[Andy]

Originally Posted by Boomcoach

As a Reds fan, I thought Dusty was the perfect fit when he came. I think most of the criticism of Dusty comes from his handling of Sammy Sosa, which was to defer to him completely, no matter how poorly Sammy was doing, and his ineffectiveness in the playoffs.

My take on Dusty is that he is great at managing the team itself, through the long baseball season. His weakness is in-game management, which really comes through in he playoffs.

In July, on a 12 day road trip, he is good at keeping spirits up and keeping the clubhouse from getting poisonous and, in baseball, that is a very important things. Players are semi-cloistered together more in baseball than in most sports and someone who can "manage" that situation can get the best out of a team, especially a team with as many young players as the Reds had during his tenure.

I think if he has a good bench coach who can make the in-game decisions, Dusty can be very effective.

This. I'm a Reds fan as well and I really hated to see him go.