DUSTY FIRED!!

[Ojb81]

Just announced! Pop the champagne, we're going all the way now!

 

[tabascojet]

 

[thedddd]

Great news for Red fans and Matt Latos's arm!

Not so great for other NL Central teams. Seriously any other manager could put the Reds over the top.

 

[eburg5000]

Glad Dusty is gone, but I hope they get a manager that is strong on hitting and scoring runs without relying on the 3 run homer as much. I don't know if anyone noticed but we didn't get many of those this year.

 

[bengaldoug]

 

[Redsfan1507]

Im relieved...but not naive enough to believe anyone can do better. I believe there are several that can do much better, but we need to see who they hire to judge.

The media are going to speculate obvious names, but there are lots of lesser known names that are damned fine managers.

They key I think is simple in some regards...The bar has to be set high - firing Dusty says that. It also has to be lead by the manager- did you hear Clint Hurdles response to the Pirates loss ? "...my decisions...my fault...put that on me". Dusty NEVER admitted a mistake or took accountability for one. Leadership starts with technical skill and execution, and requires accountability. Dusty lacked all of those attributes. He was a nice guy that people knew his name. Dusty and the PR media machine hyped him as a players manager, but all that meant was he managed the way he wanted to be managed as a player...not necessarily the way his team needed him to manage. Easier, usually isn't better. Excellence isn't destiny, or complacency, or chemistry...it's relentless pursuit of improvement, by definition, urgency. These weren't in Dusty's bag of magic.

I believe success is impossible without applying lessons learned. The manager they hire must embrace this concept, if success has a chance.

 

[redsfan03]

YES

My faith in humanity/the Reds organization is restored. Let's see who they replace him with before we pop the champagne though...

 

[tlakes20]

It had to happened, Dusty has taken this team as far as he could. One too many stupid decisions finally cost him.

 

[Redsfan1507]

All managers are hired to be fired. Only one each year really wins...

Personally, I think that a successful manager is one that gets as much out of the talent he had as possible. That doesn't mean he has to be flawless, or win a World Series. Great teams play great. I've never seen a World Championship won making a mistake a game, or after losing 5 of the last 7 series of the season, 4 of them against eliminated teams, teams that go to the Series don't just get lucky or get hot. They are peaking at the right time because they are prepared for urgency. They play under pressure better than teams where it's a foreign concept. They execute because they've done it all year.

Manager of the Year isn't an award for the best manager, unfortunately, its given to the manager of the team that surprised everyone at how many they won with a team they didnt think could get that far. Overachievement in other words, and lets face it- it's easier to overachieve with a lower bar- say playing .500... than it is to take a talented team beyond embarrassing themselves in the first round of playoffs. The higher the bar, the better EVERYONE has to execute, the smaller the margin of error is, and in the real world, it's not just players- managers and coaches are included in that formula.

IMO, a manager has to speak many languages (figuratively) to be able to communicate with a team. He has to be able to kiss ass and kick ass at the same time. He has to inspire confidence and maintain humility, and be relentless at work ethic and direct improvement toward execution all at the same time. He has to be a stand up guy that leads...and protects....and wins...and that requires HE is on his game just like he expects players to be.

I think that was part of Dusty's problem- he didn't address his need for improvement well enough, and neither did his players. They followed his example... Of shooting too low- to be just good enough, instead of trying to be the absolute best.

 

[calsnowskier]

Uh oh...

Another team enters the upper echelon of the NL...

Congrats guys. A few years late, but better late than never.

 

[JohnU]

Uh oh...

Another team enters the upper echelon of the NL...

Congrats guys. A few years late, but better late than never.

May the Reds meet the Giants for the W.S. title in 2014.

Wait ... never mind.

Let's go for the Cactus League thingy then.

 

[eburg5000]

 

[NCBengal]

No more player's coaches... We need leaders and competition in that clubhouse. I hope the players understand that they should see this firing as an equal indictment on their performance. The underachieving must end.

 

[jdwills126]

 

[Redsfan1507]

Player manager- a term used by Dusty and the media- not so much by IMPACT players...sure, role players that got too much PT to be on a winning team liked him- Patterson, Hairston, Ludwick...but ask guys that were studs that already had everything except a ring, and they're pretty mum on Dusty.

It's all B-S. smoke and mirrors to cover up a dense stubborn lazy ass manager more concerned with getting along, getting re-signed and pursuing the all time winningest manager that had a career win pct that would finish 3rd in most Divisions (.524). It's how to get famous without all that effort to be good and accountable at the highest bar in MLB.

This is only a victory in the sense that the Reds have raised the bar. It has to start there. Doing the same failed things and expecting better results is, well, Dusty's philosophy. Im glad others disagree too.

 

[packerzrule]

I heard the roar from Cincy all the way up here in Brew Town!!

 

[JohnU]

I just read the apologetic love-fest that Heyman coughed up over at CBS ... basically blaming the fans for running Dusty out of town. Dusty made himself out the victim, claiming (in Heyman's version) that he was fired for standing up to support Jacoby.

Later Dusty also introduced the racism stuff again, which is probably worth a separate conversation but it turned the story itself into a whine-fest. Racist hate mail didn't get Dusty fired. Heyman didn't let that get in the way of his pompous defense of the guy he apparently thinks the fans ought to be grateful to for turning the franchise around.

 

[Redsfan1507]

I don't know how he could tell just by the smell, but Dusty said the turd in his Cubs dugout seat was a racist act too. He suggested when the Dodgers let him go as a player, racism played a role- the same Dodgers that signed Jackie Robinson and started the Civil Rights movement. Dusty sure has a lot of racial baggage, for a Northern California guy...

Dusty just has a problem with criticism, it's just never justified in his mind. I hope he finds another job where they're happy with him not doing too much, except always asking for more ...maybe he should run for congress.

 

[redsfan03]

Well, he's being paid to do nothing now, so I think he'll fit in just fine with Congress.

 

[WvuDieHard]

I think there are enough people fed up with Dustmop, that we could have set up a website that would have raised the money to get that loser out of town.