FOUR MANAGERS ARE SWEATING IT OUT.

Byline: BRIAN DOHN

No manager's been fired during the season, but once the season ends there could be a run on guys being ousted.

It's always ugly when things deteriorate, but now it's a race to determine which National League team poised to whack its manager deserves the distinction of being in the worst situation.

The Dodgers aren't the only ones going through this and they might not even be the ugliest. Arizona and Philadelphia are going through similar ordeals. Diamondbacks skipper Buck Showalter is likely to lose his job after the season, especially given Arizona's collapse as the Giants run away with the National League West.

Phillies manager Terry Francona is also in loads of trouble and much of that stems from the club's popularity falling off dramatically. General manager Ed Wade and other members of the front office have been traveling with the club to get a better read on the situation.

Perhaps nothing is as ugly as in Cincinnati, where Jack McKeon has gone from manager of the year to being treated like garbage by the organization. Reporters are learning about key personnel moves before McKeon. However, Cincinnati's brass doesn't want to talk about it.

``You want the stock answer? At the appropriate time, we'll sit down and evaluate this year,'' said chief operating officer John Allen.

McKeon said, ``The ball's in their court. It's not in mine.''

Just look at what's gone on there and you'll see how unfairly McKeon's being treated. The Reds recalled Brooks Kieschnick and Keith Glauber last week, but McKeon didn't know until after reporters were told. Reporters were also told that Barry Larkin was having arthroscopic surgery on his left knee before McKeon was made aware of it.

Not that the situation isn't bad in Arizona.

Reports are that Diamondbacks CEO Jerry Colangelo, who stated Showalter would remain with the club for the rest of the season, talked with broadcaster Bob Brenly about becoming the manager.

``I'm not getting involved in any response to speculative stories about who I talked to or didn't talk to, period,'' Colangelo said. ``(I've tried) get the focus of our team on doing the job that has to be done, and that's win baseball games.

``I'm focused on this season. He's my manager and there's nothing else to be said. I refuse to be brought into this circle of responding to speculative stories.''

Showalter has two more years remaining on his contract, the same amount of time Francona has on his deal in Philadelphia. In fact, Francona's two-year, $1 million extension hasn't even begun, but general manager Ed Wade might not care.

The Phillies (57-82) entered Saturday with the worst record in major- league baseball and as one of two teams already mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.

Worse than anger in Philadelphia, a city known for its toughness and often unfairness, is the malaise that's set in. When the team was going well early in the 1990s, the season-ticket base was 20,000. Team officials fear it could dip below 10,000 next season.

And there's also the well-chronicled watch of Dodgers manager Davey Johnson and how management questioned his strategy and style and then expected him to win games.

Dodgers general manager Kevin Malone raised questions about Johnson's tactics, and managing general manager and CEO Bob Daly said Johnson needed to put some fire into the players.

Certainly, the season has been quiet when it comes to managers being fired, but with nothing going on with player-personnel moves between the end of the regular season and the opening of the free-agent market in November, what's a person to do to get a baseball fix?

Watch the playoffs? Nah, just look to decide who the next manager's going to be. And there will be some vacancies to fill.