General Manager of Pacific Suns Is Fired

The general manager of the Pacific Suns was fired Friday in what marks the most recent effort to bring new management to the minor league baseball club after the resignation of the team’s founder.

Michael Begley, an Oxnard resident and the Suns general manager since September, was fired by new board Vice President Paul Regina, Begley said.

“In baseball, the day they hire you is the same day they fire you. They just don’t fill in the date,” Begley said Friday afternoon from his home in Oxnard Shores.

The firing was not entirely unexpected, he said. Founder Don DiCarlo resigned from his executive position earlier this month after a players’ strike, ongoing financial woes and a power struggle among shareholders.

Begley was hired by DiCarlo, so team attorneys will review his contract to see how much salary he is due, Regina said. Begley said his contract runs through November, although the season ends Sept. 2.

“We’re killing ourselves cleaning up the mess Don DiCarlo made,” Regina said.

“Michael was a very strong and important part of the past management team . . . but we really need to move forward,” Regina added.

Former Suns’ director of operations Dempsey Ford, who has since returned as a consultant, was expected to become the team’s new general manager next season.

Meanwhile, Begley said he plans to seek other baseball positions and play golf. Begley gained national fame last month when he helped negotiate a players’ trade for several pounds of catfish.