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| The Pittsburgh Pirates today relieved Lloyd McClendon of his duties as the club's manager. "This is a difficult day for the Pirates since Lloyd has been a loyal member of our organization for 15 years," said Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield. "However, this is a very important time for our franchise and from a baseball standpoint we believe we needed to make a change." The 46-year-old McClendon was named Pittsburgh's manager on October 23, 2000, and posted a 336-446 record in his four-plus seasons with the Pirates. Bench coach Pete Mackanin will assume the duties of manager on an interim basis. |