Manager won exactly 500 games

And manager Jerry Manuel was the first to be left behind.

Manuel was fired Monday, a day the White Sox originally hoped to
spend getting ready for the playoffs. But after taking a two-game
lead in the AL Central on Sept. 9, the White Sox collapsed in
stunning fashion, losing 10 of their next 15 to finish four games
behind Minnesota at 86-76.

"This wasn't a case of not having enough talent," general manager Kenny Williams said Monday.

"It's very difficult at this time to sit here, knowing the type of talent we had and what possibly could have happened if we would have just gotten into the dance,'' he said. ``To sit here and have to go through this is very difficult. But you have to start looking at yourself in the mirror."

While he refused to criticize Manuel, Williams said the team
needed to change its "voice and direction."

There will be changes on the field, too, though Williams said he
hopes to keep his pitching staff intact and has made re-signing
Bartolo Colon a priority.

The search for a new manager begins immediately, and Williams
hopes to choose someone after the World Series ends in late
October. All of Manuel's coaching staff will be retained except for
Bruce Kimm, the third-base coach.

"Jerry's a solid man, everybody knows that," pitching coach Don Cooper said. ``Sometimes tough things happen to good people. You see it every day in the real world. Nobody's happy about this."

Manuel's dismissal was hardly a surprise. Though he never confirmed it, he said his goodbyes over the last week and spoke openly about his desire to manage again.

"It was a tough summer for me personally, but I wouldn't trade
it," he said after Sunday's season finale in Kansas City. "I came
here to be a servant, not a celebrity. Obviously, that changed, but
I don't have any regrets."

Reached at his home Monday, Manuel declined to comment.

While his players said Manuel wasn't responsible for their shortcomings, it was clear someone was going to take the blame for
this team not making the playoffs.

On paper, the White Sox had the best team in the AL Central. They'd acquired Colon and Billy Koch in the offseason, and they bolstered an already potent offense by trading for Roberto Alomar and Carl Everett on July 1.

With Frank Thomas, Carlos Lee and Magglio Ordonez, the White Sox should have cruised to a title in the weak AL Central.

Instead, they got off to a slow start, and were 8½ games back by
the first week of June. Though they rallied and were in first place
as recently as Sept. 15, they were annoyingly inconsistent. They
went 11-8 against both the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians,
and 4-2 against the New York Yankees.

And after taking the first two games of a four-game series against the Twins in Chicago earlier this month, the White Sox dropped the next two. The following week, they were swept in Minnesota to all but seal their fate.

"At times, we lost our focus," Williams said. "(The Twins), quite simply, went out and grinded their way and busted their tails and scraped and scratched their way into knocking us right out of this thing.

"And I've got much respect for them for doing that."

After the White Sox were officially eliminated last Tuesday, Williams said he told Manuel he wouldn't be brought back for the last year of his contract.

Williams gave Manuel the option of announcing it before the season ended, but Manuel said he wanted to finish out the year.

"That's the character and that's the quality of the man we're dealing with,'' Williams said. ``There are a lot of Jerry Manuel fans out there, and a lot of people that are supportive of him. I urge you to continue to be supportive. I certainly will.

"It's just a matter of direction we need to change."

Manuel was 500-471 in six seasons in Chicago, putting him fourth on the team's all-time victory list. The White Sox were .500 or better in each of the past four seasons, and finished below second place only once under Manuel, in 2001.

The White Sox won the AL Central in 2000, earning Manuel the AL
Manager of the Year award.

A laid-back sort who was as well-versed in the teachings of Ghandi as he was in baseball, Manuel was well-liked by his players. He was honest with them, and he wasn't the sort to rant and rave or
get in their faces.

But he wasn't a pushover. He and Thomas had a highly publicized
screaming match during spring training in 2000 after the slugger
refused to participate in a running drill because of a foot injury.

"It really bothered me whenever I would hear people talk about
it that he didn't have a fire or a passion about it, because he
did," Williams said. "He didn't always show it externally. But
believe me, behind closed doors, this guy's got a burning desire to
win."

But it wasn't enough to save his job.

"We've known each other a long time, and this was a very difficult thing to do," Williams said. "But I think it's a necessary thing to do."