By Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHOTO GALLERIES

Photos of Tuesday's game

Dave Miley's first day

Monday morning began with a business call, not an alarm clock or breakfast in bed.

Tim Naehring, the Reds' director of player development, called to inform Dave Miley that the extra pitcher he requested was en route to Triple-A Louisville.

Miley hung up, satisfied that his new left-hander would be available for that night's game, and tried to fall back asleep.

"The phone rang again and it was my mom from Tampa," he said. "She goes, 'What's going on?' I said, "Well, I just got off the phone with Tim Naehring and I'm going to go back to bed. That's what's going on."

Miley's mother, Jonnie, had heard through the family grapevine that her son was about to become the Reds' interim manager.

"I said, 'Mom that's probably happened a lot of times, not just to myself but to a lot of people in this game,' " Miley, 41, said. "Then I hung up."

Maybe 10 minutes later, the phone rang again.

Miley had waited for 24 years, played and managed in 2,359 games, to pick up the phone and hear news like Reds chief operating officer John Allen was about to deliver.

"It was really a no-brainer," Allen said of hiring Miley to replace Bob Boone.

"Obviously, he knows how to manage, having won over 1,100 games at the minor league level."

Miley is a Reds lifer, which made his hiring and debut Tuesday at Great American Ball Park all the more special to those who know and have been around him.

"Personally, I'm very, very happy to see Dave get a chance," Naehring said, "There's a big part of me that's pulling for him right now because I'd really like to see him do a part of what he's been able to accomplish in the minor leagues."

The Reds drafted Miley out of Chamberlain High in Tampa, Fla. in 1980 - ahead of future Reds star Eric Davis - and converted him to catcher in the minors.

Knee problems and a Reds farm system brimming with able-bodied catchers led to his retirement in 1986.

Two seasons later, at age 26, he was managing the Reds' Single-A affiliate in the South Atlantic League to a 79-60 record.

His .570 winning percentage in 1,956 games as a minor league manager speaks for itself. Only twice has a Miley-managed team finished with a losing record.

"Some of those players (in the Reds clubhouse) have gotten me to where I'm standing right now," said Miley, who managed the Reds' Triple-A affiliate from 1996. "Did I win all those games? No, I didn't. Did I lose all those games? Yeah, I probably lost a couple."

"Those guys have a lot to do with me having the success that allowed me this opportunity."

Miley inherits a team full of familiar faces which has been affected by injuries to key players and prone to poor play this season.

Nineteen of the 25 players on the Reds active roster have spent some amount of time playing under Miley in the minors. All have received some instruction in spring training and were addressed by him before Tuesday's loss to the Rockies.

"It looks like Miles is going to try and fit in, not make waves, not really try and change things," veteran shortstop Barry Larkin said. "He's just going to try to simplify things."

Dubbed a players manager with an animated personality, Miley brushes aside any title. He believes in playing hard, being on time, giving maximum effort and putting a player in a position to succeed.

"I'm not going to change what I've done in the past just because of where I am, in a major league uniform managing," Miley said. "I'm going to be the same guy I've always been."

Whether that translates into a permanent position after this season's audition remains to be seen.

"Hopefully a month and a half, two months from now, we're talking about spring training in 2004 (with me) as the big-league manager."