Kelly retires as Twins skipper

MINNEAPOLIS -- Tom Kelly retired Friday after 15 seasons managing the Minnesota Twins, the longest current tenure in major pro sports.

The 51-year-old Kelly led the Twins to World Series titles in 1987 and 1991.

"It's just been a fantastic ride for me," Kelly said after meeting with Twins owner Carl Pohlad, "and I just feel that right now it's a good time for me to step aside and let somebody else take over."

The Twins did not announce a successor immediately. Bench coach Paul Molitor and third-base coach Ron Gardenhire are possibilities. Molitor, a native of Minnesota, got his 3,000th hit as a member of the Twins in 1996.

Kelly -- whose career record is 1,140-1,244 -- guided the young Twins to an 85-77 record and a second-place finish in the AL Central this season. Minnesota led the division for much of the year but was overtaken by the Cleveland Indians.

"It was a lot of hard work but I think we've now found the right combination of people and I believe the ballclub is now set and ready to go in the right direction, as exemplified by what they did this year," Kelly said.

After Minnesota ended its eighth straight losing season in 2000, Kelly persuaded Pohlad to bring him back under a one-year contract.

After using 18 rookies in 1999, and leading the AL in losses the last two seasons, the Twins jumped out to an 18-6 start and led Cleveland by five games at the All-Star break.

A second-half slump pushed the Twins out of the pennant race.

Managing a team with a low payroll was tough, Kelly said.

"Maybe it was all the young players the last three years, maybe they took their toll on me," he said.

But with several core players tied to long-term contracts, the Twins' future looks bright.