Lou Piniella can believe that it has been 20 years since he took the Reds from wire-to-wire to win the World Championship in a sweep of the Oakland Athletics.
"I can believe its been 20 years, I really can. It was awhile back. It was a lot of fun," Piniella said before the Cubs manager led his current team against the Reds.
"We had good starting pitching. We had a really nice bullpen. We had very professional players on the field. It was a total team effort. It was a very athletic team."
The Reds won the first nine games after a late start of the season, caused by a work stoppage. Cincinnati spent 178 calendar days in first place.
"We played a very exciting post season against Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh had a good baseball team. Then on to Oakland and we swept Oakland," Piniella said.
"We got after it pretty good. I remember I let the guys play. We built up a good lead and I was able to rest the team all summer long. Nobody really made a big charge at us. We had a rested team for post season."
The Reds museum has a tribute to the team at the Museum adjacent to Great American Ball Park.
"The next time we come into town, I'll have to go enjoy it," Piniella said.
Cincinnati Sports News and Commentary
About Me
- Gary Schatz
- I am a freelance writer. I've covered the Cincinnati Reds, Bengals and others since 1992. I have a background in sales as well. I've sold consumer electronics, advertising and consumer package goods for companies ranging from the now defunct Circuit City to Procter&Gamble. I have worked as a stats operator for Xavier University, the University of Cincinnati, the College of Mount St. Joe and Colerain High School.
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