New Manager

Orioles general manager Pat Gillick shuttled between owner Peter Angelos and manager Davey Johnson last week, trying to broker an uneasy peace that would keep the organization moving in the direction that led to the American League Championship Series each of the past two seasons. He did not succeed.Now, Gillick must hire a new manager, piece together a new coaching staff and re-create a sense of organizational stability in the wake of Johnson's resignation on Wednesday.Whether he succeeds this time depends on how much authority he retains within the Orioles' hierarchy, and that is something that only Angelos can address.

Chicago Cubs Manager: Dusty Baker 2002 record: 67-95 (fifth) What's new: The Cubs have a new manager, a new starting catcher (Damian Miller), another veteran starting pitcher (Shawn Estes), a beefed-up bullpen and several new bats, but they still appear to be undermanned in the National League Central. They ranked 11th in the league in runs scored last year and 12th in ERA, so it would be a very long climb up the divisional ladder to get into position for a postseason berth. On the spot: Baker will bring a new attitude to Wrigley Field, but the novelty will wear off in a hurry if the Cubs look like the same hapless bunch that finished with more victories among NL teams than only the San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers.

Harbor Holiday Inn has new managerThe Holiday Inn-Inner Harbor is betting on a new general manager fresh out of Reno, Nev.Kent Bruggeman, former general manager of the Holiday Inn & Monte Carlo Casino in Reno, will take over a hotel that is on the upswing following a $6.3 million renovation completed early this year.For most of the 1980s, the Holiday Inn was allowed to deteriorate, largely scraping by on cut-rate package deals with tour bus companies. Now the hotel has changed its strategic direction and is going after a share of the more lucrative corporate travel market.

He was good enough to be one of the top candidates in the Orioles' wide-ranging search for a new manager, but he was not good enough to remain on the coaching staff.Davey Lopes was told Monday that he would not be part of the new staff that is being assembled by manager Phil Regan, which was more a function of baseball politics than a referendum on his performance during his two years in Baltimore."He did everything we asked him to do," said fired Orioles manager Johnny Oates, who brought in Lopes two years ago to improve the club's base-running technique.

SALISBURY -- Each season it seems the Delmarva Shorebirds have a tougher act to follow.In 1996 -- their first year of existence -- they made the South Atlantic League championship series as a Montreal Expos farm team.Then last year -- as an Oriole affiliate -- they qualified for the playoffs as a wild card and went all the way to the title.In the process, the Shorebirds broke their own league attendance record by attracting more than 324,000, further stamping the club as an instant success story.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- He was the first coach out of the clubhouse after the Orioles' new manager, Lee Mazzilli, made the ritual first address to the team. Sam Perlozzo jogged to the pitcher's mound at Fort Lauderdale Stadium yesterday and stood there all alone under a cloudy South Florida sky. He dropped a bag of balls near the rubber and quickly looked around. Mazzilli was the New York Yankees coach who swooped into the warehouse and wowed Jim Beattie and Mike Flanagan. Yesterday, Mazzilli felt the full effect of his good fortune.

A full share for the World Series champion Minnesota Twins is worth a record $119,593, and a full share for the Atlanta Braves is worth $73,331.After subtracting specified cash payments to players and personnel who didn't get a percentage share, the Twins voted 32 shares. The amount of a full share breaks the previous record of $114,252 set by the 1989 Oakland Athletics.The Braves voted 36 shares and fell short of the record losing share of $86,221 set by the A's in 1988.A full share on the NL East champion Pittsburgh Pirates is worth $39,656, and a full share on the AL East champion Toronto Blue Jays is worth $35,248.

The Frederick Keys have a new logo, a new manager, 12 players who spent time with the team last season, and three Maryland natives on the roster. Keys manager Dave Machemer, who guided Delmarva to the playoffs two years ago, figures he has an advantage he didn't possess last summer when he underwent a rocky season while managing at Rochester. "I know what the younger kids are all about," Machemer said. "I spent the whole spring in minor-league camp this time and it helped me get to know my players better.

Let's put it this way: Phil Garner is a capable and available major-league manager, but that doesn't mean he's the only candidate the Orioles should consider when they get around to replacing Ray Miller.What if Seattle fires Lou Piniella in the coming weeks? What if Anaheim fires Terry Collins? Both are proven managers with higher career winning percentages than Garner.And where does it say the new manager has to be a veteran "name"? Isn't that the same, Rotisserie-style thinking that has left the Orioles with an overpaid, dysfunctional team languishing in fourth place?

Tony La Russa might be available. Buck Showalter might be available. Davey Johnson will be available -- again.A new manager might be tempting, especially if the Orioles don't make the playoffs this season.A new manager might be tempting and Phil Regan is going to be in trouble and it won't be fair.Such is the backdrop for this critical, seven-game trip to New York and Boston -- indeed, the backdrop for the rest of the season.The owner wants to win now. The manager needs time to grow. Clearly, it will be difficult to satisfy one goal without sacrificing the other.