Cincinnati ? Dave Miley’s only season in the major leagues was his worst year in baseball.

He was the Cincinnati Reds bench coach in 1993, helping rookie manager Tony Perez ease into the job. At that point, the former minor league catcher seemed to be on the fast track as a coach.

Forty-four games into the season, Perez was fired by general manager Jim Bowden and Miley was demoted to bullpen coach. The next year, he was in the minors again.

“That was a long year, to be honest with you,” Miley said Tuesday. “That was just a tough year. It seems like a long, long time ago.”

Ten years later, he’s back. This time, he’s in charge.

One of the Reds’ most loyal employees finally got his chance to manage in the majors when Bowden and manager Bob Boone were fired Monday.

Miley, 41, will be interim manager for the rest of the season, trying to steady the team through uncertain times. The Reds don’t expect to hire another general manager until after the World Series, then chose a manager.

If the Reds do well for the rest of the season, Miley could be a candidate. He arrived in Cincinnati Tuesday with no promises and no pretensions. After spending his entire career with the Reds, first as a minor league catcher and then as a minor league coach or manager, he was just glad to arrive.

“With the time you spend down there, you wonder if it’s ever going to happen,” he said. “I spent all those years in the organization, and I always wanted the big club to win.”

His loyalty was a factor in his long-awaited promotion. Miley had chances to leave for other organizations, but stuck it out with the Reds, who chose him out of high school in the second round of the 1980 amateur draft.

“My claim to fame is I was drafted before Eric Davis,” he said.

Injuries to his right knee slowed him, and he took the Reds up on an offer to start coaching in the minors at age 24. He has spent the last seven years managing their Triple-A teams.

When he arrived and held a team meeting Tuesday, he looked around and recognized the majority of the players.

Cincinnati manager Dave Miley watches his team from the dugout. Miley managed his first major league game Tuesday at Cincinnati after being named interim manager Monday. Colorado beat the Reds, 5-3.