gardenhire said Monday that he doesn’t believe he’s done as a major league manager, and it’s quite likely that some other team will give him a fresh shot at the job — maybe next season, maybe the year after. (For now, he remains a Twins employee; he had another year on his contract, so he will be paid not to manage in 2015.)

Where ever he may land, he should carry the good wishes of Twins fans. (Unless he winds up managing the White Sox, in which case all bets are off.)

— Mankato Free Press, Sept. 30