Dan Weber’s Just Sayin’: Reds, look to NKY for new manager; TMU showing serious defense

With the firing of six-year Reds manager David Bell Sunday, the candidates’ list for replacing him is a long one. The Cincinnati Enquirer had seven names of either first-time manager candidates or internal possibilities from the Reds’ organization that included current interim manager/bench coach Freddie Benavides and Hall of Fame broadcaster Barry Larkin .

But here’s another candidate who would fit both of those categories and one the Reds really need to consider: current catcher, Edgewood native and Covington Catholic and UK alum Luke Maile , whose two years with the team has established him as both a respected, no-nonsense leader this young team needs and would listen to – as it already has.

Just 33 and a veteran of five major league organizations now – also Tampa Bay, Toronto, Milwaukee and Cleveland — Maile has demonstrated the take-charge leadership the Reds need with a philosophy of building through young players developed in the organization. Maile reminds me of Texas Rangers World Series-winning manager Bruce Bochy , a veteran 6-foot-3 MLB catcher like MaiIe that I had the pleasure of covering when he managed San Diego and San Francisco.

Maile has demonstrated with impromptu team talks the past two seasons in Reds’ downturns, most recently July 22 on the bus from the airport to the hotel in Atlanta as described by the Enquirer’s Gordon Wittenmyer . “What he said was fantastic . . . It was professional. And we needed it,” pitcher Hunter Greene said. “It definitely motivated me. I know it motivated the rest of the team.”

Maile did the same a year ago, inspiring the Reds after a struggling start and six-game losing streak to go on to become a team that wasn’t eliminated until the second-last day of the season. “Luke’s amazing, man,” outfielder Will Benson said of Maile’s leadership. “He’s a shoot-from-the-hip guy. And we need that. He understands what it takes to really play at a high level here, and the biggest thing he told us was you need to go out there and have that attitude and swagger and confidence in knowing what you can do.”

The last time the Reds hired a 33-year-old, it didn’t turn out all that badly as Dave Bristol turned the franchise into a winner from his hiring in 1966 preparing the way for Sparky Anderson and the Big Red Machine that followed. Currently, Oliver Marmol of the St. Louis Cardinals is baseball’s youngest at the age of 38. Maile would be 34 at the start of next season.

TMU FOOTBALL WITH A SECOND STRAIGHT SHUTOUT

The now 2-1 Saints have figured a sure-fire way to the winner’s circle in back-to-back weeks. Whether they score 50 points as they did two Saturdays ago in shutting out Kentucky Christian, 50-0, or just six, as the Saints did Saturday against Ohio Dominican in Columbus, TMU proved they can’t beat you if you don’t let them score. Which is exactly what TMU did in a 6-0 defensive battle won with a pair of Luke Iden field goals, from 46 and 24 yards. For Scott High alum Iden, those are his fifth and sixth field goals of the season.

In keeping with the defensive trend, freshman Avery Bodner (Boyle County, Danville) blocked a punt for the second straight game to set up the Saints’ first score. The win gives TMU a 1-0 record in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference as the Saints return home Saturday for Homecoming against GMAC opponent Walsh in a 7 p.m. game at Republic Bank Field.

CHECKING THE BOX SCORE

One correction for the CovCath-Beechwood game totals Friday that the Colonels’ statistics program got wrong, the CovCath crack stat team updated over the weekend. In getting the bugs worked out, the CovCath folks say that the total offense for the Colonels in the 49-28 win was 552 yards, not 624, to Beechwood’s 221. Impressive either way. But a bit more realistic this way.

Contact Dan Weber at dweber3440@aol.com . Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @dweber3440.

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