Sorry Situation

The Dodgers finally made the firing of Manager Davey Johnson official Friday while apologizing for this season’s missteps in a tense Dodger Stadium news conference.

Chairman Bob Daly, President Bob Graziano and General Manager Kevin Malone stoically answered questions about the decision to fire baseball’s winningest active manager, the continuing management upheaval under Fox and the impact of the disastrous Malone-Johnson partnership in the organization’s latest change in direction.

Beginning Monday, Graziano and Malone will lead the search for the club’s fourth manager since the middle of the 1996 season. The Dodgers said they don’t have a list of candidates or attributes they’re seeking in their next manager, but Daly said Malone must be able to coexist with Johnson’s successor.

“The one thing that I do feel, and that I will never go through again, is that I cannot live with an organization that does not completely row in the same direction,” said Daly, alluding to the Malone-Johnson situation. “I spent a lot of time this year trying to get that to happen, and I take full responsibility for failing on that note. I tried, but I really couldn’t accomplish bringing everybody together.”

Friday’s 45-minute session, which Johnson didn’t attend, was especially uncomfortable for Malone because of his feud with the ousted manager that Daly and Graziano were unsuccessful in concealing or overcoming.

“There were several problems that occurred this year; I’ve come to realize I’ve contributed to some of those problems and I’m sorry for that,” Malone said in a remorseful tone. “I’ve been critical, and looking back on it, I let my strong desire to win and my passion for success become visible. I’ve learned that I need to control myself better as far as in my energy and my enthusiasm and my passion.

“Everyone in this room who knows me knows I’m not a very good loser. I’ve learned that I’ve got to keep that to myself and be more professional with losing, and not be critical of anyone. I’m critical of myself, but I don’t want to be critical of anyone else because it’s just not helpful. I want to be, I have to be, more positive.”

Daly also had some uncomfortable moments in responding to questions about his inexperience in his first season in baseball, including the decision to delay announcing the long-expected firing.

“There’s a lot I’d do different,” Daly said. “This has been, as I’ve said before, a tremendous learning experience for me.”

That left Graziano--in between the guys on the hot seats literally and figuratively--to try to accentuate the positive on a day of shouldering responsibility at Chavez Ravine.

“It’s absolutely no secret that we’ve had a tremendous number of changes within the Dodger organization over the last several years,” said Graziano, whom Fox fired and Daly rehired in one of the most bizarre changes. “It’s also no secret that the cornerstone in the foundation of the Dodger organization has been stability and continuity.

“But as we look forward, we understand that we need to build a foundation for the organization that we have confidence in long term. We need to do that for the success of the organization and for the three million fans who come through our gates every year. We have a tremendous responsibility to our fans to continue to find ways to improve the organization.”

The Dodgers determined Johnson wasn’t right for their effort.

The decision to replace Johnson actually had been made Sept. 29, after a meeting Daly and Graziano had with Johnson and his agent, Alan Nero, before the final series of the season.

At Johnson’s request, the Dodgers waited to announce the firing until after he returned from a Baja California fishing trip.

That became a problem because word emerged earlier this week that Johnson would not return next season for the final year of his three-year contract, stirring speculation and making things even more difficult for the weary Dodgers.

Daly acknowledges the situation should have been handled better.

“After we talked [Sept. 29], Davey said he had this trip he wanted to go on and we agreed to it,” Daly said. “It was probably naive on our part to live with this type of a process, especially dealing with somebody who is going to be away and who we couldn’t contact because there was no phone to get to him. We could only deal with his agent, who also had no way to get in touch with him. . . .

“Probably, if we had to do it all over again, I would have said we’ll just wait to have the meeting when you come back from your [vacation]. But that’s the way he wanted to do it and we went along.”

Johnson didn’t return the favor on his way out the door, team sources said.

Although Daly said the Dodgers and Johnson parted on good terms, others paint a different picture.

Johnson kept Daly and Graziano waiting until Thursday night to finalize the terms of the dismissal, apparently ignoring repeated phone messages.

The Dodgers finally contacted Johnson and conducted an awkward conference call in which Johnson said he was tardy in responding because he figured the club had already made the announcement, sources said.

Daly was not pleased, considering he had further jeopardized his credibility in delaying the announcement at Johnson’s request. Johnson, traveling Friday to his off-season home in Winter Park, Fla., was unavailable for comment.

Despite a rocky breakup, Johnson, 57, will receive the $1.5 million he is owed under his contract.

“I would like to thank the Dodgers for giving me the opportunity to manage for the last two seasons,” Johnson said in a statement issued by the team. “I am proud of the progress that we made from last season to this season, and I’m optimistic about the team’s future.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Johnson in L.A.

1999

Record: 77-85

Winning %: .475

Div. Finish: 3rd

2000

Record: 86-76

Winning %: .531

Div. Finish: 2nd

BASEBALL PLAYOFFS

SEATTLE 2

CHICAGO 1

Mariners win series, 3-0

Shutting down the highest-scoring team in the majors for the third consecutive game, the wild-card Mariners beat the White Sox on pinch-hitter Carlos Guillen’s bunt in the bottom of the ninth. D6

NEW YORK 4

OAKLAND 2

Yankees lead series, 2-1

Orlando Hernandez, pitching without his best stuff, won his sixth consecutive postseason decision, and the Yankees capitalized on the Athletics’ shoddy defense to take the advantage in the series. D6

TODAY

A’s (Zito) at

Yankees (Clemens)

4:30 p.m., Channel 4

TODAY

St. Louis

(Stephenson)

at Atlanta

(Millwood)

10 a.m.

ESPN

Cardinals lead series, 2-0

San Francisco

(Ortiz)

at New York

(Reed)

1:15 p.m

Ch. 11

Series tied, 1-1

Coverage, D7