BOSTON (AP) – The Boston Red Sox invited both Jim Beattie and Jim Bowden for second interviews for the club’s general manager’s position on Thursday, and also intend to interview other candidates whose names were not disclosed.

Beattie, former executive vice president of the Baltimore Orioles and former general manager of the Montreal Expos, met with Red Sox president Larry Lucchino last Friday.

Beattie became the Orioles’ executive vice president of baseball operations in December 2002 and was replaced last month by his top aide, Mike Flanagan. Beattie approached the Red Sox about the general manager’s position after Theo Epstein decided not to renew his contract after three years at the job.

Beattie, who won a World Series ring as a right-hander for the 1978 New York Yankees, has strong New England ties. He grew up in South Portland, Maine, and went to Darmouth College, where a son and daughter now attend. Another daughter attends Phillips Academy in Andover.

Bowden, who interviewed for the position during the GM meetings in California earlier this month, also has New England roots. The Washington Nationals’ general manager was born in Boston and grew up in suburban Weston.

Two other candidates the team had interviewed – Minnesota assistant GM Wayne Krivsky and Atlanta assistant GM Dayton Moore – have withdrawn from consideration.

Epstein helped put together the 2004 Red Sox team that won the franchise’s first World Series title since 1918. He departed when his contract expired Oct. 31, after he and Lucchino were unable to reach a new agreement.

AP-ES-11-17-05 2047EST

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