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By JOHN ROMANO
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 3, 2001
In one respect, the Rays have been trailblazers this season.
Having fired Larry Rothschild 14 games into the season, the Rays have started a trend unlike any the past decade. Four managers -- Rothschild, Johnny Oates, John Boles, Felipe Alou -- have either resigned or been fired before making it through one-third of the season. The last early-season purge like that came in 1991, when five managers failed to get through 50 games.
Overall, there were 30 in-season managerial changes in the 1990s and about one-third produced positive results for the remainder of the season. Here are the most successful changes in the '90s with a minimum of 25 games for each manager:
(Team/year, fired,record, hired, record)
Mets '90,Davey Johnson,20-22,.476,Bud Harrelson,71-49, .592
Royals '91,John Wathan,15-22,.405,Hal McRae,66-58, .532
Expos '92,Tom Runnells,17-20,.459,Felipe Alou,70-55, .560
White Sox '95, Gene Lamont,11-20,.355,Terry Bevington, 57-56, .504
Marlins '96,Rene Lachemann, 39-47,.453,John Boles,40-35, .533
Reds '97,Ray Knight,43-56,.434,Jack McKeon,33-30, .524
Tigers '98,Buddy Bell,52-85,.380,Larry Parrish,13-12, .520
Angels '99,Terry Collins,51-82,.383,Joe Maddon,19-10, .655
- Compiled by John Romano.