Narron Informs Dayton That Taking First Strikes and 75-Pitch Limits are History

[Unassisted]

http://www.daytondailynews.com/sport...7redsside.html

Narron: Dragons will be able to swing away By Hal McCoy
Dayton Daily News


For those Dayton Dragons fans wondering about the edict imposed last year that hitters must take a strike before they can swing, well, that rule went down swinging with the departure of Cincinnati Reds General Manager Dan O'Brien.


Reds manager Jerry Narron, speaking Thursday to the Dayton Agonis Club, brought it up without being asked and said, "On taking a first strike, I guarantee that it is out. Learning the strike zone and not taking strikes is important in the development of our hitters."

Dayton fans, and most Reds staffers, were strongly against the rule imposed by the recently fired O'Brien.

In addition, Narron said the Dragons won't be saddled with a 75-pitch limit for their starters. That rule forced the club to use two "starting pitchers" in piggy-back fashion last year.

"You do need some pitch limits on young arms, but you also have to build up arm strength and you do that by throwing," Narron said. "We will let 'em pitch."

[KronoRed]

Good that Dan O influence is being swept away, I just hope this doesn't lead to swinging at everything and 100 pitch counts for the starters

[savafan]

The Dayton fans I know will be pleased.

[MartyFan]

Later that same day...

Narron went on to say "we're teaching a new rule, we call it our swing to hit, pitch to miss rule"

[Heath]

Originally Posted by savafan

The Dayton fans I know will be pleased.

Season tickets renewed.

[RedFanAlways1966]

Good to see that pro-players will no longer be treated like little leaguers!

[Sea Ray]

Didn't John Fay list these two edicts in the "good" column of O'Brien's tenure in a recent article about OB's 2 years here? Why is he such a "lamb" when speaking about O'Brien? I thought these edicts were reason 100 and 101 for O'Brien to be fired as they were idiotic. I'm glad they're gone and the fact they're ending it this soon, even before a new GM is hired shows me that this was totally OB's doing and has little support elsewhere in the organization.

[ochre]

Originally Posted by Heath

Season tickets renewed.

I know my dad will be happy.

[M2]

IMO, it speaks volumes that Narron's the guy delivering this news. Jerry was DanO's guy and even he's torching the vestiges of DanO's reign. It's starting to sound like everyone outside of Wood, Reynolds and Taylor thought the guy was a boob.

[Phil in BG]

Originally Posted by M2

IMO, it speaks volumes that Narron's the guy delivering this news. Jerry was DanO's guy and even he's torching the vestiges of DanO's reign. It's starting to sound like everyone outside of Wood, Reynolds and Taylor thought the guy was a boob.

Good point. It sounds like they're all getting themselves as far away from DanO as possible. Now the only thing to clear up is John Allen's role. I know he's been taken out of the baseball side, but I don't even like the fact that he's the one lining up interviews. Hopefully it's secretarial only.

[ochre]

I was always kind of suspicious that Narron might have been actively undercutting Miley. Seeing him take this apparent retrograde action on his relationship with O'Brien begins to paint him as something of a questionable character in my mind. This is all subjective "non-insider" speculation on my part though. Just setting off some warning signals that I have developed from dealing with people that I have worked with.

[Phil in BG]

The more versatile your position-player roster is, the better you would potentially be able to absorb some sort of change in personnel"
Mr. O'Brien

ochre, your signature says a lot. Every time he spoke you had to re-read to see what he really meant. I mean, it obviously understandable, but you would evidently never hear those words put together coming out of Bob Castellini's mouth.

[Bill]

Can I also assume the failed and gimmicky tandem system is out for good?

[knuckler]

Originally Posted by M2

IMO, it speaks volumes that Narron's the guy delivering this news. Jerry was DanO's guy and even he's torching the vestiges of DanO's reign. It's starting to sound like everyone outside of Wood, Reynolds and Taylor thought the guy was a boob.

So what happened to Dean Taylor? He isn't being mentioned as a GM candidate.

[M2]

Originally Posted by knuckler

So what happened to Dean Taylor? He isn't being mentioned as a GM candidate.

Wasn't there some chatter that Taylor had spent the bulk of his time with the Reds rubbing people the wrong way?

Aside from that, his work as Milwaukee's GM and as a primary assistant to DanO leave a lot to be desired. Maybe he still has some scouting skills, but I wouldn't put him in charge of the water cooler let alone the team.