BASEBALL FIRINGS White Sox' Manuel, Orioles' Hargrove first to go

Chicago lost 10 of its last 15 games to fade in the AL Central race.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Chicago White Sox general manager Kenny Williams thought he was going to be spending the day after the season ended on a plane, traveling to the playoffs.
Instead, he was in his office for a third straight year, trying to figure out where it all went wrong and, more importantly, how to keep it from happening again next season.
"If you don't get it done, you have to try to find a new plan of action or find out where you have missed the boat," Williams said Monday. "We have tried a number of things talent-wise, personnel-wise, coach-wise."
So now it's time to try a new manager. Confirming what had been widely assumed for the past week, Williams announced Monday that he had fired manager Jerry Manuel.
Hargrove fired
Manuel wasn't the only skipper to lose his job Monday. The Baltimore Orioles fired Mike Hargrove after a four-year run in which he failed to guide the rebuilding team to a winning record.
The White Sox had a two-game lead in the AL Central on Sept. 9, only to collapse in spectacular fashion. They lost 10 of their next 15, finishing four games behind Minnesota at 86-76.
"What I've determined is that we need a new direction in the dugout," Williams said. "I've also determined that we're going to make some adjustments in terms of player personnel. I know that there is an urge for everyone to point a finger in the direction and say, 'It's this person's fault or this person's fault.'
"I choose to think it was an all-out group effort."
Williams hopes to hire a new manager shortly after the World Series ends in late October. All of Manuel's coaching staff will be retained except for Bruce Kimm, the third-base coach.
Williams didn't say who is on his wish list, but Cito Gaston, who led Toronto to World Series titles in 1992 and 1993, could be a possibility. So might Cleveland bench coach Buddy Bell and Double-A Birmingham manager Wally Backman.
In Baltimore, Hargrove's dismissal was made jointly by Jim Beattie and Mike Flanagan, the vice presidents who oversee the team's baseball operations.
Couldn't duplicate success
Hargrove came to the Orioles in November 1999 after an 81/2-year run in Cleveland, where he won five straight division titles and twice advanced to the World Series.
But he could not duplicate that success with the Orioles. Hargrove went 275-372 with Baltimore, including 71-91 this year, and stands four games short of becoming a 1,000-game winner (996-963).
Beattie and Flanagan will probably speak with former Orioles Eddie Murray and Rick Dempsey, as well as Sam Perlozzo, who served as Hargrove's bench coach in Baltimore.
Perlozzo, who managed the club this year while Hargrove attended his mother's funeral, said, "I would certainly think I'm a viable candidate for this job."