Jackie Moore Is Fired as Manager by the Struggling A’s

The Oakland A’s, disappointed with a 29-44 start, fired Manager Jackie Moore on Thursday and replaced him on an interim basis with bullpen coach Jeff Newman.

A’s President Roy Eisenhardt announced the move from Oakland Thursday morning, while the A’s were in Kansas City for a night game against the Royals.

“Jackie Moore has been officially relieved as manager and is being replaced as interim manager by Jeff Newman,” the team’s one-line statement read.

Moore, 47, and A’s General Manager Sandy Alderson held a news conference in Moore’s Kansas City hotel room after the firing was announced.

“I found out about 10:30 this morning,” Moore said Thursday. “Before breakfast. I lost my appetite. But I’ve been in this game long enough to know that when things aren’t going well, the manager is on thin ice.”

Moore said he has been offered a position within the organization.

Entering Thursday night’s game, the A’s had lost six of their last seven games. They also dropped 15 in a row on the road before winning at Kansas City on Tuesday night.

Wednesday night, the A’s blundered their way to an 5-4 loss to the Royals. With the bases loaded and two out in the ninth, Ricky Peters wandered off third base and was picked off. Kansas City scored a run in the bottom of the inning and won, 5-4. After the game, Moore said the play “made us look like idiots.”

Thursday, Moore said: “I felt that if that didn’t do it (get him fired), I was safe.

“Going on this road trip, I felt it was necessary for us to put together some wins. Unfortunately, we did not.”

The A’s went sour early this season. “It was an accumulation of things,” Newman said. “We had injuries to some key people--we had a center fielder (Dwayne Murphy) go down, and we lost a couple of starters. And a catcher was hurt for a while. But losing also becomes a habit.”

Moore was hired as manager on May 24, 1984. He led the A’s to fourth-place finishes in 1984 and 1985. His managerial record with the A’s was 163-190.

Newman, 37, who batted .224 with 63 homers in nine major league seasons, joined the A’s as a coach on Nov. 1.

Regarding who will be named full-time manager, Newman said: “I am not a candidate. I told them I just would fill in while they look for another manager. I don’t know how long it will be. It could be one day, 10 days or two months. But I’ll do the best I can for the organization.”