Buddy Bell was hired as manager of the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday, taking over the team with the worst record in the majors.
Bell, a five-time All-Star third baseman, was bench coach with the Cleveland Indians. He takes over a struggling franchise that hasn't made the postseason since winning the 1985 World Series and is on pace to have one of the worst seasons in modern baseball history.
Bell will take over the team Tuesday when the Royals host the New York Yankees. The team planned an afternoon news conference to introduce him.
PHOTO: AFP
Lacking speed, power and experience, the Royals went into Tuesday night's game 13-37, 20 games behind the Chicago White Sox in the American League Central. Their record after 50 games is the same as the 1962 New York Mets, who lost a major league-record 120 games, and the 2003 Tigers, who lost 119.
The 53-year-old Bell managed at Detroit from 1996-1998 and Colorado in 2000-2002, compiling a record of 345-462. He is the first Royals manager in about two decades with previous experience as a major league skipper -- something owner David Glass insisted upon after Tony Pena resigned May 10 to help guide the young club.
"I think it's critically important at this stage of our development," Glass said Tuesday. "We haven't hired an experienced major league manager since Dick Howser."
Howser managed the Royals from 1981-1986, going 404-365.
Bell has had plenty of experience with struggling teams. In his first year with the Tigers, Detroit lost 109 games. But Bell rebounded the next year to go 78-83, a 26-game improvement that had him second in voting for AL manager of the year.
He was fired by the Rockies in April of 2002 when the team started 6-16.
"Managers change jobs. Managers seemingly don't manage one team for a long period of time," Glass said from his office in Bentonville, Arkansas. "Each time they're forced to make a change, they wind up being better the next time. With an experienced manager, you get someone who's tried it and failed and is a better man because of it in almost all cases."
Pena was AL manager of the year when the Royals were a surprising 83-79 in 2003. But the next year, despite adding such high-profile veterans as Juan Gonzalez and Benito Santiago, the club lost a franchise-record 104 games.
Bell and his father, Gus, combined for 4,337 hits -- the second-best father-son duo next to Barry and Bobby Bonds, who have 4,348. Bell's son, David, plays for the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Kansas City Royals broke a six-game losing streak, defeating the New York Yankees 5-3.
Zack Greinke (1-6) won for the first time in 15 starts.
The Yankees, who have lost three straight, were under the direction of bench coach Joe Girardi. Manager Joe Torre watched the game on television in the clubhouse while serving a one-game suspension.
Kevin Brown (4-5) lost for the first time in five decisions as the major league-worst Royals (14-37) beat the Yankees for just the second time in 10 meetings.
Red Sox 5, Orioles 1
In Boston, Wade Miller scattered five hits over seven innings to rebound from an awful outing, and the Red Sox broke through against Daniel Cabrera.
One night after the Orioles knocked Red Sox starter Bronson Arroyo out with seven runs in three innings, Miller (2-1) held Baltimore to one run while striking out three and walking three. In an 8-1 loss to Toronto on Thursday, he allowed seven runs -- six in the first -- and lasted just two innings.
Cabrera (4-4) held Boston hitless until Mark Bellhorn bounced a grounder up the middle with one out and one on in the fifth -- the first of four consecutive hits.
John Olerud doubled to make it 1-1, then Edgar Renteria and David Ortiz followed with RBI singles. Trot Nixon hit a hard one-hopper off Cabrera's glove; he fielded it and got the out at first, but Renteria scored to make it 4-1.
Indians 4, Twins 3
In Minneapolis, Victor Martinez's two-run homer broke a sixth-inning tie and lifted Cleveland.
Indians slugger Juan Gonzalez, out since spring training with a strained right hamstring, aggravated the injury in his first game back while running out a grounder in his first at-bat and never made it to right field.
C.C. Sabathia (4-3) gave up seven hits, three runs and two walks while striking out three -- his first victory in four starts against the Twins this season.
Bob Wickman pitched the ninth for his 14th save in 16 opportunities.
White Sox 5, Angels 4
In Chicago, Jermaine Dye led off the ninth inning with a home run, lifting the White Sox over the Angels.
Dye's drive off Brendan Donnelly (2-1) just cleared the wall in left-center field and gave the White Sox their second straight win following a three-game slide. Chicago has the best record in the majors at 35-17.
Athletics 10, Devil Rays 1
In Oakland, California, Dan Haren pitched a five-hitter for his first career complete game, and rookie Nick Swisher had a bases-loaded triple and a career-high four RBIs to lead Oakland.
Mark Kotsay moved down to third in the order and hit a two-run single as Oakland won its second straight following an eight-game losing streak, denying Hideo Nomo his 200th combined victory in Japan and the US.
Nomo (3-5) was outpitched by fellow right-hander Haren (2-7), who struck out five, walked none and threw 98 pitches to win for the first time since April 18.
Blue Jays 9, Mariners 7
In Seattle, Vernon Wells tied career highs with two homers and five RBIs, and Chad Gaudin won his Toronto debut.
Wells hit a three-run homer in a five-run first inning off Ryan Franklin (2-7) and had a two-run homer off him in the third.
The 22-year-old Gaudin (1-0), acquired from Tampa Bay in December, was taken out with a 7-2 lead after pitching five innings in his eighth major league start. He gave up two runs on seven hits and two walks, with six strikeouts.
The Washington Nationals' slumping offense really got going once it got a chance to face the Atlanta Braves' bullpen.
Nick Johnson hit a go-ahead two-run double in the seventh inning, and Washington scored all of its runs off relievers in a 5-4 victory over Atlanta on Tuesday.
The Nationals' third straight victory following a season-worst five-game losing streak moved them within 1 games of first in the NL East. It also improved Washington to 5-2 against Atlanta this season -- one year after the Montreal Expos won just four of 19 meetings with the Braves.
Phillies 5, Giants 2
In Philadelphia, Randy Wolf pitched shutout ball into the seventh inning, and Chase Utley had a two-run single to lead Philadelphia.
Wolf (5-4) allowed six hits, struck out five and walked three in 6 2-3 innings.
The last-place Phillies have won 10 of 16 and are within two games of .500 (25-27) for just the second time since April 27.
Omar Vizquel went 3-for-5 for San Francisco, which has lost a season-high five consecutive games.
Pirates 5, Marlins 4
In Pittsburgh, Daryle Ward hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh inning and the Pirates withstood a shaky start by Oliver Perez to hand the Marlins their eighth consecutive loss in Pittsburgh.
The Pirates trailed 2-1 and 4-3 but took the lead after reliever Nate Bump (0-2) retired the first two batters in the seventh.
Diamondbacks 7, Mets 0
In New York, rookie left-hander Brad Halsey shut out New York for seven innings, Jose Cruz Jr. gave Arizona a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning with his sixth home run of the season and Craig Counsell delivered two runs with a two-out single in the sixth.
Then the Diamondbacks put it away with three more runs in the seventh.
Halsey (4-2), who came to Arizona as part of the package that sent Randy Johnson to the New York Yankees, scattered six hits, striking out six and walking one.
Astros 4, Reds 3
In Houston, Brandon Backe remained unbeaten at home as a starter and sparked a two-run fifth-inning rally to lead Houston.
Backe (5-3) improved to 7-0 in nine career starts -- all Houston wins -- at Minute Maid Park. Backe, who broke into the starting rotation last season, is 8-1 at home in his career.
Ken Griffey Jr. homered off Backe to give the Reds a 2-1 lead in fifth inning, but Backe singled and scored on a hit by Todd Self in the bottom half to tie it. The Astros took the lead later in the inning on an RBI double by Lance Berkman.
Rockies 2, Cardinals 1
In Denver, Jason Jennings became the winningest pitcher in Coors Field history, allowing one run over seven innings to help Colorado snap a four-game losing skid.
Dustan Mohr and Todd Greene hit back-to-back homers in the fourth to give Jennings (3-6) the runs he needed to win his 25th game at Coors, passing Pedro Astacio. With the win, the Rockies snapped Mark Mulder's seven-game winning streak.
Mulder (7-2) lost for the first time since April 13.
Padres 8, Brewers 4
In San Diego, Geoff Blum hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the sixth inning and the Padres rallied for their 22nd victory in May.
The Padres set a team record with their 11th straight home win, and won their sixth straight overall.
San Diego was 22-6 in May, setting the club record for victories in a month.
Cubs 2, Dodgers 1, 10 innings
In Los Angeles, Carlos Zambrano and two relievers combined on a one-hitter, Neifi Perez drove in the go-ahead run with a one-out single in the 10th inning, and the Cubs extended their winning streak to a season-high five games.
Pinch-hitter Michael Barrett singled off Yhency Brazoban (2-1), the third Dodgers' pitcher, to start the 10th and Todd Hollandsworth sacrificed. Perez then sliced a single to left to drive in Barrett.
Michael Wuertz (4-2) blanked the Dodgers in the ninth, and Ryan Dempster worked the 10th for his second save in two nights and sixth in seven chances.
Tomonori Maeda struck a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning to help push the Hiroshima Carp ahead to win 4-1 against the Lotte Marines in Japanese interleague baseball Tuesday.
Maeda's homer off Soichi Fujita (1-1) set off a three-run rally in the eighth, clinching Hiroshima's victory over the Pacific League-leading Marines.
Hiroki Kuroda (7-2) allowed one run and seven hits, while striking out eight and walking one batter in the game at Chiba Marine Stadium.
HAWKS 2 TIGERS 0
At Koshien Stadium, the Softbank Hawks shut out the Central League-leading Hanshin Tigers 2-0 thanks to strong pitching from Toshiya Sugiuchi (8-1), who struck out 10 batters in the game.
Julio Zuleta helped break the deadlock in the seventh inning with a two-run drive for his 16th home run of the season.
FIGHTERS 4, GIANTS 4,
12 INNINGS, TIE
At Sapporo Dome, the Nippon Ham Fighters and the Yomiuri Giants battled out into 12 innings for a 4-4 tie. Tuffy Rhodes broke a 3-3 tie with a single in the sixth inning but Fernando Seguignol soon came back with a solo shot.
During a comedy sketch that that was filmed Tuesday afternoon at Shea Stadium for next month's ESPY Awards, the director Ron Howard instructed Mets second baseman Kazuo Matsui to yell at him in Japanese.
Matsui might have felt he had plenty to bark about. Even though Matsui's sore neck has healed and he started Sunday against Florida, manager Willie Randolph decided to open Tuesday night's game against Arizona with Miguel Cairo at second base, the clearest sign that Matsui may be losing his job.
"I'm playing who I feel gives us a better chance to win," Randolph said before Cairo went 2 for 3 in the Mets' 7-0 loss. "Miguel's playing well, and I put guys out there who are playing well."
After Matsui first complained about his sore neck, Randolph insisted that Cairo was not auditioning for a starting job and that Matsui would reclaim his position when he was healthy.
Matsui returned to the lineup Sunday against the Marlins, but he booted a ground ball and lost a pop fly in the sun. Randolph said Tuesday that he played Matsui on Sunday only because he was resting Cairo, who batted .360 on the Mets' seven-game trip.
Matsui is batting .311 against left-handed pitchers and .208 against right-handers.
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