By
The Associated Press
CINCINNATI - From Manager of the Year to out the door.
Jack McKeon took the fall yesterday for the Cincinnati Reds' disappointing season, fired for failing to win with a team that featured Ken Griffey Jr. in center field.
Griffey's dad, bench coach Ken Sr., is among those who will be considered. The Reds will wait until the playoffs end to see who's available - Lou Piniella could become a leading candidate if Seattle lets him go.
"The process is going to be long and drawn-out," general manager Jim Bowden said. "We're going to look at all the candidates from within and from outside the organization. There are some good managers in the postseason that might be available."
Even as they let McKeon go, the Reds conceded that plenty of miscalculations went into a season that didn't even come close to living up to its hype. The Reds went 85-77 and finished second in the NL Central despite a lot of injuries and midseason trades.
"The firing is not to put the blame on the manager," Bowden said in a subdued tone. "There's enough blame to go around from the general manager all the way down the organization."
Last February, there was nothing but praise for the way Bowden arranged the trade with Seattle that brought Griffey home. Demand for tickets was so brisk that the club had to install extra phone lines.
The Reds already were building upon a stunning 1999 season - 96 wins and a near-miss with the playoffs. When Griffey flew home that February night for his first appearance as a Red, a breathless city couldn't wait for the season to begin.
By the end of June, it was over.
A 9-19 June cost the Reds 101/2 games in the standings and essentially eliminated them from playoff contention. Bowden pulled the plug by trading Denny Neagle to the New York Yankees the day after the All-Star game, then sending Dante Bichette to the Boston Red Sox in September to save money.
So, why was McKeon fired? The Reds figured it was the right time to make a long-anticipated move.
When McKeon took over for Ray Knight during the 1997 season, he was seen as a short-term fix. He was good with young players and the Reds were rebuilding.
McKeon's hands-off approach worked and the small-market club was the big surprise of 1999, losing a playoff to the New York Mets for the NL wild card.
The 69-year-old manager knew his days were numbered when the club offered only another one-year extension after the season, shortly before he was honored as the NL Manager of the Year.
"That was probably a telling tale right there," McKeon said.
Some of his assistants had more job security. Griffey Sr. is under contract through 2001, as are third base coach Ron Oester, pitching coach Don Gullett and bullpen coach Tom Hume. Oester and Griffey Sr. will be considered for the managing job.
Part of last year's success was due to an unselfish attitude in the clubhouse. Players never openly complained about McKeon's penchant for using his bench and keeping a hot player in the lineup.
That changed this season. Bichette and Griffey, the two prominent newcomers, both griped about McKeon's methods. The attitude in the clubhouse degenerated as the season went along, even though McKeon was doing things the same way.
McKeon thinks his shaky contract status had a lot to do with it.
"Anytime you have success like we did and you get one year, they know you're a lame-duck manager so they can shoot daggers at you and see if they can undermine you and get somebody that they want in there," McKeon said.
Given Griffey's determination to manage somewhere - and Junior's public support of his dad - Bowden has a delicate situation to handle. If someone else gets the job, there could be bruised feelings.
That's why Piniella would seem to be a good fit - if he's available and interested. He managed Junior in Seattle and won a World Series in Cincinnati in 1990.
McKeon knows he's probably finished as a manager, but would like to latch on with another team in some capacity. He also managed in Kansas City, Oakland and San Diego, building up teams and then getting replaced just as they were getting good.
"It seems like I always get a job to come in and help build it up, then it's goodbye," McKeon said.
McGwire resigned to being pinch hitter the rest of the way
Assoicated Press
ST. LOUIS - For the St. Louis Cardinals, having Mark McGwire available to pinch hit is better than having him on the disabled list.
"You've maybe baseball's greatest home-run hitter sitting on the bench, that's an exciting possibility for your team," manager Tony La Russa said yesterday, a day before the Cardinals and Atlanta Braves began their first-round series. "The other side knows that, so it's a big advantage for us."
McGwire has been taking it one at-bat at a time since coming off the disabled list for patella tendinitis in early September. He's 5-for-15 with two home runs and three RBIs, and long ago got used to the idea that this would be his role.
La Russa suggested recently that McGwire could stand at first base for a few innings to get an extra at-bat, but McGwire responded that he didn't want to be an "ornament."
"There's nothing I can do about it," said McGwire, who's making his first postseason appearance since 1992. "It's well documented and I don't need to repeat."
La Russa said McGwire's role in this series is similar to that of Kirk Gibson in 1989, when he limped around the bases after his home run won Game 1 of the World Series for Los Angeles against La Russa's Oakland Athletics.
"I think he's available more than Gibson was," La Russa said. ''He's just a dramatic example of your No. 1 pinch hitter.''
McGwire's biggest liability is he can't run very fast or very far. La Russa will avoid using him in a situation where a ground ball would be an easy double play.
"He's the premier home-run hitter in all of baseball," Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said. "You could use him any inning; you could use him in the first inning if you really wanted to. He's a guy that will be sitting there to break up a ballgame anytime."
McGwire said his knee is improving, but not nearly fast enough.
"Not any better to play every day," he said. "By spring training, it'll be good."
He's still undecided about surgery.
"We're going to sit down at the end of the season and explore all the options and see what is the best option to bring him back in spring training as healthy as we can," trainer Barry Weinberg said. "At the end, we'll have all the answers. Right now, you have to just focus on what he can do."
