Kansas City, Mo. ? Tony Muser became the fourth manager fired in the season’s opening month when the Kansas City Royals dismissed him early Tuesday following another slow start.

The Royals (8-15) haven’t had a winning record since the strike-shortened 1994 season. Muser, the losingest manager in franchise history, had a 317-431 record (.424) since taking over the team in the middle of 1997.

“These things happen,” Muser told The Associated Press. “I’m not ashamed. I did the best I could possibly do.”

Muser was told of the firing by general manager Allard Baird in a “very, very emotional” conversation after the team beat Detroit 4-0 Monday night. Muser was in the final year of his contract.

It’s been open season on managers so far with three others fired in April.

Phil Garner was let go by Detroit on April 9, Milwaukee fired Davey Lopes on April 18, and Colorado got rid of Buddy Bell last Friday. All four teams have seen large attendance drops: the Royals’ has dropped by about 4,500 per game through 14 home dates.

Boston fired Joe Kerrigan during spring training.

The Royals held a meeting before Monday’s game and Muser managed the team before being ejected in the third inning.

Muser came under pressure last year when the Royals lost 97 games for the second time in three seasons. Baird said then that changes could be made if the team got off to a slow start.

Muser was never popular with fans, and critics had been calling for his ouster since the Royals lost a team-record 97 games in 1999. Many embittered fans called the Royals and said they would not be back after Muser was brought back despite another 97-loss season in 2001.

Hired off the Chicago Cubs’ staff to replace Bob Boone during the 1997 All-Star break, Muser’s best season was 72-89 in 1998.

He has the lowest winning percentage of anyone who has managed at least one full season with the team.

“I’m not ashamed of anything that’s happened to create this situation,” Muser said last week. “We’ve wanted to win. We’ve worked hard here. We’ve improved a lot of people but we’ve got to win baseball games. And I understand that.”

Throughout his tenure, the Royals have had among the lowest payrolls in baseball and struggled with poor pitching. The Royals entered this season with a $47.3 million payroll, eighth-lowest in baseball.

The Royals, who have traded many of their best players in recent years, are second-to-last in the AL with a 5.58 ERA and 12th in runs scored with 104.