By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Chief operating officer John Allen will talk to Tim Purpura about the Reds' general manager job today.

Purpura, an assistant general manager with the Houston Astros, will be the fourth candidate to interview.

Expos general manager Omar Minaya, Minnesota assistant Wayne Krivsky and Detroit assistant Al Avila have interviewed.

Reds chief operating officer John Allen has said he is down to eight finalists. Ned Colletti, assistant GM for the San Francisco Giants, is believed to be one of the finalists.

Two assistant GMs mentioned as possible finalists - Philadelphia's Mike Arbuckle and Toronto's Tony LaCava - have not been contacted by the Reds. But Allen said not all the finalists have been contacted.

Purpura's title in Houston is assistant general manager/player development. He is in his 10th year with the Astros. He also worked in Anaheim and San Diego.

JUST A FEELING: Sean Casey had a feeling. It wasn't based on inside knowledge, but a hunch.

He wouldn't even say good-bye to Barry Larkin.

It all worked out when the Reds announced shortly after Sunday's season finale against Montreal that Larkin had agreed to one-year contact for 2004. "I'm so happy," Casey said. "This is huge for the team. It's so important to have Lark back. We have some young guys who can learn from him. You need leaders."

MORE CASEY: Casey was out of the lineup Sunday. But he did pinch-hit. The announcement of his name got a huge roar. Casey delivered a single into right.

Casey finished the year at .293 and led the club in hits (168), RBI (80), runs (71) and triples (3).

Adam Dunn led the club in homers (27). Jason LaRue led with 23 doubles. The long-departed Aaron Boone led the club with 15 stolen bases.

LAST LOSS: The Reds lost the season finale 2-1 to Montreal Sunday.

The Reds' lone run came on Dernell Stenson's home run in the seventh. Scott Randall allowed a two-run double to Brian Schneider in the second.

ATTENDANCE MATTERS: The season finale Sunday against the Expos drew 32,322 fans.

The season total for 81 dates was 2,355,259, or an average of 29,077. That was ninth best in club history, but disappointing for the first year in a new stadium. The Reds drew 2,577351 in 2000.

Record year

The Reds set a lot of records this season, many of them dubious marks:

• Players used: 57

• Pitchers used: 30

• Starting pitchers used: 17

• Home runs allowed: 209

• Strikeout by batters: 1,326

• Batters hit by pitch: 79

• Runs allowed: 886

• Earned runs allowed: 818

• Highest team ERA: 5.09

Montreal	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
OCabrera ss	2	0	0	0	0	0	.297
Carroll ss	2	0	0	0	0	0	.260
Wilkerson cf-rf	4	0	2	0	0	1	.268
Zeile 3b	2	0	0	0	0	0	.257
Vitiello 1b	2	0	0	0	0	1	.342
VGuerrero rf	1	1	1	0	1	0	.330
1-EnChavez pr-cf	2	0	1	0	0	0	.251
Calloway lf	4	1	1	0	0	0	.238
Schneider c	4	0	1	2	0	2	.230
EGuzman 1b-3b	3	0	0	0	0	0	.240
HMateo 2b	3	0	0	0	0	1	.240
Vargas p	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Tucker p	1	0	0	0	0	1	.263
Almonte p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
ScStewart p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
c-Macias ph	1	0	0	0	0	1	.239
Ayala p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Biddle p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	32	2	6	2	1	7

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Freel cf	4	0	1	0	0	0	.285
Olmedo ss	4	0	0	0	0	1	.239
DJimenez 2b	4	0	1	0	0	0	.290
Branyan 1b	4	0	0	0	0	2	.216
LaRue c	3	0	0	0	1	1	.230
Stenson lf	4	1	2	1	0	0	.247
WPena rf	3	0	0	0	1	2	.218
Hummel 3b	4	0	1	0	0	1	.226
Randall p	1	0	0	0	0	0	.250
Valent ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.214
PNorton p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Casey ph	0	0	0	0	1	0	.291
Cerros p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Serafini p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	32	1	5	1	3	7

Montreal	020	000	000	-2	6	0
Cincinnati	000	000	100	-1	5	1

E-Hummel (5). LOB-Montreal 4, Cincinnati 7. 2B-Schneider (26). HR-Stenson (3), off Almonte. RBIs-Schneider 2 (46), Stenson (13).

DP-Cin 2 (Branyan), (Branyan and Olmedo).

Montreal	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Vargas	3	1	0	0	1	2	50	4.34
Tucker W, 2-3	2	2	0	0	1	2	37	4.72
Almonte H, 3	1 2/3	2	1	1	1	1	31	6.83
ScStewart H, 13	1/3	0	0	0	0	0	2	3.98
Ayala H, 19	1	0	0	0	0	1	11	2.92
Biddle S, 34	1	0	0	0	0	1	10	4.65

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Randall L, 2-5	5	5	2	2	1	4	62	6.51
PNorton	2	0	0	0	0	2	30	3.00
Cerros	1	0	0	0	0	1	22	4.85
Serafini	1	1	0	0	0	0	10	5.40

Cerros pitched to 1 batter in the 9th.

Inherited runners-scored-ScStewart 2-0, Serafini 1-0.

Umpires-Home, Paul Nauert; First, Gerry Davis; Second, Ed Rapuano; Third, Mark Carlson.

T-2:26. A-32,322 (42,263).