NEW YORK -- When it comes to minority hiring, baseball is making progress -- at the same slow pace it takes to play games these days.

Baseball has added one minority manager since the end of the season, but it appears Pittsburgh's Lloyd McClendon will be the only addition this year.

"We're up to six minority managers and a general manager," baseball commissioner Bud Selig said Wednesday. "Overall, I'm satisfied with our progress. I don't think anybody can even begin to suggest that this initiative has not produced some, at least, reasonable results."

McClendon became the sixth minority manager in the major leagues, joining Dusty Baker (San Francisco), Don Baylor (Chicago Cubs), Davey Lopes (Milwaukee), Jerry Manuel (Chicago White Sox), and Felipe Alou (Montreal).

Buck Martinez, one of two candidates Toronto is considering, is of Spanish-American descent. Davey Johnson and Ron Oester, who are white, are believed to be among the front-runners in Cincinnati, which has the last of the six managerial openings.

New York Yankees coaches Willie Randolph and Chris Chambliss are on the verge of being passed over again, despite interviewing with several teams. Randolph was said to be in Cincinnati on Wednesday for a second interview with the Reds.

Their boss, Yankees manager Joe Torre, said during the World Series he hoped they weren't given merely token interviews.

"Chris Chambliss and Willie Randolph were outstanding candidates and were thoroughly considered," said Dodgers general manager Kevin Malone, who promoted bench coach Jim Tracy to manager Wednesday. "We felt we had the best man for the job right here in the organization."

While baseball has increased the number of minority managers, there in only one minority GM: Ken Williams last week took over from Ron Schueler with the White Sox.

There are only two black coaches among the 31 NFL teams: Tony Dungy of Tampa Bay and Dennis Green of Minnesota. The NBA has eight blacks among 29 head coaches: Alvin Gentry (Los Angeles Clippers), Leonard Hamilton (Washington), Sidney Lowe (Vancouver), Doc Rivers (Orlando), Byron Scott (New Jersey), Paul Silas (Charlotte), Isiah Thomas (Indiana) and Lenny Wilkens (Toronto).

Phillies general manager Ed Wade, who hired Larry Bowa as his manager Wednesday, thought baseball's percentage of minority managers would have increased. He interviewed three minority candidates: McClendon, Randolph and Ruben Amaro Sr.

"It surprises me from a standpoint that there are several minority candidates out there," Wade said. "Sometimes, it may seem that the minority factor is overriding in the process, but sometimes it's the situation. Lloyd McClendon would've been a great Phillies manager. Willie Randolph would've been a great Phillies manager. But, in our situation, I felt that the familiarity that this town and this organization has with Larry, and Larry's familiarity with the organization, was an overriding factor.

"In different circumstances, in different times, if we weren't coming off the season we had, and we were making a managerial change, Lloyd McClendon or Willie Randolph would've been a great fit for us."

Neither Randolph nor Chambliss could be reached for comment Wednesday.

Baseball, which didn't integrate until the Brooklyn Dodgers brought up Jackie Robinson in 1947, often has been criticized for a lack of minority hiring.

"We too often have been stopping at the entertainment level of sport," Jesse Jackson said last year. "We must shift from entertainment to empowerment."

Baseball was stung last year when the Detroit Tigers hired Phil Garner without considering any minority candidates. Selig told teams they must interview minorities, and then told them they must provide him lists of the people they interviewed.

"Since then, the Tigers have established a lot of initiatives in the inner city," Selig said.

Selig said that minorities were considered for all six managerial openings.

"I think we had four minorities and two non-minorities in the group of six," Toronto general manager Gord Ash said of the people he interviewed. "The Blue Jays have certainly been industry leaders in terms of having Cito Gaston as a field manager in the past, and Dave Stewart in our front office. I think we've done a good job there."