Expos’ Woes Are No Longer Alou’s

Maybe the popular and respected Felipe Alou would still be working today if he had accepted the Dodger offer to become their manager in October of 1998. The Dodgers, thinking it was a done deal, had even arranged for his plane ticket from the Dominican Republic.

Instead, Alou was fired as manager of the Montreal Expos on Thursday and replaced by former Dodger and Angel catcher Jeff Torborg, who will be managing his fourth major league team and who received a three-year contract, meaning he may have more security than his troubled franchise.

The Expos, last in the majors in payroll and attendance, could be contracted, relocated or neither. Alou, knowing he was in a no-win situation in which he would continue to lose his best players because of the financial situation, opted to stay in ’98 for two basic reasons:

A three-year, $6-million counteroffer that matched the Dodger proposal and loyalty to an organization with which he had already spent 24 years.

The decision ignited a chain reaction in Los Angeles, where new general manager Kevin Malone, who had worked with Alou in Montreal, was forced to hire a manager he didn’t want, Davey Johnson, and with whom he engaged in two years of distracting bickering and second-guessing. Both would ultimately lose their jobs, and now--in a twist of irony--the Dodgers are managed by Jim Tracy, who spent four years apprenticing as Alou’s bench coach in Montreal.

“He was definitely our choice in ‘98,” Dodger vice president Derrick Hall said of Alou Thursday. “In retrospect, he may be wondering why he didn’t take it and how it would have played out.”

Alou, 66, insisted he wasn’t wondering, had no regrets in regard to the Dodgers, and was almost relieved to be relieved by the Expos, ending weeks of rumors and confirming what he knew was coming last July 20 when management fired two of his most trusted coaches, Bobby Cuellar and Luis Pujols.

No manager has ever had a more difficult task.

Among the players traded or allowed to leave as free agents during Alou’s eight years as Expo manager were Pedro Martinez, Larry Walker, Marquis Grissom, John Wetteland, his son, Moises Alou, David Segui, Mike Lansing, Jeff Fassero and Rondell White.

Although the Expos are headed to their fourth consecutive season of 90 or more losses, Alou overcame the defections to produce four seasons on the plus side of .500 and had the Expos headed toward the playoffs with the best record in baseball, 74-40, when the players’ strike shut down the 1994 campaign in August. The ownership consortium responded by instructing Malone to conduct a spring fire sale in which Walker, Wetteland, Grissom and Ken Hill were all traded.

Despite the impossible circumstances, Alou ultimately became the same scapegoat that all managers do.

“The perception is what it is,” General Manager Jim Beattie said by phone. “My concern is with the reality. After the moves we made in the off-season, the team didn’t play up to capability and it’s too early in the season to fold the tent. I’m not saying that this puts us in the playoffs. Nor are we blaming Felipe or making him the scapegoat. This is simply one of the changes we could effect immediately in the belief it can have a positive impact on the team. I mean, any manager here faces a very large task, and as Felipe said in his comments today, the circumstances definitely had a drain on his energy.”

Even though Alou never complained about the circumstances or asked people to feel sorry for him or left to work with a 10-times larger payroll in Los Angeles, and even though the Expos consistently overachieved, sources said he never had the total support or respect of owner Jeffrey Loria, who said in a statement that the team had simply underachieved and he wasn’t willing to accept the excuses of the past. Some believe the firing of a man more popular in Montreal than any of his players cleared the way for the team to move, but Vice President David Samson insisted it had nothing to do “with anything outside the lines. This was a pure inside-the-lines decision meant to reflect our desire to have better performance.”

Perhaps, but Torborg may have a difficult time developing the same relationship that Alou enjoyed with a core group of Latino players, including Vladimir Guerrero, Jose Vidro, Ugueth Urbina, Javier Vazquez, Tony Armas Jr., Fernando Tatis and Orlando Cabrera.

“Jeff Torborg understands that the pressure for this team to turn around starts [immediately],” Loria said of a man who has been his friend for 18 years and who had been rumored to be Alou’s inevitable successor for more than a year.

Over parts of eight managerial seasons, Torborg had a 492-551 record. He was a catching instructor for Montreal during spring training of last year and has been working as a Fox broadcaster. He said his friendship with Loria was an important part of the decision to return to managing and to replace a manager he admires.

“It’s a challenge,” Torborg said. “These are obviously difficult times in Montreal, we all know that, but to be able to get back to doing what I love to do while working for and with a friend, that’s unique.”

There were no managers fired during the season last year, but the pace has definitely accelerated. Jack McKeon, Terry Francona, Gene Lamont, Buck Showalter, Jim Fregosi and Johnson were all fired during the winter, while Johnny Oates, Larry Rothschild and John Boles--in addition to Alou--have been fired since the season started. Tony Muser of Kansas City, Larry Dierker of Houston and Art Howe of Oakland are believed to be on the next hottest seats. One opening was plugged Thursday when the Florida Marlins, who fired Boles on Monday, announced that Tony Perez will remain as interim manager for the rest of the season to provide more time for a managerial search.

Alou, meantime, said he hopes to be back managing again next year but doesn’t know how many opportunities there will be for a 66-year-old black man with a losing record. That losing record, of course, is deceiving, and no one knows that better than Boston Red Sox General Manager Dan Duquette, who also served as a Montreal GM during Alou’s tenure and who has a tenuous relationship with his current manager, Jimy Williams. It would be no surprise if Alou surfaced in Boston--reunited with Duquette and Martinez--or in Miami’s heavily Latino market.

This time, he will take advantage of the plane ticket from the Dominican.

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C’est La Vie

At the time of his firing, Felipe Alou ranked third in terms of tenure among current managers:

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Manager Age Team Date of hire Tom Kelly 50 Minnesota Sept. 12, 1986 Bobby Cox 59 Atlanta June 22, 1990 Felipe Alou 66 Montreal May 22, 1992 Lou Piniella 57 Seattle Nov. 9, 1992 Dusty Baker 51 San Francisco Dec. 16, 1992 Bruce Bochy 46 San Diego Oct. 21, 1994 Tony La Russa 56 St. Louis Oct. 23, 1995 Joe Torre 60 NY Yankees Nov. 2, 1995 Art Howe 54 Oakland Nov. 16, 1995 Bobby Valentine 50 NY Mets Aug. 26, 1996

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