ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Larry Rothschild was fired Wednesday as manager of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays after three consecutive last-place finishes and a 4-10 start this season.
He was replaced by Hal McRae, the Devil Rays' bench coach who managed Kansas City from May 1991 through 1994, compiling a 286-277 mark. He was given a contract through the 2003 season, with terms not disclosed.
McRae also became the seventh minority manager in the majors.
McRae, 55, starred for the Royals from 1973-87 after playing his first three major league seasons with Cincinnati.
"We want to win as many games as possible, and the way you do that is we have to play the game hard. We have to play the game right, and we have to play together as a group," McRae said. "Collectively, we have to beat the opposition. It's important to me that everyone understands we have to do the little things to win games. We can't play selfish baseball."
Rothschild's firing, the first of the 2 1/2-week-old season, came in the wake of the Devil Rays' 10-0 loss to Boston in their 499th game. He had been the manager for every one, compiling a 205-294 record.
"Hopefully we hit rock bottom and from here it will change," the 47-year-old manager said after the game, in which Tampa Bay made two more errors and allowed six unearned runs to boost its total to 24 in 14 games. All but two of the unearned runs came in the team's 10 losses.
"If you're going to lose, you'd prefer to do it the right way and play good clean games and know you'll come out of it and be OK," Rothschild said. "But there's no consolation when you lose."
General manager Chuck LaMar said McRae was the only candidate for the opening, adding that he had all the ingredients the team was looking for to lead it through tough times.