No-nonsense Narron right guy for Reds
By Hal McCoy
Dayton Daily News

MILWAUKEE | If it would be permanent, Jerry Narron would like to take a pair of scissors and snip the word "interim" from in front of his name when he is referred to in newspapers as "the interim manager of the Cincinnati Reds."

Yes, he wants the job. Officially. Without the interim tagline. But he knows he needs more than a pair of scissors to make it reality.

For what he has done since becoming a temp on June 21, replacing fired manager Dave Miley, he deserves the security of a two-year contract that begins in 2006.

The Reds were burned toast when Narron took over, and now they are French toast — 25-19 since Narron tried out the chair in the manager's office.

As they open a three-game series tonight in Miller Park against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Reds are on an eight-game road winning streak. They have five straight quality starts from what many thought after three months was baseball's dead-fish starting rotation. And they are in fifth place, only two games behind fourth-place Chicago and 41/2 behind third-place Milwaukee.

Can you say tremendous turnaround?

When Narron took over, the team was neck-deep in losing quicksand, in last place and 16 games under .500. Now they are 10 under and one win tonight away from single digits for the first time since Memorial Day, when they were 21-30.

And Narron is sticking to his word. All along, he has said he doesn't care about reaching second place or reaching .500. He just wants to make it ingrained that this team plays the game the way the Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals play it. The right way, the clean way, the winning way.
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