Kent Tekulve, the Pirates' career save leader, would love the chance to get one more save opportunity with the team -- and never mind that he hasn't had a save since 1989.

Never mind, either, that he hasn't managed in the major or minor leagues.

Tekulve yesterday threw his cap into the ring and wants to be considered for the Pirates' managerial position.

And it could happen, even though when the Pirates fired Lloyd McClendon Sept. 6, management indicated it wanted his successor to have had previous major-league managerial experience.

"I've always been a believer that you should believe what you see and not what you hear," Tekulve said.

Yesterday, general manager Dave Littlefield indicated the new Pirates manager won't necessarily have to have managed in the big leagues.

"You'd like [the person] to have had major-league [managing] experience, but we're not completely ruling out anybody if they've had major-league experience as a manager, coach or player," he said.

Tekulve said that "about a year ago" he mentioned to Littlefield that if the Pirates ever made a managerial change he'd be interested in the job.

"To see if I could be part of the solution to the problem," Tekulve said, referring to the Pirates' 13 consecutive losing season.

He talked with Littlefield recently, reminding him of their conversation of year ago, and Littlefield said he would call him.

"I'll give him a call back to talk to him, which I would do for anybody," Littlefield said. "My position is, I do understand people will show interest in this job, but really we're focusing on the rest of the season right now."

Littlefield said the Pirates won't begin interviewing candidates until after the season ends Oct. 2.

Tekulve, 58, pitched for the Pirates from 1974 until early '85. He also pitched for Philadelphia and Cincinnati before retiring in '89. He appeared in 722 games with the Pirates, second on their career list to Elroy Face (802). Tekulve had 158 saves with the Pirates and 26 with the Phillies and Reds.

After his retirement, Tekulve did some cable television work with the Phillies and had a brief front-office stint with the Washington Wild Things.

It's believed there are at least five others who could wind up on Littlefield's candidate list -- interim manager Pete Mackanin, former Pirates manager Jim Leyland, former Houston, Oakland and New York Mets manager Art Howe, current Oakland manager Ken Macha and current Los Angeles Dodgers manager Jim Tracy.

Tekulve has a tie to Tracy. They went to the same high school in Hamilton, Ohio (near Cincinnati) and both went to Marietta College in Ohio.