Reds Press Release

CINCINNATI -- At a press conference at noon Monday at Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati Reds president and chief executive officer Bob Castellini and executive vice president and general manager Wayne Krivsky will announce Pete Mackanin as interim field manager for the remainder of the 2007 season.

Mackanin, 55, will replace Jerry Narron, whose Reds teams went 31-51 (.378) this season and 157-179 (.467) overall.

The club will have no comment until tomorrow's press conference in the field level interview room.

Mackanin (pronounced mah-CAN-in) will be introduced Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the field level interview room as the 59th manager in Reds history, the 49th since 1900.

He previously was in the organization from 1990-92, when he managed Class AAA Nashville in the American Association, and he rejoined the Reds in February 2006 as the Major League club's advance scout.

It will be Mackanin's second stint as an interim manager in the Major Leagues. In 2005 he managed the final 26 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who went 55-81 under Lloyd McClendon.

He spent seven seasons on the Major League coaching staffs of the Montreal Expos (third base coach, 1997-2000) and Pirates (bench coach, 2003-05) and has 21 seasons of managerial experience in the minor leagues and winter leagues.

Mackanin managed in the minors for 13 years and produced 917 victories and league championships in 1995 (Ottawa, International League) and 2002 (Lynchburg, Carolina league). For 8 seasons he skippered winter ball clubs in Venezuela, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. In 1988, he led Aguilas del Zulia to Venezuelan League and Caribbean Series championships.

An infielder, Mackanin was selected by the Washington Senators in the fourth round of the June 1969 free-agent draft. In 9 Major League seasons he appeared in 548 games for the Texas Rangers, Expos, Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins.

He will wear uniform number 46.

I can't honestly say that the wrong guy was fired, but I think Castallini didn't go far enough. Krivsky… you're next !

Once again the Crack Technical Staff and I turned on the ol’ digital recorder starting in the eighth inning of a Reds game we attended in Great American Ball Park. This episode, however, is even better than the last one, thanks to the addition of the Bellyscratcher and her Proxy–Cardinals fans who are slowly coming to appreciate the wonders of Reds Nation.

In addition to the play-by-play, we talk about:

• Our pre-game snack at The Machine Room Grille
• Our tour of the behind-the-scenes stuff (it was totally awesome (but don’t tell Rob Butcher I was there, since he’s the only one who truly knows how “uncontrollable” I am))
• Having a La Rosa’s pizza delivered to our seats
• Our post-game plans to hit the Hofbräuhaus after the game, and the Proxy’s deal to buy the first round for everyone if the Cardinals will just come back to win
• The Cardinals’ inability to come back to win

A fantastic time was had by all. I look forward to doing it again tomorrow.

Episode 64: The Eighth Inning Show (Versus Cardinals) (17.5MB, 25:30)

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