Fanduel Sports Network analyst Chris Welsh spoke before the start of the Cincinnati Reds‘ series and regular-season finale against the Milwaukee Brewers about what Reds manager Terry Francona did to emphasize to his team the important of winning Game No. 162 to earn the final National League wild-card spot.
“There was a question of Terry Francona: ‘Are you gonna have a meeting before the game?'” Welsh said during the broadcast. “And he said, ‘No, I’ll just make those guys nervous.’ What he did, however, was he got with one of his coaches, and they kinda got into a shouting match, so that it would carry over into the rest of the clubhouse and kinda break any of the tension that may be there. He’s a master psychologist, obviously. He knows what he’s doing with his ballclub. And they trust him. And I think that’s a very important thing.”
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It’s been 15 years to the day since former Reds outfielder Jay Bruce clinched a division title with his walk-off home run against the Houston Astros.
If the Reds win or the New York Mets lose, the Reds would be scheduled to play their first postseason game Tuesday night in Los Angeles against the Dodgers.
Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Terry Francona staged Reds-Brewers pregame shouting match