Two AL Teams Fire Managers

The Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox didn’t waste time preparing for next season, as both teams fired their managers Monday, the day after the regular season ended.

The White Sox fired Jerry Manuel, who takes the fall after the White Sox fell apart down the stretch, losing 10 of their last 15 to finish four games behind Minnesota at 86-76.

“This wasn’t a case of not having enough talent,” General Manager Kenny Williams said.

“It’s very difficult at this time to sit here, knowing the type of talent we had and what possibly could have happened if we would have just gotten into the dance,” he said.

Although he refused to criticize Manuel, Williams said the team needed to change its “voice and direction.”

Mike Hargrove is the odd man out in Baltimore, which finished its fourth consecutive losing season under his direction and sixth straight overall.

Hargrove told Associated Press in a telephone interview that he met Monday with team officials and was told of his dismissal.

“They said they weren’t going to offer me another contract,” Hargrove said.

“I guess they wanted a different personality.”

Hargrove went 275-372 with the Orioles, including 71-91 this year. His departure was not a complete surprise, given that his contract ran through this season and that the team never talked about an extension.

Jim Beattie and Mike Flanagan, the vice presidents who oversee the team’s baseball operations, are expected to quickly start the search for new managers.

The Orioles were 57-59 on Aug. 10, but faded after Sidney Ponson was traded and the injuries began to mount. Opening-day starters David Segui, Marty Cordova, B.J. Surhoff and Jerry Hairston all played in fewer than 100 games, as did Melvin Mora, Baltimore’s lone All-Star game representative.

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Angel second baseman Adam Kennedy had his broken left hand put in a cast, but is expected to be ready for spring training. Kennedy broke a bone in his hand when he was hit by a pitch from Texas’ Colby Lewis in the third inning of the Rangers’ 12-3 win Saturday.

Kennedy is expected to wear the cast for two weeks, then a protective device for two more weeks before beginning rehabilitation.

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The Seattle Mariners parted ways with hitting coach Lamar Johnson, characterizing the move as a mutual decision.... The Kansas City Royals have fired Tom Gamboa, the coach attacked last year during a game against the White Sox at Chicago.

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The average time of a nine-inning game dropped six minutes this year to 2:46, the fastest since 1989.

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Attendance picked up in the second half of the season, with the final average of 28,055 down just slightly from last year. This year’s final average was down 0.4% from last year’s 28,168 and was the lowest since 1996.

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The ratings for Fox’s Saturday baseball coverage were up 6% from last season. The games earned an average overnight rating of 3.4 with a nine share over 18 weeks of coverage. That’s up from the 3.2 rating and eight share in 2002.

* FINAL BASEBALL AVERAGES, D8