TEMPE, Ariz. -- After the dust settled from Ron Roenicke's dismissal as Brewers manager last May, his closest friends urged him to enjoy a summer vacation. It proved easier said than done.
"It's hard to enjoy the summer when you know you should be doing something else," Roenicke said Saturday, while receiving hugs and handshakes from a parade of his former players prior to a Brewers-Angels Cactus League game. "It didn't feel like I was off. It was the first summer I had off in, like, 40 years."
The summer vacation barely lasted three months. Roenicke finished last year on the Dodgers' coaching staff, then moved closer to his Southern California home for a reunion with the Angels.
Roenicke, who served 12 seasons on manager Mike Scioscia's staff before the Brewers hired him to manage from 2011-15, is back as the Angels' third base coach.
"It's déjà vu," he said. "There are a couple [new] people here, but mostly the same. Buddy Black is an assistant, but still down here in uniform in the morning. So it was pretty quick where I felt comfortable again."
While the Angels aim to contend in the American League West, the Brewers used Roenicke's dismissal as the start of a full-blown organizational rebuild. Craig Counsell was installed as manager, David Stearns took over for Doug Melvin as GM, and the team will have a different Opening Day starting pitcher, first baseman, third baseman, shortstop and an entirely new outfield alignment from just a year ago.
As he watched from afar as Milwaukee's roster turned over, Roenicke resisted thoughts of regret.
"I really didn't want to go there," Roenicke said. "It happened. They felt like they needed to do what they [did] at that time, and I still like Doug, I still like Mark [Attanasio, the Brewers' owner] and we talk from time to time. It was a good time to move on and forget about it. Let's [focus] on what I have to look forward to coming up."
Roenicke, who led the Brewers to a franchise-record 96 wins during the 2011 season, and to their only appearance in the National League Championship Series, hopes for the opportunity to manage again, even if it means someday being fired a second time.
"It's just part of the job," he said.
"I knew it was going to come sometime. I wish it wasn't that quick," he said of the Milwaukee experience. "But I think part of managing, when you do it, is you know you're going to have some tough times in different years. I had some great years there, had a lot of fun, and then a couple tough ones."