ADD SLOW START TO MANAGERS' WORRIES.

Byline: JOE HAAKENSON

TORONTO - Phil Garner, take care. Davey Lopes, nice to meet you. Buddy Bell, see you around. Tony Muser, catch you later.

Four managers did not survive April in an unprecedented purging of on- field leaders in the season's first month. Even now, Charlie Manuel in Cleveland and Buck Martinez in Toronto are on shaky ground and we're barely into May.

Joe Kerrigan didn't even make it through spring training with Boston, but that was more the result of a change in upper management. The others were fired because they didn't win fast enough. Were they treated fairly? Were a couple of dozen games enough to make such a determination?

Fred Claire comes from an organization that had Walter Alston for 23 years followed by Tommy Lasorda for 21. Talk about stability in the clubhouse. But Claire, who was the Dodgers' general manager from 1988-98, wouldn't call it unfair, just simply a sign of the times.

Detroit, Milwaukee, Colorado and Kansas City started slowly enough that the front office felt immediate action was necessary. But it wasn't that long ago that the Dodgers' organization was the model that other teams wanted to emulate. It was stability over the long haul. It was consistency.

``You have to give credit to the O'Malley family because they established the philosophy,'' Claire said. ``The philosophy was: We will succeed as an organization. And if we fail, we will do that collectively as an organization. The point of that is that a manager himself can't control the total fate of the ballclub. Success is determined by scouting, the minor-league department and how you perform with your administration at the major-league level.

``The bottom line is you were always viewed collectively in your effort.''

Claire knows both Lopes and Garner ``very well'' and has gotten to know Muser. Was it Lopes' fault, for instance, that the Brewers' farm system is bad? Or was it Muser's fault that the Royals have a restrictive payroll?

``All those guys are lifelong, dedicated baseball men,'' Claire said. ``And it was reflected in the announcements (of their firings) in how emotional they were. Everybody knows how much these guys put in.

``Did they care? Yes. Did they work hard? Yes. Did they do everything they could. Yes.''

But it still wasn't enough. Claire, though, is happy to see the Angels did not rush to judgment regarding manager Mike Scioscia when they got off to a 6-14 start.

``(Angels general manager) Bill Stoneman called me before he hired Mike,'' Claire said. ``We talked for 45 minutes to an hour, and I told Bill, `If you hire Mike it will be a great decision for your organization. He will be a successful manager.' He was respected as a player and coach, he's well-prepared and he's dedicated. He does everything he possibly can. And it was the same with those other guys (who were fired). They're all lifelong, dedicated baseball guys.''

In fact, Claire has ties to the entire Angels coaching staff.

``They're all my guys,'' Claire said. ``Mike was my Triple-A manager, (third-base coach) Ron (Roenicke) was my Double-A manager and (hitting coach) Mickey (Hatcher) was my Single-A manager. And I have a lot of respect for (first-base coach) Alfredo (Griffin). They're four of the best baseball guys I've known in my life.''

During his tenure with the Dodgers, Claire oversaw only one managerial change, but it wasn't your ordinary changing of the guard. Lasorda was replaced by Bill Russell after 21 years on the job.

``That was a different type of case,'' Claire said. ``With Tommy it was a health concern. Despite what's been written or said, Tommy made that decision. We encouraged him to do what was best for him. We didn't want him to jeopardize his health.''

The win-now-or-else philosophy, like it or not, is here now. And even the managers have grown to understand it.

``The bottom line in this position is to win,'' Scioscia said. ``We all know that. We all accept that responsibility.''