~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SPORTSTICKER 1993 BASEBALL PREVIEW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NEW MANAGERS FOR 1993 BY DAVE STROCHAK STAFF WRITER Teams are finally awakening to the prospect of hiring minority managers and leaving behind the trend of only hiring people with major league managerial experience. Of the six teams with new managers this season, including expansion, three hired minorities and only two hired men with any major league experience. It used to be that to be even considered as a candidate for a managerial position, major league experience was a must. But in light of the success that Felipe Alou of the Montreal Expos and Cito Gaston of the World Champion Toronto Blue Jays achieved, four teams followed suit. The Dominican-born Alou took over the Expos last May and guided them to a 70-55 record and a second-place finish in the National League East, while Gaston became the first Black manager to lead his team into a World Series, giving Toronto its first-ever World Championship. Cincinnati, San Francisco and the expansion Colorado Rockies tested the minority market this off-season, while the Seattle Mariners and the expansion Florida Marlins went with experience. Texas is putting its fate in the hands of a man with no major league experience but someone who has won everywhere he has been. Lou Piniella left Cincinnati for the Seattle Mariners and Tony Perez is the new manager of the Reds. The other new skippers are Kevin Kennedy in Texas and Dusty Baker in San Francisco. The two expansion teams went different ways in naming managers. Don Baylor with the Colorado Rockies has no previous experience while Rene Lachemann of the Florida Marlins once managed the Milwaukee Brewers and the Seattle Mariners. Despite a 90-win season last year and a World Championship in 1990, Piniella got tired of embattled owner Marge Schott's meddlings and quit after the '92 season and left for Seattle. The 50-year-old Piniella inherits a team that finished last in the American League with a 64-98 record. The Mariners, however, will look to Piniella's leadership, intensity and experience to help them get back on the winning track. Superstar Ken Griffey, defending American League batting champion Edgar Martinez and off-season acquisitions' Chris Bosio and ex-Red Norm Charlton should help ease his transition. The hard-nosed Piniella posted a 255-231 record in Cincinnati and guided the 1990 Reds to their first Western Division title since 1979, their first National League pennant since 1976 and a stunning World Series sweep over Oakland. Piniella was hired by the Reds in 1989 after spending the first 22 years of his career in the American league, as a player, coach, manager and front office executive. In Cincinnati, former Reds slugger Tony Perez will take over in his managerial debut. Perez, who is a favorite among the players, inherits a talented team that won 90 games last season and made a run at the National League champion Atlanta Braves. Newcomers Kevin Mitchell and Roberto Kelly along with superstar Barry Larkin and a strong pitching staff should help Perez enjoy a competitive rookie campaign. Perez, a key member of the "Big Red Machine" championship teams of the 1970s, coached under Piniella and Pete Rose since 1987, but had never managed a single inning on any level. Perez, who was born in Cuba, spent the last seven years as a hitting and first base coach with the Reds after playing 23 seasons in the majors, 16 of them with Cincinnati. Perez finished his career with a .279 batting average, 379 homers and 1,652 R-B-I, 14th on the all-time list and tops among Latin-Americans. The 379 homers tied him for first with Orlando Cepeda for the record among players from Latin-America. Baker, another fan and player favorite, replaces Roger Craig who was fired by the Giants after President-General Manager Al Rosen resigned. Baker, whose only managerial experience came this winter in the Arizona Fall League, will look for two-time National League M-V-P Barry Bonds to mesh with Will Clark and Matt Williams, making one of the most explosive lineups in baseball. The Giants, however, are coming off their third straight disappointing season with a 72-90 finish in '92. The 43-year-old Baker has been a Giants coach the last five seasons and served as hitting coach the last four years. He is credited with helping Clark, Mitchell and Matt Williams win R-B-I titles in San Francisco. Baker enjoyed a playing career of almost 16 full seasons with Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland. He had a lifetime batting average of .280 wtih 224 homers and played in two All-Star games, four league Championship series and three World Series. The 44-year-old Baylor also has no managerial experience but brings 19 years of major league seasoning to the Rockie clubhouse. Like Perez and Baker, Baylor is described as a players' manager. He was hired for his leadership qualities and toughness as well as his ability to win. He played for seven division winners with five different clubs, including three consecutive World Series appearances in his final three seasons as an active player. Baylor, who spent last season as a hitting instructor for St. Louis after two years with Milwaukee in the same role, becomes the fourth Black and the sixth minority manager currently in the majors. Lachemann had been on an eight-year hiatus from his last major league managing job as he spent the last six seasons under Oakland's Tony Larussa as a coach with the A's. The 47-year-old Lachemann compiled a 207-274 lifetime record in previous managerial stints with the Mariners and the Brewers. None of Lachemann's teams has finished higher than fourth place. Kevin Kennedy becomes the 15th manager in Texas' 22-year history as he takes over for Toby Harrah to lead the Rangers. The 39-year-old former minor league catcher served as Felipe Alou's bench coach at Montreal last season. Kennedy, who has a combined 533-373 (.588) minor league record, was named Manager of the Year twice in the Dodgers' farm system. The Rangers finished fourth in the American League West last season with a 77-85 record. Kennedy will look to a murderers' row of Jose Canseco, Juan Gonzalez, Dean Palmer and Rafael Palmeiro and hopefully a healthy comeback of Julio Franco to help him along.