The Reds finally fired Bob Boone as manager and more surprisingly, Jim Bowden as general manager. Boone and Bowden's final legacy was a lack of continuity and performance pitching which has effectively wasted the development of good young batters who, upon occasion, can really tear up the baseball.

But it wasn't just pitching that killed Boone and Bowden's tenure, it was the lack of cohesiveness in their offensive approach. Austin Kearns, Adam Dunn, Sean Casey, Aaron Boone (who you wonder how he will handle this event), D'Angelo Jiminez, Jose Guillen and Griffey and Larkin when healthy are a great core for a ball club that should have won a ton of games. Griffey's injuries somewhat hampered continuity but that doesn't explain the constant lineup changes and rearranges that were a hallmark of the club.

But it remained the pitching that constantly defeated the Reds. And it wasn't for a lack of talent. Some organizations can take the talent and develop the talent to better and more consistent performance. This one never did. And Boone's notoriously quick hooks didn't help matters as his games always featured four or five pitchers.

This team is better than it has played and hopefully, like the Marlins and like the Royals, a change in leadership will spark better performance. Cincinnati is a great baseball town with a lot of great baseball history. Hopefully, this will be the start of a resurrection in this franchise.


The Reds without Boone won their first game in the post-Boone era against the Phillies who have picked a disappointing time to nosedive, losing six of their last ten. Their once large Wildcard lead is now down to just one game over the Marlins and two over the Diamondbacks. The Marlins won again tonight and are on a great roll with the emergence of Cabrera, the return of Mike Lowell and the pitching of Redmon, Beckett and Willis. The Phillies are in danger of falling off the table.

One good note for the Phillies is that Pat Burrell is hitting better and finally got over the .200 hump for the season.