Davey Johnson Fired as Manager of Dodgers
L O S A N G E L E S, Oct. 6 -- Davey Johnson was fired as manager of theDodgers after failing to make the playoffs in his two years despitehaving one of baseball’s highest payrolls, a team source told The Associated Press.
The team scheduled a news conference later today todiscuss the manager.
The move was completed Thursday night when Johnson spoke during a conference call with Dodgers executives Bob Daly and Bob Graziano, according to the source, who spoke on condition he not be identified.
Johnson left for a fishing trip in Mexico after the Dodgersended their season in San Diego last Sunday, missing the playoffsfor the fourth straight year.
The 57-year-old Johnson guided the Dodgers to an 86-76 recordand a second-place finish in the NL West this season. He is undercontract for next year at a salary of $1.5 million.
Dreams of Lasorda
The Dodgers were 77-85 in 1999 in Johnson’s first season with the team.
The move had been speculated for days, and The Los Angeles Timesreported Wednesday that Johnson had already been told he would notbe retained.
Johnson himself had said he expected to be fired.
“There’s a good future here, and I think things will be goodhere,” he said after the season-finale. “I enjoyed being aDodger.”
Johnson’s teams have finished first or second in 11 of his 12full seasons as a big-league manager.
The Dodgers, whose $94.2 million payroll this season was thethird-highest in baseball, haven’t made the playoffs since 1996,and haven’t won a postseason game since the 1988 World Series, whenthey beat the Oakland A’s in five games.
Johnson in Good Company
Johnson becomes the fifth manager fired since last Sunday, whenPhiladelphia’s Terry Francona was dismissed on the season’s finalday.
Cincinnati’s Jack McKeon, Pittsburgh’s Gene Lamont and Arizona’sBuck Showalter were fired the following day.
The firing also means the Dodgers will have their fourth managersince Hall of Famer Tom Lasorda left midway through the 1996 seasonafter a heart attack.
