There is a steadily rising drum beat for the Reds to rehire Pete Mackanin as manger. He has lead the Reds to great record over the past two months he’s been on the job. Until last night, the Reds had climbed from 17 back and were on the verge of being in contention. Great job right?
Let’s have a history lesson. A few years back the Reds were looking for a new manager after firing Jack Mckeon. They cheaped out and hired Bob Boone, who was far and away the worst manager I’ve seen (ok, Ray Knight was horrible as well). After firing Boone in midseason 2003, they hired Dave Miley, a baseball lifer to take over the team. The team played better, and Miley was hired permanently. 2004 was disappointing due to injuries, and partway through 2005, they fired Miley and hired Jerry Narron, a baseball lifer. The club played better, and Narron was hired permanently. In 2006, the team started strong, sputtered, and missed the playoffs. In 2007, they fired Narron after 3 months of eye bleedingly bad baseball, and hired Pete Mackanin a baseball lifer. The club immediately started playing better.
Do you detect a pattern here? Forget the fact that he GAVE away last night’s key doubleheader by not starting his best lineup in either game. Forget the fact that he pulled Arroyo after 78 pitches and 6 innings to save him for a short rest start on Saturday (win TODAY’S game. Worry about tomorrow, tomorrow-Call it the Sermon on the Mount school of managing). Yeah, I’m mad at him for giving away 2 games last night, but mostly, I want the Reds to stop hiring guys just because of the ‘bump’ that teams receive from a new guy. They need to take the time to find a real manager, someone who is a proven winner. I wonder what Cito Gaston is up to?
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
