was fired midway through the 1984 season. After the A's got off to a 20–24 start (2 games out of first place) in 1984, Boros was fired in late May and replaced with first base coach Jackie Moore. The firing came hours after a team meeting in which Boros told the players that he would not change his personality. First baseman Bruce Bochte said, "Steve indicated there was a lot of talk going around, that his situation wasn't stable. He said he was going to go ahead and be the kind of manager he had been, that he wasn't going to change to keep his job." Reaction to firing The A's offered Boros a front-office job, but he declined. Unemployed during a baseball season for the first time in over 20 years, Boros said he would take some time off but hoped to manage again. He met with the press at his home, drinking from a cup that read "No More Mr. Nice Guy." He noted that the team's management felt he wasn't tough enough on the players, especially Rickey Henderson. Boros said, "This nice guy label — I'm kind of getting clubbed to death with it. The public misinterpreted it when it saw a manager who went and talked to his players and asked their feelings. That all helped to create this impression of too nice a guy, one who can't make up his mind. The players are telling him what to do." Sports Illustrated ran a feature on the firing of Boros several months later. The article refuted the charge that Boros lacked toughness but opened as follows: When the Oakland A's dismissed Steve Boros in May, the manager's failing was more narrowly defined: He wasn't 'tough enough.' Newspapers across the country solemnly reported this canard. The shortcoming most mentioned was that the A's skipper didn't sufficiently 'stand up for his players'; that is, he didn't kick dirt on umpires or get thrown out of games. It was also revealed that Boros had read more than 100 books, cover to cover, and had other wimpy interests. Real men don't eat quiche. Tough guys don't dance. And so on. Boros noted: When they talk about toughness, they always talk about arguing bad calls, spitting in an umpire's eye, kicking dust — all that macho image stuff. ... If the fans saw that kind of behavior in a football coach,