Back when I was a first grader navigating the halls of Glen Lake Elementary, a ho-hum Tom Kelly presided over his first game as manager of the Minnesota Twins.

Last week Kelly made official his plans of retiring from the job, leaving his post as the longest-tenured coach or manager in professional sports in this country.

Because I was too young to remember much anything from the pre-Kelly era, the 51-year old New Jersey native is the only person I ever recall seeing at the helm of my favorite team.

Kelly’s teams often went through extreme seasons: really high highs and really low lows.

After evolving from interim manager to the permanent skipper following the 1986 season, Kelly proceeded to manage the team to World Series titles in 1987 and 1991; the championships are the only two won by the four major sports franchises currently in Minnesota.

For those Twins fans out there that don’t remember – and maybe you’ve consciously tried to forget – the post-World Series years were very long ones for the Twins.

1993 marked the first of eight consecutive losing seasons for Kelly’s teams. Kelly at times was criticized by fans, sports writers and more than one team official for a lack of connection with many of the younger players that the low-salary Twins carried on their roster. It was suggested that it might be best for Kelly to move on – either on his own accord, or by the decision of owner Carl Pohlad.

But Kelly, and Pohlad, refused to give in to those pressures. Instead, Kelly came back for 2001 and what apparently was his final season as a manager.

The Twins revitalized professional baseball in Minnesota with a solid first half of the season and a second-place finish in the American League Central – far better than the fifth place finish virtually everyone had predicted.

And maybe that’s why Kelly finally decided he could hang it up.

Maybe he felt OK moving on, having finally proved to the baseball world that he could still “get the job done.”

Anyone who has been a baseball fan since 1986 knows that Kelly comes off as one of the most laid back people in a very laid back sport. His interviews following games usually include a poker face and a hard-lined critique of his players.

Kelly wouldn’t always rip his team – in fact, especially during the 2001 season, he often praised the efforts of his club – but seldom would he single out individuals and publically hype them.

Former and current Twins beat writers have written about Kelly as a manager and a person, and how he truly was a hard person to work with and, for many players, a hard person to play for.

He demanded a lot from his players, and nobody can fault him for that.

But many have said his steely demeanor and sometimes cranky attitude were unnecessary traits he carried along.

Kelly didn’t really seem to care.

At the risk of sounding cliche, it was nice to witness someone in professional sports that didn’t sell out, that didn’t worry about his image whenever he spoke.

He wanted his players to respect the game, and took no excuses if they didn’t.

In that respect I can only say good job, TK.