LEADING OFF: Manic Monday often spells trouble for managers
By The Associated Press
Every year, the day after the regular season can be dicey for managers whose teams didn’t do so well. Might not be any different this time as a few clubs start looking at their future. Padres manager Jayce Tingler’s team was considered a World Series contender on opening day and seemed to be in good shape at 67-49 in mid-August. San Diego was still 10 games over .500 in early September, but lost 18 of its last 22 and finished 79-83. Mets manager Luis Rojas, like Tingler, was in his second season and looked to be in good shape for much of the year. New York led the NL East for three months, but dropped back in mid-August and wound up 77-85.