PHOENIX -- Original Diamondback Jay Bell scored the most important run in franchise history, and now he is in the running for one of the most important jobs.
Bell was to interview for the D-backs' managerial position Wednesday, not quite 13 years after scoring the winning run in the D-backs' 3-2 Game 7 victory over the New York Yankees in the 2001 World Series.
Bell spent last season as Cincinnati's bench coach under first-year manager Bryan Price after serving as Pittsburgh's hitting coach in 2013.
The Diamondbacks also received permission to interview Kansas City Royals bench coach Don Wakamatsu, a former manager for Seattle and catcher at Arizona State, and Chicago White Sox third-base coach Joe McEwing, who played for Tony La Russa in St. Louis. Long-time manager Jim Tracy, the 2009 NL manager of the year at Colorado, and Cleveland bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr. also are candidates.
"We're going to be inclusive putting together the first list," D-backs chief baseball officer Tony La Russa said Monday.
Reno manager Phil Nevin, Mobile manager Andy Green and D-backs hitting coach Turner Ward, a former Mobile manager, already had been named as in-house candidates to replace Kirk Gibson, who was fired Friday with three days left in the regular season.
The D-backs are expected to move at deliberate speed.
"Usually I get it right when I take my time," general manager Dave Stewart said.
Other names that have been mentioned include former La Russa players Terry Steinbach and St. Louis coach Jose Oquendo. Steinbach, the Minnesota bench coach, was told he was free to look for other work when the Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was fired Monday. McEwing is the Chicago White Sox's third-base coach.
Bell, 48, has a long history with the D-backs after being signed as a free agent prior to their inaugural 1998 season. He led the team in home runs (38) and runs (132) in 1999, when the D-backs became the fastest expansion franchise in the history of pro sports to make the postseason (Year 2). He remains among the top 10 in franchise history in runs, total bases, doubles, triples, homers, walks and OPS.
He served as the D-backs' bench coach in 2005-06. He was a spring training advisor from 2007-09 before returning as the Mobile hitting coach in 2012.
Tracy was 856-880 in 11 years as a manager with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh and the Rockies, resigning from the Rockies in 2012. He finished second in the NL manager of the year voting in 2001 and third in 2004, both with the Dodgers, who won the NL West in 2004.
Alomar Jr., a six-time All-Star catcher in a playing career that concluded in 2007, has coached with Cleveland for five years, the last two as manager Terry Francona's bench coach.
The D-backs have said they are open to hiring someone without previous managerial experience, although La Russa seemed to suggest Monday that a veteran might be a better fit.
"I know there is a tendency to hire guys that haven't managed before, and I understand why," La Russa said.
"I also know that when you start managing the game, the more you have pulled the trigger as a manager somewhere, there is an art to that. That doesn't mean we won't hire the Mike Mathenys, (Robin) Venturas and (Walt) Weisses of the world, but it is also possible that we will look for somebody who has pulled the trigger before."
Matheny had no managerial when he followed La Russa in St. Louis after the Cardinals won the 2011 World Series.
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