Devil Rays fire manager Larry Rothschild

<br>ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (AP) _ Larry Rothschild was fired Wednesday as manager of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, becoming the first manager to lose his job with the season just 2 1/2 weeks old. <br><br>The

Wednesday, April 18th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (AP) _ Larry Rothschild was fired Wednesday as manager of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, becoming the first manager to lose his job with the season just 2 1/2 weeks old.

The Rays are currently in last place in the American League East with a 4-10 record. The firing came several hours after the Devil Rays lost 10-0 to Boston.

``Hopefully we hit rock bottom and from here it will change,'' the 47-year-old manager said after the game.

``If you're going to lose, you'd prefer to do it the right way and play good clean games and know you'll come out of it and be OK,'' Rothschild said. ``But there's no consolation when you lose.''

The team called a news conference to discuss the change and announce a successor.

Rothschild compiled a 205-294 record during three-plus seasons as the team's only manager.