What?

That was my reaction when I read this headline. Because, frankly, I did not see this day anywhere on the near horizon.

Roeder stepping down as Kernels GM

They essentially are 12 to 16-hour days, seven days a week, 365 days a year. And Jack Roeder has had his fill.

The longtime Cedar Rapids Kernels general manager Jack Roeder will step down from his position after the 2010 season and be replaced by Chief Financial Officer Doug Nelson.

Roeder, 58, came to Cedar Rapids from the Wausau Timbers of the Midwest League in 1991. Perhaps the most well-liked GM in the MWL, he was instrumental in helping get the newer Memorial Stadium built in 2002. He has been a minor league general manager or assistant general manager for 30 years.

The Kernels won Minor League Baseball’s John H. Johnson Award last year as the top MiLB organization.

“I’m very content with my decision,” Roeder said Monday. “It’ll be 20 years (in Cedar Rapids) this summer. That’s a long time in this business. We’ve done a lot, and we’ve got a lot to do, yet.

"I want to go out with 200,000 (yearly attendance). And I’ve got one more chance to get a (Midwest League) championship.”

I'll apologize to Jeff Johnson here for swiping the whole post. That August, 2010 trip into Cedar Rapids just got a little bit more interesting.