Reds get an 'L' for effort
Winning not on franchise's agenda
By Paul Daugherty / Enquirer staff writer

Of course the Cincinnati Reds will bring back Jerry Narron to manage in 2006. It's the safe, fair, nice, average thing to do. It's guaranteed to assure them the same sort of stirring season they're enjoying now.

That's assuming Narron wants the job. He probably would be working on a one-year leash because of the ownership mess. You've heard the term day-to-day, as applied to sort-of injured players? The 2006 Reds will be in similar limbo until the new owners decide who their new People will be.

General manager Dan O'Brien gets the third and final year of his deal next year for that reason. We already can see where '06 is going. It'll be written off as a transitional year, allowing new ownership to observe, judge and pick whom it wants in 2007. What's the '06 marketing slogan? "The 2006 Reds. Bear With Us."

Narron should manage this club for every reason but one. Narron is accountable, egoless and baseball-wise. His direction has saved the Reds from total embarrassment. He has done everything management hoped he'd do. The Reds will ask him back because going after anyone better would require a leap of boldness this organization is incapable of.

From chief operating officer John Allen to O'Brien to former manager Dave Miley, the Reds have done an outstanding job picking nice men who are happy to be here. Loyalty counts most, way ahead of creativity, audacity and big thinking. The Reds as a whole are thrilled to be average. Watching them since 1999, how could anyone argue that?

St. Louis is a similar-sized place. The metro area is bigger than here, but St. Louis doesn't have a wealth of small cities around it, the way Cincinnati does.

The fans are better there, but the affection for the game is the same in both towns.

The difference is, the Cardinals are built to win titles. The Reds are built to go 76-86. When St. Louis needs a manager, it hires Tony La Russa. When the Cards need a slugger, they sign Mark McGwire, then Jim Edmonds. When they need a starting pitcher, they get Mark Mulder.

Look at Cincinnati's other competition. Houston needs pitching, it gets Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte. The Cubs want a manager, they find Dusty Baker. They bring back Greg Maddux, they sign Moises Alou. Only when you dip to Pittsburgh's level can the Reds hold their heads up. Who wants to be compared to Pittsburgh?
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