Dodgers Name Tracy Manager

Promoting from within, the Dodgers selected coach Jim Tracy as their next manager and plan to introduce him today at a Dodger Stadium news conference, The Times has learned.

The bench coach the last two seasons, Tracy emerged from a tight race with batting coach Rick Down, the other finalist and preferred choice of some players.

“I know about it, but there’s not a whole lot I can say about it at this point,” said Down when contacted at his off-season home in Las Vegas.

“As far as how it [the decision] was reached, I really can’t say. All I know is that they wanted someone else. I’m very disappointed.”

Down said he plans to seek a job elsewhere.

Tracy, 44, succeeds Davey Johnson, fired Sept. 29 after two seasons with the club. He has no major league managerial experience.

Contacted at their off-season home in Sarasota, Fla., Tracy’s wife, Debra, said Tracy was not home, and she was not sure when he would return.

Sources said Chairman Bob Daly, President Bob Graziano and General Manager Kevin Malone spoke late Tuesday night with Tracy and his representative to complete the terms of Tracy’s contract.

Derrick Hall, senior vice president, declined comment on the club’s plans.

Tracy will become only the Dodgers’ sixth manager since 1954--but fourth since the middle of the ’96 season.

The selection ends a three-week search process, leading to Daly’s top choice being offered the once-coveted position.

Daly is comfortable with Tracy, whose low-key approach works well with the first-year chairman.

Although Down and Tracy were the leading candidates from the outset because of their work ethic and ability to coexist with Malone--the main qualification for the job--Daly and Graziano decided Tracy would be a better fit for the tarnished franchise, team sources said, and Malone always agrees with Daly.

Down has an animated approach, and Daly, sensitive to media criticism, was concerned Down might be too forthcoming about the team, something he disliked about Johnson.

Tracy said the right things in his interview, convincing Daly that he was the right man to lead the team.

Daly also was impressed with Tracy’s handling of the club in July when Johnson was hospitalized briefly because of an irregular heart rhythm.

Some in the organization--including pitcher Kevin Brown, right fielder Shawn Green and first baseman Eric Karros--strongly endorsed Down because of his animated approach, believing Down could provide a needed spark.

Tracy also is respected, but he is considered more reserved than Down, concerning players who considered Johnson too reserved.

The feeling in the clubhouse was that Tracy, at times, should have offered stronger opinions to Johnson.

Malone repeatedly praised Down during the season, but is believed to have told Daly he also is comfortable with Tracy, with whom he worked in the Montreal Expo organization.

Malone, who requested that Johnson hire Tracy as a coach in ‘98, also prefers Tracy because of his reserved approach and willingness to toe the company line.

Moreover, Malone is leery of the media in the wake of his many missteps and disastrous partnership with Johnson.

Tracy has been a bench coach six seasons, serving the first four under Expo Manager Felipe Alou.

Tracy was 501-486 in seven seasons as a minor league manager with the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds and Expos.

A fourth-round draft choice in 1977, Tracy played parts of the 1980 and ’81 seasons with the Cubs, and two seasons in Japan.

Down was the players’ choice because they said Down communicates well with them, something Johnson did not do. In confronting players, Down led them to believe he would have run a tighter ship than Johnson.

And Tracy? Players said they aren’t sure because Tracy did not display that characteristic under Johnson.

“They say when a door closes another door opens,” Down said. “If L.A. was the only place I could work, I shouldn’t be in baseball. I’ll land on my feet.”

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Jim Tracy Profile

* Given name: James Edwin Tracy

* Age: 44

* Born: Dec. 31, 1955 in Hamilton, Ohio

* Residence: Sarasota, Fla.

* Coaching / managerial career: Three seasons as the Dodgers’ bench coach. Duties included coordinating all on-field activities during spring training. . . . Served four seasons as a bench coach for the Montreal Expos under Manager Felipe Alou . . . Posted a 501-486 record in seven seasons as a minor league manager from 1987-91 and 1993-1994 with the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds and Expos. In 1993 he guided the Expos’ double-A team in Harrisburg, Pa., to a 94-44 record and Eastern League championship. Harrisburg was named Minor League team of the year by Baseball America. . . . Managed Montreal’s triple-A team in Ottawa to a 70-72 record in 1994. . . . Made managerial debut in 1987 with the Cubs’ single-A team in Peoria, Ill. in the Midwest League. . . . Had a 196-231 record from 1989-91 with Reds’ Double-A team in Chattanooga, Tenn.. . . Was the Reds’ minor league field coordinator in 1992.

* Playing career: Selected by the Cubs in the fourth round of the June 1977 first-year player draft. . . . . . . Played 87 games in two seasons with the Cubs (1980-81) with three home runs, 14 RBIs and a .249 batting average . . . Had a .292 batting average in eight minor-league seasons. . . . Played two seasons in Japan with Taiyo from 1983-84.

DODGER MANAGERS IN L.A.

Walter Alston 1958-76

Tom Lasorda 1977-96

Bill Russell 1996-98

Glenn Hoffman 1998

Davey Johnson 1999-2000

*

ELSEWHERE

STAYING PUT: Managers Bobby Valentine of the New York Mets and Lou Piniella of the Seattle Mariners agreed to three-year contracts. D10