Hit the road, Mac

SEATTLE – The name of the Mariners’ manager changed Thursday.

Not his mailing address, though, as Jim Riggleman was promoted to replace John McLaren, the man who brought Riggleman onto the Mariners staff before the season began.

“They’re very close friends,” said Chuck Armstrong, Mariners president. “In fact, I think they were sharing a condominium together.”

Not that Riggleman was a stranger to Seattle before that. He was one of four finalists in the Mariners’ managerial search in 2002, after Lou Piniella left, when Seattle opted for Bob Melvin.

Riggleman will manage Seattle for the rest of the season and could be a candidate to keep the job, although Armstrong said the Mariners probably won’t make a decision on next season’s field manager until after a general manager is hired.

In that way, Riggleman’s situation is similar to that of general manager Lee Pelekoudas, who replaced Bill Bavasi on Monday. There’s another parallel, too.

“He’s a friend of Mac’s, too, just like I was a friend of Bill’s,” Pelekoudas said. “But it’s an opportunity. If you have an opportunity to manage a big-league ballclub, I don’t think you can hesitate to do it.”

This is Riggleman’s third major league managerial job. He became the San Diego Padres manager with 12 games left in the 1992 season and held the position through the ‘94 season. He then managed the Chicago Cubs from 1995 to 1999.

The Cubs made the playoffs in 1998, which was the season Sammy Sosa hit 66 home runs. That roster also included the likes of Scott Servais, Mickey Morandini and Jeff Blauser.

Andy MacPhail, now the Baltimore Orioles’ president, was a Cubs executive when Riggleman managed, and he has a lineup card from that 1998 season displayed on his desk at home. Every once in a while MacPhail said he looks at it and he’ll scratch his head.

“Sometimes you wonder, ‘Just how again did we make it to the postseason?’ ” MacPhail said in a telephone interview Thursday. “I think he really did a great job for us.”

Now, Riggleman gets a team whose collective performance hasn’t amounted to the sum of its individual parts. The hope is that a managerial switch will improve performance.

“Jim’s going to bring what we think is a different style than Mac had,” Pelekoudas said.

So what kind of style will Riggleman bring?

“That will be best answered by Jim,” Pelekoudas said.

Riggleman wasn’t available for interviews because he was traveling with the team to Atlanta, where the Mariners play today. In the meantime, here’s a thumbnail sketch MacPhail provided when asked about Riggleman’s managerial style.

“I would not characterize it as hard line,” MacPhail said. “I think he pretty much let them do their thing, treated them like men and in ‘98 they certainly responded.”

The Cubs reached the playoffs, but were eliminated in the wild-card round when they were swept by Atlanta in three games. The Cubs lost 95 games the following year and Riggleman was fired the day after the season ended. Riggleman handled the decision by answering questions for about an hour in the Cubs’ clubhouse, wearing street clothes, speaking at length to anyone interested and accepting responsibility for a season that ended up skidding off course.

Riggleman became the Los Angeles Dodgers’ bench coach under Jim Tracy in 2001 and the next year, he was one of four finalists in the Mariners’ managerial search after Piniella’s departure. Riggleman made quite an impression.

“Just the depth and breadth of his experience and how he presented himself,” said Armstrong.

Six years and three Mariners managers later, Riggleman will get his chance to be in charge of Seattle’s team.

“We’re happy to have Jim,” Armstrong said. “Jim accepted our offer and let’s see what our players do hearing from a new voice.”