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Miley never blamed anyone else for his fate
'It's the manager who always goes'
By Hal McCoy
Dayton Daily News
The cell phone on which Dave Miley talked faded in and out but it was as plain as clear channel radio that he was leaving the same way he arrived — with dignity and class.
There was no poor-pitiful-me attitude in the conversation about his sudden removal Tuesday as manager of the Cincinnati Reds.
He took a couple of days to gather his thoughts and wits before talking individually with the beat writers who cover the team every day.
"Yeah, I'm bummed, no doubt about that," he said. "I love baseball and loved the job. But, obviously, something had to happen. We weren't playing good, we weren't winning. It was only a matter of time."
Miley, though, doesn't second-guess anything he did or anything he tried and said, "We tried everything we could, everything we could think about doing and it just didn't work."
The man who invested 26 years of his life into the Cincinnati Reds, 16 as a major-league and minor-league manager up and down the system, pointed no fingers at upper management.
He could have bemoaned the makeup of his pitching staff, which has the second highest earned-run average in the National League. He didn't.
He could have bemoaned the fact that management signed pitcher Paul Wilson to a two-year $8.2 million contract when it knew he had the tears in his shoulder that wiped him out for the season, taking a 1-5 record and a 7.77 ERA with him. He didn't.
He could have bemoaned the fact that management signed pitcher Eric Milton to a three-year $25.5 million contract when it knew he was a high-ball, fly-ball pitcher who gave up 43 home runs in Philadelphia last year and has given up 25 already this year, going 3-9 with a 7.82 ERA. He didn't.
He could have bemoaned the fact that management traded a high pitching prospect Dustin Moseley for Ramon Ortiz, who is 3-5 with a 6.22 ERA. He didn't.
He could have bemoaned the fact that management signed second baseman D'Angelo Jimenez to a one-year $2.82 million contract when it was known he was not a hard worker, was not motivated and was a pouter and complainer in the clubhouse. He didn't.
He could have complained that management brought in Rich Aurilia, a 33-year-old shortstop who thought he should play every day when young Felipe Lopez was there and there are two young shortstops waiting in the wings in Anderson Machado and Ray Olmedo. He didn't.
And never during his season in the dumpster did he blame or criticize anybody.
This was a guy who last year on June 10 had the team in first place before an 0-7 trip to Oakland, Cleveland and Philadelphia. He was named Manager of the Year for the first half by Baseball America. Did he get dumb in a year?
"It's the manager who always goes," Miley said. "I know that. I just hoped it wouldn't be this soon. Don Gullett (the fired pitching coach) and I care about those guys. Hopefully, now they'll win a lot of games. We're pulling for them."
Miley figured the news was bad when Assistant General Manager Dean Taylor stopped in his office Monday night after a drab and dreary 6-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
The team had only four hits and right fielder Wily Mo Pena didn't dive coming in on a ball and it bounced past him. He loafed after it and David Eckstein legged it into a triple that ignited a three-run inning.
"Taylor said (GM) Dan O'Brien wanted to meet the next morning at 11," Miley said. "He told me the same things he said at the press conference about the team not playing to its capabilities and that they were making a change in the dugout. He was straight forward and honest about it."
St. Louis manager Tony La Russa already had told Miley that he was going to name him a coach for the National League All-Star team, "And that made it even more disappointing because I was looking forward to that," Miley said.
Miley did lose the clubhouse, which happens when a team is 27-43, in last place, 181/2 games out of first place. There was considerable grousing and complaining.
"Not everybody is going to like you," Miley said. "I understand that. And I read some of the things Aurilia said. I don't understand why he didn't like me. I played him, even when he wasn't going good early in the year."
Miley was heartened by the response from the baseball industry.
"You find out who your friends are in baseball, and I had a lot of calls," he said. "I wasn't offered another position with the Reds and I didn't expect it. We'll just see what happens."
Miley says he won't hide and might even come to Great American Ball Park to watch a few games from the press box, "Get the bird's-eye view you guys get and maybe I'll learn something. I'm not going to hide. I'll be around."
The cell phone faded out again, but not before Miley said, "I love the Cincinnati Reds. Always will."
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Originally Posted by CincyRedsFan30
