Dave Miley & Don Gullett get axed

[Fungo Squiggly]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=yspsctnhdln>Reds fire Miley; Narron picked as interim manager</TD></TR><TR><TD height=7><SPACER height="1" width="1" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>By TERRY KINNEY, Associated Press Writer

June 21, 2005

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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>CINCINNATI (AP) -- The last-place Cincinnati Reds fired manager Dave Miley on Tuesday and promoted bench coach Jerry Narron to finish the season.

``We were not doing the things you've got to do everyday,'' general manager Dan O'Brien said. ``We saw that things were not going to change.''

At 27-43, the Reds were 18 1/2 games behind St. Louis in the NL Central. Cincinnati lost 6-1 at home to St. Louis on Monday night in Miley's last game.

``We had huge expectations coming into the season, and we did not live up to them,'' Narron said.

Pitching coach Don Gullett also was fired. Vern Ruhle, the Reds' minor league pitching coordinator, will handle the job for the remainder of the season.

Miley and Gullett were told of their dismissals Tuesday morning and were not available for comment. O'Brien called it a ``sensitive and emotional'' meeting with Miley -- too sensitive to bring up whether Miley would be offered another job in the Reds' system.

Miley spent 26 seasons in the Reds' organization as a player, coach and manager.

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I'm sure there are differences everyone in this room will see,'' O'Brien said.

Earlier this month, Reds chief operating officer John Allen traveled to Denver to meet with Miley. Allen called the Reds' performance ``unacceptable'' and hinted that changes could be made if there was no improvement.

The Reds went 5-9 after Allen's remarks, and Narron acknowledged that he had seen problems over the past several weeks.

``We've got to concentrate on little things,'' Narron said.

Neither he nor O'Brien specified exactly what those little things are.

``I want to see these guys play all-out every second,'' Narron said.

Narron was in his second season as Miley's bench coach. Narron managed Texas in 2001-02, and also managed for four years in Baltimore's minor league system. He was Boston's bench coach in 2003 and coached with Texas from 1995-2001.

Cincinnati has had four straight below-.500 years -- its longest such streak since 1945-55 -- and has not reached the playoffs since 1995.

Coming off a 76-86 season in which injuries to Ken Griffey Jr. and other players hurt them, the Reds increased their payroll by $17 million and started this year with three straight wins. But a 1-10 slump that began in late April dropped them far behind in the NL Central.

The Reds have been particularly poor on the road, with eight straight losses dropping them to 6-24. Though they were 21-19 at home, their most notable game at Great American Ball Park this season came in early May when St. Louis pulled off its biggest ninth-inning rally in team history, scoring seven times for a 10-9 win.

Miley became the Reds' manager on July 28, 2003, when he replaced Bob Boone. Cincinnati was 125-164 during parts of his three seasons.

Gullett, a former ace for the Reds, had been the team's pitching coach since May 24, 1993.

The Cincinnati pitching staff gave up a club-record 236 home runs last season and a major league-high 106 already this season. But O'Brien said pitching was not entirely to blame for the Reds' ineptness. ``Every night, some component of the game breaks down on us,'' he said.

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[coastalbuck]

I hate to see it but something had to change. There is way too much talent on that team to be playing so poorly. :(

 

[Darkhorse79]

I'm suprised they axed Don Gullet. Only because he's been there forever.....not because he's any good.

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

I'm astonised Chris Chambliss still has a job. I knew pitching would be an issue, but this team should be able to score more than they have. There is no clutch hitting and they just don't make productive outs. Waaaaaay to many strikeouts with runners on second or third and less than two outs.

Hey! Whaddya know? A 1-2-3 first inning! This new pitching coach is a genius!

I have heard over the last month that the team needs to "clean house" and start over. We just did this not even two years ago! At this point, I say trade off anyone you can. If someone will take any of the following, I'm okay with it:
Griffey, Dunn, Pena, Kearns, Aurilia, Randa...wait, maybe I should just list the people I want to keep instead. Lets hold on to Lopez, Casey, Claussen, and Harang. The hell with the rest. I don't dislike any of them personally, but this just isn't working.



At this point, I don't know whether to cry or just get angry. Either way, I wish I could not care about this club.

 

[sandgk]

Until things change from the top down in the Reds organization its just plus ca change, plus ne change pas.

Not surprised to hear they axed Miley, I believe most Reds fans acknowledge that he's a scapegoat. As for Don Gullett, what can you say .. is he meant to make a silk purse out of a sows ear? If the pitching coach was the problem, why axe Graves earlier this year (instead of sending him down for a few games to get his head straight). But wait, that would actually strengthen the farm system, something that was showing strain before the current ownership. Still, the farm system has NOT and has NEVER been given any real shot in the arm, at ANY time by the holders of the Reds purse-strings.

Without a farm system the small market Reds are doomed to continue in their current miasma. Fixing said farm system, getting good scouting and player development -- these should have been the first and abiding concerns of Linder et al. Instead they once again re-arrange the deck-chairs on the Titanic.

Oh for a Dominican scout, (couldn't they have got Davey C to help out -- he's a living legend down there). Oh for wise choices at draft time, this year -- once again they completely blow up their draft. They elect an outfielder rated 5 to 7 places lower on the draft board, when they have no need of the same -- in fact carry excess baggage in that position. Pitchers THE MOST VALUABLE COMMODITY were taken by several teams immediately follwoing the Reds. The needed pitching talent was there - studs from the fields of Texas or Nebraska -- the "Brains Trust" that is the sad vestigial remains of a once proud scouting organization looked past all of them.

Yep --Katt -- wish I didn't care about this team.

Something has to give.
Linder says he cared enough to keep baseball in the Natti, right now he could run for the anti-Christ in the Queen City and it would be a total fucking landslide.
The baseball commissioner, see-ya-later Selig, has to get his tiny brain out of his rectum and level the bloody playing field -- or the game as we all knew it will be dead, finito.

There are no emoticons in the arsenal of 102 total that capture my ire over this new level of bullshit -- what would marge do?

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

if only this couldve happened a couple days ago. wouldve been a great fathers day present for my dad.

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

As for Don Gullett, what can you say .. is he meant to make a silk purse out of a sows ear? If the pitching coach was the problem, why axe Graves earlier this year (instead of sending him down for a few games to get his head straight).

Well, I heard that, after he was released, former opponents told Graves that he was tipping his pitches. I don't know whether that was true, but if that was the case, shouldn't somebody in the organization have noticed? I do feel bad for Gullett. Both he and Miley have put in a lot of years for this organization and its sad that is has come to this.

It does have to start at the top. Look at some of the off-season acquisitions:
-We are now going to be paying Milton $9 million a year for the two years after this one - (3-9, 7.82 ERA) - bust!
-We are paying Ramon Ortiz $3.5 million this year - (2-5, 6.51 ERA) - bust!
-Ben Weber - $600,000 - (8.03 ERA) - He's been injured and isn't too expensive, guess not too bad, gotta take a chance sometimes
-David Weathers - $1.25 million - (4-0, 4.03 ERA) - been better of late, but not much
-Kent Mercker - $1.25 million - (1-1, 3.00 ERA) - been decent, but has given up some runs late in games
-Rich Aurilia - $500,000 - (.243, 6HR, 23RBI) - pretty cheap and has provided a bit of depth, we'll give him a pass
-Joe Randa - $2.15 million - (.293, 10HR, 37RBI) - the only one I would define as a success, and let's face it, anyone would be better than Brandon Larson

That's $18 million in salary right there! Not very good value, I would say.
And there is almost nothing in the farm system at this point.

Now we have to find a manager. Hopefully someone who will lend some credibility to this sorry ass organization. I would love it if we could snatch Frank Robinson away from the Nats, but I don't see that hapening. I've heard rumors of Jim Leyland, but I'll believe it when I see it. I don't know. Sparky was looking pretty good a couple weeks back when they retired his number. Maybe we should give him a call...

Okay, I've had my say (for now).

Oh, just one more thing. When does the Bengals season start?

 

[Darkhorse79]

Oh, just one more thing. When does the Bengals season start?

It's a sad day in Cinci when the Bengals have more going for them than the Reds.

 

[coastalbuck]

And I hope I never see that day!

 

[sandgk]

Earlier some stated little knowledge about new manager Narron (now sporting a 2-0 record).

Since then the puff piece below was posted to the Red's website, and there has been discussion on the talk radio circuit -- some of illuminating. Seems the concensus is that Narron is O'Brien's man, just a Miley never was. Rumor has it also that Narron was the man keeping O'Brien up to speed on any and every "issue" happening in the club-house -- presumably to Miley's discredit. The feeling is that if Narron wins out this season, then he likely gets another crack at this in '06. If in '06 the Reds post a winning record or better (wild card --gee, you've got to0 keep hope alive), then Narron and O'Brien both get contract extensions. Should Narron not bring life back to the moribund Reds then in all likelihood its both O'Brien and Narron's heads on the block -- whichever comes earlier the shortfall in '05 2nd half or in '06 full season.

Anyway -- if past is prologue, we may see nothing but more misery and losing records .... check out those stellar stats with the Rangers.

CINCINNATI -- The lineup cards Jerry Narron fills out look more Medieval than Major League.


Calligraphic figures spell out the names of the daily one through nine, adding a little touch of artwork to a clubhouse of jock straps and sweat.

Narron began using the unorthodox method back in his days as the third-base coach for Johnny Oates' Rangers teams.

"When Johnny was coaching for Frank Robinson in Baltimore, he was very detailed," Narron recalled. "He was a perfectionist. He did a lineup card for Frank, and it was perfect. When he became a manager and I joined his staff, he asked me to do it, and I figured I had to do it as well or better than he did."

A penchant for perfect penmanship isn't all Narron tried to learn from Oates.

And in his stint as interim manager of the Reds, as he tries to turn around a club not even within a whiff of .500, the 49-year-old Narron is trying to put those lessons to good use.

"One thing I observed from [Oates] was being honest with guys," Narron said. "Not telling players what they wanted to hear, but being upfront and honest. That's the type of person he was. Dealing with players, he knew you couldn't treat everybody the same."

But Narron is trying to get his Reds on the same page. And if that means dealing a player some harsh reality from time to time, then so be it.

"I can tell you the only thing I'm going to do is be honest with every one of these guys," he said in his slow, Southern drawl. "If I tell them they stink, I hope they prove me wrong. If a guy's playing terrible, I'm sure not going to tell him he's the greatest thing ever."

Has he ever had to tell a player he stinks?

"Yeah," he said, before adding with a big smile, "I've had some guys prove me right."

Narron hopes that won't be the case this time around. And he's also hoping for some better results than he had as manager of the Rangers after Oates stepped down in 2001.

Narron inherited that club in May of '01 and led it to a 62-72 record over the remainder of the season. He and general manager Doug Melvin had long-range plans to use the farm system to improve on that record in the years ahead, but when Melvin was fired and replaced by John Hart, those plans went out the window.

"We got away from that [plan] and tried to bring in guys right away and just try to win in 2002," Narron said. "If I could change anything, when John Hart came in, I would have said, 'We have a plan here, and it's going to bear fruit.'"

All the Rangers bore in '02 was a 72-90 record that put Narron out of work. He went on to spend '03 as Grady Little's bench coach in Boston before joining Dave Miley's staff last year, but he always felt he would get another opportunity to manage at some point.

"I know in the second half of 2001, the [Rangers] really improved," Narron said. "In 2002, from the very beginning, there were injuries, and it didn't work out. In the 2003 season, with what went on [a 71-91 record], you could tell there was more to it than the manager. And I just think that with my reputation in baseball, I'd get another shot at some point."

Narron's reputation is that he's a quiet man with a keen knowledge of the game's fundamentals. He picked up on the ins and outs of big-league baseball while serving as a backup catcher for the Yankees, Mariners and Angels from 1979-87.

"I tried, when I was a player, to learn as much as I could about the game, and I tried to study the game," he said. "I wasn't a great player, so I had to do everything I could to maximize my ability and try to get every little edge and every advantage I could."

As a catcher, he felt he had a unique perspective of the game that helped him gain those advantages.

"It goes back to having the entire game in front of you, and knowing where every guy is on every play," said Narron, the fourth consecutive Reds manager to have catching experience. "When the ball is hit, you can see guys' movement and that type of thing."

Now, Narron is the guy putting the players in their positions, and not just in the calligraphic sense. Sure, his lineup cards have a certain beauty to them, and he's glad he took on Oates' perfectionist tendencies in filling them out.

"I [learned calligraphy] to one-up Johnny," Narron said. "That's probably the only thing in life I'd be able to one-up Johnny Oates on." But that doesn't mean Narron isn't going to try to emulate his late friend where beauty counts the most in this game: The win column.

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

Anyway -- if past is prologue, we may see nothing but more misery and losing records

We should be getting used to it by now.

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

Word is the Twins are looking at Randa, and the Reds want pitching in return.

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

Randa for Johan Santana sounds good to me.