The test drive

Jim Tracy during his time with the Dodgers

Jim Tracy, then the Los Angeles Dodgers’ bench coach, begins a four-game stint as the Dodgers’ interim manager after Davey Johnson lands in the hospital with an irregular heartbeat 24 years ago today.

The Dodgers win three of those four games under Tracy on their way to winning 86 games in 2000 but finishing 11 games behind the San Francisco Giants in the National League’s West Division.

After the 2000 season, Tracy – one of baseball's true gentlemen, unless he is chewing out umpires – replaces Johnson as the Dodgers’ manager, a position he holds for five seasons before spending another five-plus seasons running the Pittsburgh Pirates and Colorado Rockies.