BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE MAJORS : Orioles Fire Regan, Hemond Resigns

The Baltimore Orioles, who entered the season with pennant aspirations but finished below .500, fired Manager Phil Regan and announced the resignation of General Manager Roland Hemond.

The dismissal of Regan, who led the Orioles to a 71-73 record in his first year as a major league manager, paves the way for the hiring of former Oriole Davey Johnson.

Johnson, who guided the Cincinnati Reds to the NL Central title this year, interviewed for the Baltimore opening last season. But the Orioles opted for Regan, whose managerial experience was limited to 10 seasons in the winter leagues.

Regan has one year left on the contract he signed last October.

Hemond, a three-time winner of major league baseball’s executive of the year award, spent eight seasons as the Oriole general manager. He was one of the main forces behind the team’s 32 1/2-game improvement in 1989, the third-greatest jump in major league history.

But Baltimore had a dismal 1995 season despite carrying a payroll of more than $40 million.

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Buck Showalter met with owner George Steinbrenner in Tampa, Fla., but no decision was made on whether the New York Yankee manager will return for the 1996 season. . . . The St. Louis Cardinals have offered Oakland Manager Tony La Russa a “competitive” multiyear contract, General Manager Walt Jocketty said. . . . Randy Smith, who recently resigned as general manager of the San Diego Padres, appears set to replace Joe Klein as general manager of the Detroit Tigers. WJBK-TV in Detroit reported that Smith’s father, Houston Astro President Tal Smith, said his son had accepted the job with the Tigers. . . . Dwight Gooden, who earlier in the week signed a $1.15-million contract with the New York Yankees, agreed to pitch for the San Juan Senators of Puerto Rico’s winter league. . . . Frank Wren, assistant general manager of the Florida Marlins, interviewed for the vacant general manager’s job with the San Diego Padres. Randy Smith resigned from the job in last September.