Pirates hitting coach hired as manager

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PITTSBURGH - Lloyd McClendon, the hitting coach on former Pittsburgh manager Gene Lamont's staff for four years, was hired yesterday as the Pirates' manager.

McClendon said he has been managing other players, even while a player himself, throughout his baseball career.

The Pirates are coming off a 93-loss season - their eighth consecutive losing season, the organization's longest such streak since the mid-1950s.

"We've got to regain our dignity, we've got to regain our pride, and we're going to start doing that right away," McClendon said.

General manager Cam Bonifay and Pirates owner Kevin McClatchy compared their top three candidates for the job, and both had McClendon at the top of the list.

McClendon, a 41-year-old former Pirates player who hit .244 in an eight-year major league career, will become the fifth black manager in the majors, joining the Giants' Dusty Baker, the Cubs' Don Baylor, the White Sox's Jerry Manuel and the Brewers' Davey Lopes.