The Arizona Diamondbacks fired manager Bob Brenly on Friday in the midst of their worst season since their expansion campaign of 1998.
Third-base coach Al Pedrique, a Venezuelan, was named manager for the remainder of the season.
Hall of Famer Robin Yount, the team's bench coach, resigned out of loyalty to Brenly, general manager Joe Garagiola Jr. said. Pitching coach Chuck Kniffin also was fired.
PHOTO: EPA
Pedrique, who played parts of three seasons with the New York Mets, Pittsburgh and Detroit, was a manager in the minors for eight seasons. He managed Arizona's Triple-A Tucson Sidewinders in 2002 and 2003.
"I have mixed feelings about the whole situation," Pedrique said, "because definitely I wanted to manage in the major leagues. But it never crossed my mind that it would be like this."
Pedrique joins Ozzie Guillen of the White Sox as the only Venezuelans to manage in the majors. Pedrique said the only immediate change would be to reinstall Alex Cintron as the everyday shortstop.
"I'm not going to make a lot of changes," Pedrique said. "I think we have enough personnel that we can play better and win more games."
In a coaching shuffle, Mark Davis moves from bullpen coach to pitching coach, and Glen Sherlock from first base to third. Tommy Jones, the organization's director of player development, takes over as first-base coach.
Lorenzo Bundy, the hitting coach for Tucson, will become bench coach. Dennis Lewallyn, former minor league pitching instructor, will be the bullpen coach.
A former major league catcher and television analyst, Brenly was the second manager in the franchise's six-year history. He took over from fired Buck Showalter after the 2000 season and directed the team to a dramatic 2001 World Series triumph over the Yankees.
Brenly was the first to win a World Series in his first season as a major league manager since Ralph Houk of the Yankees in 1961.
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