But in baseball, a manager is hired to be fired. He is always the fall guy. Bell’s father, Buddy, was fired three times while managing Detroit, Colorado and Kansas City.
And David Bell became the fall guy for the shortcomings of the Cincinnati Reds, through no fault of his own.
But when a baseball team fails, the way the Reds have failed in the recent past, somebody has to shoulder the blame. An entire team can’t be fired. Same for an entire front office.
So the manager is told to pack his gear and vacate his clubhouse office. It probably didn’t help Bell that the Reds fan base has been howling for his removal.
Is it fair? Probably not. Bell did the best he could under untenable circumstances.
How is a manager supposed to win when he loses his entire pitching rotation, five to injuries and one via trade? He lost Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott, Graham Ashcraft and Brandon Williamson to injuries. Frankie Montas, his Opening Day starter, was traded.
How is a manager supposed to win when early in the season he loses two starting position players — shortstop Matt McLain and first baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand — for the entire season?
Third baseman Noelvi Marte missed the first 80 games serving a suspension for using performance enhancing drugs. Bell also lost semi-regulars Jeimer Candelario, Stuart Fairchild and Nick Martini to injuries.
Center fielder TJ Friedl, right fielder Jake Fraley and second baseman Jonathan India all occupied time on the injured list during the season.
How is a manager supposed to win with an unsettled bullpen, also beset by injuries to TeJay Antone, Sam Moll and Emilio Pagan? And Lucas Sims was traded.
How is a manager supposed to win when he had to use 30 different pitchers, many of them not deserving of a promotion from Triple-A?
The Reds wore out I-71 between Louisville and Cincinnati shuttling so-called pitchers whose names were only recognizable to immediate family?
Remember Evan Kravetz? Or Lyon Richardson? Or David Buchanan? Or Alex Young? And what did Casey Legumina, Alan Busenitz and Yosver Zulueta contribute out of the bullpen?
It was the same with position players. Thirty position players have been used, most of whom came and went quickly with no impact — names like Eric Yang, Livan Soto, Levi Jordan, Austin Slater, Dominic Smith and Edwin Rios.
Bell was popular in the clubhouse with his players. He never publicly criticized them. He was criticized himself because he is soft-spoken and his monotone voice during interviews gave the impression he is not forceful.
But when needed, he was as volatile as any manager as his franchise-record 32 ejections indicate, usually standing up for his players on perceived missed balls and strikes calls. And his 32 ejections are 55th on MLB’s all-time list.
But the 52-year-old Bell compiled a 409-455 record over his six-year run and made the playoffs once. That was in the shortened 2020 COVID-19 season, and the Reds lost in the first round to the Atlanta Braves, losing two games without scoring a run.
The Reds were 82-80 in 2023 and missed the playoffs by two games while going 34-29 in one-run games. After losing Sunday, 2-0, to the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Reds are 76-81 and one of their biggest failings is a 15-27 record in one-run games.
Those numbers speak at a high volume, loud enough to urge the front office to make a change, even though Bell had two years remaining on a contract extension he signed last July.
As is generally the case when a manager is relieved of his duties, the front office praises him while ushering him out the door.
And Reds President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall was no different in announcing the firing late Sunday night.
“David provided the kind of steadiness that we needed in our clubhouse over the last few seasons,” he said in a press release. “We felt a change was needed to move the Major League team forward. We have not achieved the success we expected, and we need to begin focusing on 2025.”
So a nice guy with baseball ingrained in everything he did, lost his job. They always say a new voice, a different voice is needed in the clubhouse.
But a new manager can shout from the rooftops, but he must hope that injuries are at a minimum and that his players perform to their capabilities.
And he must hope the front office doesn’t upload too many Triple-A players to his roster.
Freddie Benavides, Bell’s bench coach, will handle the managerial duties for the Reds final five games.
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