Steinbrenner to Bucky Dent: Goodby : Yankees’ turnover: Two coaches also get walking papers. Owner calls up ‘Stump’ Merrill from farm club.

Manager Bucky Dent and two coaches were dismissed by the New York Yankees today--the 19th managerial change in 17 years since George Steinbrenner purchased controlling interest in the team.

Dent was replaced by Carl (Stump) Merrill, manager of the Yankees’ farm club at Columbus, Ohio.

Also relieved of their duties were batting coach Champ Summers and third base coach Joe Sparks. Each was in his first season with the Yankees.

The changes were announced by Yankees General Manager Harding (Pete) Peterson, who said Merrill will take over for the rest of the season.

The sweeping changes came with the Yankees buried in last place in the American League East, saddled by an 18-31 record--the worst in baseball.

Peterson said, “Mr. Steinbrenner anguished long and hard about this decision. We feel that the club is a better club than our won-loss record indicates.”

Dent had been rumored to be in trouble almost from the start of the season as the team struggled with a patchwork pitching staff and quickly sank to the bottom of its division.

His dismissal came in the town where he enjoyed his finest moment as a player. It was at Fenway Park that Dent hit a three-run homer rallying the Yankees to a 5-4 victory over Boston in a playoff for the 1978 AL East Division title. The Yankees went on to win their second straight World Series but have been back to postseason play only once since then.

Dent was the latest in a parade of managers hired to restore the team to its former glory. He was promoted from Columbus of the International League last Aug. 18, replacing Dallas Green, and managed the team to an 18-22 record the rest of the season.

During the winter, the Yankees assembled a new coaching staff for him, hiring Sparks from Montreal to coach third base and promoting Summers from Columbus.

Meanwhile, Merrill took over the managing job at Columbus for the third time--he was also there in 1984 and most of 1985. He had the Clippers in first place in the IL when he got the call to replace Dent.

“I think that I have achieved something that if you had put it on an odds board you would have won a lot of money,” he said.

Merrill said he is not familiar with the club’s personnel, adding that he probably does not know as many as 15 players.

“The timing of the lockout was bad for me because I didn’t even go to spring training,” he said.

“From watching them, it looked like a listless ballclub to me. I’m easy going. Once they put that baseball hat on, it’s business and business only. It took me 14 years to get to this point. The one thing I’m going to try to do is just have fun.”

George Sisler, who was general manager at Columbus during most Merrill’s managerial turns there, said:

“He’s a very good manager. A good baseball man. Stump is a no-nonsense kind of guy who should make a good manager. He’s not just a name. He’s knows baseball and he knows baseball players.”

Randy Mobley, commissioner of the Triple-A Alliance and a former Clippers administrator, said:

“He’s a cliche from the old school. He’s a disciplinarian. That’s one of the things he is noted for. And it’s one reason why he’s been so successful. He’s a nuts-and-bolts kind of guy.