The summer hasn’t been kind to Van Halen’s original bass player. First Michael Anthony found out that he was being replaced in the legendary group by a 16-year-old, then he watched as the band tried to re-write history by airbrushing his face out of old album covers on their website. MTV News recently interviewed Anthony, and you would think this would be the perfect opportunity for him to exact some revenge on the Van Halen family.

Instead, Anthony took the less-traveled high road:

“It’s not like it was totally unexpected,” he told MTV News during a recent interview, “only because of the strain from the 2004 tour and how everything’s been since then.” Anthony is referring to the band’s 2004 reunion jaunt with Roth replacement Sammy Hagar, which grossed almost $55 million before ending on a sour note (at the conclusion of the run’s final gig, guitarist Eddie Van Halen smashed one of his guitars and quickly walked offstage).

“That’s the one thing that’s really kind of sad,” Anthony continued. “It would have been cool to get onstage with Dave again, but I’m not going to whine about it, because that’s the way it is. Why waste my time trying to make a stink about it?”

The news isn’t all glum for Anthony, as he will be heading out with Sammy Hagar for the Other Half on October 19th. Read on for more from Anthony…

While the crowds may not be as big with Hagar, the music will probably be better at the Other Half gigs. Michael Anthony also revealed that he hasn’t spoken to Eddie Van Halen since the end of Van Halen’s last tour in 2004. While Anthony has some reservations about Wolfgang Van Halen’s replacing him in the band, he wishes the kid the best:

“I know in the past there’s been a lot of fighting and drama, but I’m not into all of that, especially now,” he said. “And I’m not going to sit there and whine about it and call these guys mother——s and the whole bit. It is what it is, and if [Eddie] wants his kid to play with him, fine. But they’re really throwing him into the lion’s den right off the bat. This is going to be a tough enough tour for those three guys, having not played for so long, and then throwing [Wolfgang] in the mix? … I hope he does OK. It’s sad that the fans aren’t going to see the original lineup.”

Anthony also addressed the incident where his face was removed from the cover of an old Van Halen album that was placed on the band’s revamped website:

“When I went on the Web site, that was probably more upsetting than anything else,” he said. “On the first album especially, they replaced my picture with a picture of Wolfgang, and I was like, ‘What’s someone trying to do here?’ I am proud of Van Halen’s history, be it good or bad or whatever. I love everything about the band. I guess the fans spoke out, because the next day, they changed it back. I really don’t know what to say to that. If that’s the way they want to play it out, then that’s the way they’ll play it out.”

Van Halen begins their tour on September 27th, while the Other Half tour kicks off on October 19th. We’ll still believe David Lee Roth is a member of Van Halen, when we see it.