I've noticed something lately........

These guys are having fun and they like eachother.

I can't help but wonder where this team would be had Narron been fired sooner.

I really enjoyed that game tonight. I enjoyed watching the players have fun.

And now it has me wondering if they shouldn't try and and keep it together next year and add a few parts.

And how about those couple of plays Keppinger made at first base on those bad throws? He managed to tag the runner on the first high throw with a sweeping glove.......and managed to snag Phillips bad throw and stay on the bag long enough. Is this guy invaluable or what?

This team is showing me alot.

They are playing like a team now. They are up off the bench when something good happens and are showing great emotion.

Chemistry. They may have finally found it.

They are definately a lot more fun to watch. You can only look back and think what might have been if Narron had been canned sooner...

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Originally Posted by ChatterRed

Chemistry. They may have finally found it.

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That's a big part of a winning ball club. Look at the Big Red Machine

They weren't losing because of Narron, they were losing because they only had Weathers in the bullpen who was reliable. The difference that a Bray and Majewski (when healthy) make has been phenominal.

I saw Cantu jumping up and down when EE scored on Junior's bloop single and the whole clubhouse was waving him in and going nuts. It was a pleasure to see. You don't see a bunch of guys acting like they can't wait for it to be over........but just the opposite. It's a shame they aren't closer to being in this race because I think they have that something special now.

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Originally Posted by PMand JM

They weren't losing because of Narron, they were losing because they only had Weathers in the bullpen who was reliable. The difference that a Bray and Majewski (when healthy) make has been phenominal.

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.....and probably more importantly..........BURTON.

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Originally Posted by PMand JM

They weren't losing because of Narron, they were losing because they only had Weathers in the bullpen who was reliable. The difference that a Bray and Majewski (when healthy) make has been phenominal.

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Narron certaintly didn't help. He is one of the worst managers I've ever seen. Some of the things he did were just mind boggling :confused: And you can't argue with results. Since Narron was canned, we're the best team in the NL. Go figure.

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Originally Posted by PMand JM

They weren't losing because of Narron, they were losing because they only had Weathers in the bullpen who was reliable. The difference that a Bray and Majewski (when healthy) make has been phenominal.

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I think Narron had a hand to play in it. Just off the top of my head pinch hitting Juan Castro for Josh Hamilton. That's just one of the many moves that didn't help the team.

Narron was awful.

I give all the credit to Pete Mackanin for changing the entire persona of this team. There's so much more to managing than just filling out lineup cards, and Mackanin would seem to be a master with lifting players' spirits, & building team chemistry and locker room camaraderie.

I'm gonna be extremely disappointed if Pete's not given at least a one year contract going into next year.

I believe Narron's firing made this team play better. But, in my opinion, this team didn't get better because a new manager made all the proper tweaks. I believe they improved because Narron's firing released a lot of the pressure that had built up because of their pitiful performance. They were so busy worrying about who was going to be traded and what was going to happen to the team that they lost the ability to win.

Plus some personnel moves helped quite a bit. Hopper and Keppinger are hitting extremely well, the other players are driving in runs and pitchers like Bray and Burton are helping to improve the woeful bullpen. (Good moves by Krivsky, by the way.)

Well, you replaced Freel with a guy who can actually get on base - Hopper. They brought up a guy who actually makes contact and makes things happen in Keppinger. And the bullpen has definitely come around.