Best Reds Management Decisions?

[Ltlabner]

Over all the years there've been a lot of player moves, or team management decisions that have effected our beloved Cincinnati Redlegs. Which moves by the team do you think were the most important or inflentual for the teams success? Or just important in team history in general.

My knowledge of baseball history starts around the begining stages of the BRM so I know it's limited. Hopefully someone can detail player/management moves before that time period to spice things up.

My vote is tied. It's either moving Rose to 3rd in May, 1975 which was the last key in the BRM puzzle and everything else fell into place OR the hiring of Bob Housem as GM (sp?).

[sdwagers]

Firing Vern Rapp.

[KoryMac5]

Going out and getting Joe Morgan from the Colt 45's to me was what put the Reds over the top. Adding more speed and hustle to the team really made them tough to beat on a nightly basis because they now had soooo many ways to beat you.

[JEA]

I have always been amazed by what the club was able to do in 1990. The Reds made a lot of small moves, but collectively, they turned out to be quite huge. When you do stuff like that, and then combine it with players having career years and most of your team staying healthy, you win championships. 1990 is such a great example.

Obviously, hiring Lou to take over for Pete was a great pre-season move.

The Leary for Morris deal could be seen as a positive, seeing how Leary lost 19 games for New York and Morris hit .340. (But Leary still posted a league-average ERA,)

Picking up Hatcher from the Pirates in April was big, in addition to Braggs a few months later and Doran a few months after that.

Again, a lot of guys had career years (ones they'd never repeat), but that season is a great example of how a handful of small but smart moves can put a team over the top.

[PTI (pti)]

More recently, the events that brought Aaron Harang to the Reds was pretty darn good. I believe they picked up Jose Guillen off waivers after he'd been released by the Diamondbacks (and Pirates, and Devil Rays, etc, etc). In a little over 1/2 a season, he hit .336 with 23 homers and 63 RBI - and was the MVP of a team that stayed in the playoff chase for a good part of the season. Once he inevitably blew up (fighting with management, beating up the clubhouse, etc) they traded him for Harang - and now Harang is looking like a very durable #1/2 starter.

You can't ask for a much better series of moves than that.

[westofyou]

Pre 1900 - Moving to the National League during the Players League Sanafu.

1900-1920 - Obtaining Edd Roush and Mathewson for manager Herzog and making Mathewson manager

1920-1945 - Larry McPhail convincing Powel Crosley to buy Reds, Powell Crosley hiring Warren Giles.

1945-1966 - Hiring Bobby Mattick as Scout (signed Vada, Robby, Curt Flood and Jim Maloney)

1967-1984 - Hiring Bob Howsam - Doing it again

1985-1994 - Choosing Larkin over Stillwell.

1995-2000 - Drafting Kearns and Dunn

2000-2005 - Firing Dan O'Brien.

[Ltlabner]

WOY, I'd agree with the DanO decision. I especially like that BC wasted no time and cleaned him out on his 1st full day as owner.

[Mutaman]

The Banana Man selling the team.

[dman]

Though his tenure in Cincinnati was short lived, I think hiring Davey Johnson to manage the Reds was a good move

[Red in Chicago]

Originally Posted by westofyou

1985-1994 - Choosing Larkin over Stillwell.

looking back, i can't even believe there was a debate about this...all i remember about kurt now, is that he was a handsome little devil

[westofyou]

Originally Posted by Red in Chicago

looking back, i can't even believe there was a debate about this...all i remember about kurt now, is that he was a handsome little devil

Kurts dad was a MLB player, so chances are his scouting makeup played that up.

[George Foster]

Not putting Jack Armstrong in the rotation against the Pirates was a pretty good move. He did start the all-star game that year, but he had a horrible
2nd half of the season. It would have been real tempting to put him in the rotation hoping he would find the magic that he lost.

Note: He never found the magic again. Armstrong is the biggest flash in the pan the reds have ever had IMO. Starting the All-Star game to falling off the earth. Sad. Was he traded to the Marlins or released?

[wolfboy]

Originally Posted by George Foster

Not putting Jack Armstrong in the rotation against the Pirates was a pretty good move. He did start the all-star game that year, but he had a horrible
2nd half of the season. It would have been real tempting to put him in the rotation hoping he would find the magic that he lost.

Note: He never found the magic again. Armstrong is the biggest flash in the pan the reds have ever had IMO. Starting the All-Star game to falling off the earth. Sad. Was he traded to the Marlins or released?

He was moved to Cleveland for Greg Swindell after the '91 season.

[George Foster]

Originally Posted by wolfboy

He was moved to Cleveland for Greg Swindell after the '91 season.

No one could sweat like Swindell. He looked like he just got out of the shower by the 2nd out in the first inning.

[IowaRed]

acquiring George Foster from SF for Frank Duffy and Vern Geishert

and

acquiring Joe Morgan, Cesar Geronimo, Jack Billingham, Ed Armbrister, and Denis Menke for Tommy Helms, Lee May, and Jimmy "Harvey" Stewart

oh yeah, and getting rid of DO