New Cincinnati Reds manager Bryan Price, formerly the pitching coach under the recently fired Dusty Baker, has already faced a number of questions about his capability to fulfill high expectations and whether he can lead the Reds to that long-pursued World Series appearance.

Questions involve Price’s lack of managerial experience, whether he was the best option for the job, and how his new position will affect the players themselves and how they will perform as a result.

Being one of the world’s biggest Reds fans myself, the one guy that I was leaning on to become manager was All-Star Corky Miller, one of the greatest to ever grace the game of baseball.

But luckily Price was my second option.

I think he will be a very fine manager because the players all know him already and understand what his coaching style is like, and also because he has sort of been an intern for Dusty Baker and gets what it’s like to manage and run a ball club.

But obviously my opinion just isn’t good enough, so while I was waiting for Walt Jocketty to respond to my phone calls, I decided to hit up the Halls of Elder and discuss the new manager. It was a little hard to find people to interview though. Everyone that was wearing red was on the football field losing last Friday.

Luckily I did manage to locate some Reds fans in whole mess, and I think that if I put all of their thoughts together I could probably get a book published.

Senior Tim Wahoff, probably the biggest Reds fan among all of my friends, gave me some good insight on Bryan Price.

“I like Bryan Price. He’s turned the pitching in Cincinnati into one of the best rotations in the league, but I don’t think he’s what the Reds are looking for. I don’t see him leading us to a winning season like Dusty can,” saidn Wahoff.  “Personally I loved Dusty Baker. Yeah sometimes he made some not-so-smart calls, but he has won a lot of ball games for the Cincinnati Reds, and everyone expects to win it all, but if you think of all the injuries we had this year, we weren’t too bad. We were in it until the very end. All I can say is best of luck Bryan Price don’t blow it.”

Although I don’t really agree thanks Tim for your good comments!

Junior Ethan Duwell, another huge Reds fan, hit the nail on the head with this thoughts.

“I think he will fill the spot very well. Most pitching coaches become very good and successful managers. Just look what John Farrell did for the Red Sox in his first year with them. Besides catchers I think pitching coaches make the best managers, because they know that what’s going on in the game is mostly centered around pitching,” said Duwell.  “As for the Reds’ record this year, I think we will be a wild card team for the only reason that the Cardinals somehow always find a way to win, whether it’s by getting star players out of nowhere, like Matt Carpenter, or by just having the will to win that season.”

Thanks Ethan for your for thoughtful insight!

Lastly, my good non-Elder friend Chase Stanton had some good things to say about the new addition.

“I think it’s a good choice though I don’t think it was right to just fire Dusty Baker on the spot. The Reds went to the postseason the last two years so I believe they have the talent to go again next season,” said Stanton. “I believe they have the talent and the players to make it to the postseason and maybe even the World Series.”

Thanks Chase and keep up the good work in Police Explorers!

Again one more big shout out to Tim, Ethan and Chase for the interviews and I’ll keep you guys updated on when the book is on Amazon!

I believe that Price and the Reds start off slowly next season, but as Price starts to gain managerial experience, he and Reds will be flying sky high to the top of the NL Central and we will all forget about Dusty and his toothpicks.

And while I’m at it, I’d like to start a petition to fire Chris Speier and hire Corky Miller as our new bench coach. Who’s with me?