MIAMI -- Tony Perez changed his mind and agreed Thursday to manage the Florida Marlins for the rest of the season.

Perez was hired as interim manager when John Boles was fired Monday and said then he had no desire to manage for more than a few weeks, citing commitments this summer.

	Tony Perez now says he'll keep a handle on the Marlins the rest of the season.

But the 58-year-old Perez said he spent the past three days breaking public speaking and baseball card show engagements and agreed to take the job Thursday after general manager Dave Dombrowski asked him to reconsider.

"After three days of managing, I proved to myself I can do it," Perez said. "I think I have the team. They play for me, and that's why I made the decision."

Perez, a Hall of Fame first baseman primarily with the Cincinnati Reds, had been on Dombrowski's staff as a special assistant. He briefly managed Cincinnati in 1993 and was fired early in his only season on the job, with the Reds at 20-24.

Florida began Thursday 2-1 since Perez took over and entered its game against the New York Mets with 24-27 record, third in the NL East, nine games behind first-place Philadelphia.

Perez took over in Pittsburgh on Monday, a day after relief pitcher Dan Miceli criticized Boles for not having playing experience in the major leagues.

"I just want to help change things, change the attitude of the players on the team," Perez said. "I walked into a difficult situation, when there were some problems with the team. It's not easy to walk into problems like that.

"I just want to get everybody away from that, not thinking about what happened and thinking about the games ahead. The last three days were pretty good."

Dombrowski met with his staff Thursday to discuss a short list of managerial candidates. Dombrowski then asked Perez to manage for the rest of the season.

"We think he's the right person for the job at this point," Dombrowski said. "This is what our organization needs, somebody that's very familiar, that can provide the type of leadership we need for our ballclub. We're thrilled that he's decided to do that."

The Marlins were said to be considering Tampa Bay coach Darren Daulton, who played on Florida's 1997 World Series championship team; former Tampa Bay manager Larry Rothschild, the Marlins' former pitching coach; and former Toronto manager Cito Gaston for the permanent job.

Also said to be considered were former Arizona manager Buck Showalter and former Texas manager Johnny Oates.

Perez has been with the Marlins organization since July 1993.

"They know me; I've been around the players," Perez said. "They know what I like. They know what I do. They know I'm here to win. That's the commitment I want. I don't have to tell them that's my way. It should be everybody's way."

Perez has assisted Dombrowski with scouting and player evaluations and has been an on-field instructor. He has developed a good relationship with the team's players, something that helped make the transition to the manager's office easy.

"He's going to bring leadership, he's going to bring a lot of experience," catcher Charles Johnson said. "He's going to manage like he played, and that's just fine with us. Tony Perez is definitely going to be a rah-rah guy. He's very emotional. That's how he is."

Before managing the Reds, Perez was a Cincinnati coach for six seasons.

He was the first Cuban-born player elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers' Association of America and was inducted last July.

Perez, a seven-time All-Star, played 23 seasons in the majors, winning World Series with the Reds in 1975 and 1976. His 1,652 RBI were the most ever by a Latin American player and his 379 home runs were tied with Orlando Cepeda for the second-most home runs by a Latin player.

One of Perez's two sons, Eduardo, also played in the majors for Anaheim, Cincinnati and St. Louis.

"Tony's a good fit for us," outfielder Cliff Floyd said. "It's time for us to win ballgames. We're past the stage where we can just have guys out here wearing uniforms. Right now, we're in a position where we expect to win ballgames. Tony will help us do that."