John Vukovich

The Philadelphia Phillies fired Nick Leyva as manager after a 4-9 start and hired Jim Fregosi. "I didn't like the way the club was going," said Lee Thomas, Phillie general manager. "It's best for the organization before we get too far into the season." It was the third-fastest firing in baseball history. In 1988, the year Baltimore lost its first 21 games, the Orioles fired Cal Ripken Sr. six games into the season. Ripken was replaced by Frank Robinson.

Mark Calcavecchia's caddie is the biggest celebrity in the Western Open this weekend. The bag carrier is none other than Ryne Sandberg. The All-Star second baseman, who stunned the baseball world by retiring from the Chicago Cubs two weeks ago, is doing a neighborly thing. He and Calcavecchia both live in the Phoenix area. Sandberg, 34, is a six-handicap golfer who said he has always wanted to caddie in a pro tournament.

As April turns to May, the early appraisal of the best off-season moves centers on the Colorado Rockies' acquisition of pitchers Mike Hampton, Denny Neagle and Ron Villone, the Seattle Mariners' signing of Ichiro Suzuki, the Boston Red Sox's acquisition of Manny Ramirez and the Philadelphia Phillies' hiring of Larry Bowa as manager. Coming off a season of 97 losses and looking for the first season above .

With the Chicago Cubs sending homers flying out of Wrigley Field once again, the Philadelphia Phillies resorted to some old-fashioned hustle Friday at Chicago to win the game. "The winds were blowing out in a gale," Phillies Manager Terry Francona said after Mike Lieberthal's 12th-inning sacrifice fly gave his team a 9-8 victory over the homer-happy Cubs. "There is something to be said for perseverance. It looked like a game they could win and somehow we found a way."

Shawon Dunston doesn't have an answer for his slow start at bat this season, but the hits are beginning to fall and the Chicago Cubs' shortstop is still looking to have a banner year. "I don't know," said Dunston, who had great expectations after batting .250 last year with 17 home runs and 68 runs batted in. "The hits weren't falling in. Now they're falling all over the place." After struggling most of the season with an average that hovered around .

Dallas Green has tried just about everything -- short of consulting a crystal ball -- to find the right manager for the Chicago Cubs. First he hired a friend, then he hired an enemy. He even tried to let his fingers do the walking. But after more than five years in Chicago, Green is again in the market for a new manager. This time, he figures to take his time. Green was set to fire Gene Michael at the end of the season, but Michael announced Sept. 8 that he didn't want to come back next year.

The Chicago Cubs got rid of their 11th manager in 12 years Monday, firing Tom Trebelhorn after a last-place finish in the National League Central. Trebelhorn, hired last October, was the fifth manager fired since the players' strike Aug. 12. The Cubs were 49-64. There has been speculation that General Manager Ed Lynch, hired last week, would promote Tony Muser, the Cubs' third base coach, to manager.

The Chicago Cubs accepted Manager Gene Michael's resignation Tuesday and named Frank Lucchesi manager for the rest of the season. General Manager Dallas Green, in announcing Lucchesi's appointment, said: "Frank understands that it is for 25 games and no longer." In Lucchesi's debut Tuesday, the Cubs lost to Pittsburgh, 4-1, at Chicago. Michael, who resigned after spending a little more than a season and a half on the job, has frequently argued with Green about strategy and trades.

Robert Person came to a hitter's ballpark and gave his best performance. Person pitched a two-hitter Monday night, the low-hit game of his career, in leading the Philadelphia Phillies to a 5-0 victory over the Houston Astros at Houston. "Yeah, this was my best game," Person said. "I had one other shutout, but you really have to keep the ball down and hit your spots. They have a dangerous lineup."

Twenty years ago, baseball's last dynasty cranked it into full gear for the last time. The Big Red Machine of hit king Pete Rose, Hall of Famers Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan and RBI machine Tony Perez had already put its stamp on the 1970s, winning division titles in 1970, '72 and '73, when it finally won the big one in 1975, beating Boston in that wonderful World Series after going 108-54 in the regular season.