Selflessness key to Reds' first-half success

CINCINNATI -- If there's a central theme to the first half of the Reds' season, manager Bryan Price said on Sunday it's selflessness.

"I think coming into Spring Training, some of the players would have admitted that it was one of our Achilles' heels as a team, was playing a bit selfishly," Price said.

He added that much of what the Reds have been able to accomplish over their successful run of the past six weeks or so -- particularly with the increased capability to come back when down early in games -- stems from that unselfish attitude.

"When you see the effort by a run-producer, a middle-of-the-order guy, to advance a runner with a ground ball or maybe drive something through the right side, it's infectious," Price said. "With people that know baseball -- and I think everyone in our dugout has a pretty good understanding of what good situational baseball is -- you get a lot of praise when you sacrifice your personal statistics for the betterment of the team."

Price hopes to cultivate that selfless mindset beyond 2014.

"I like to think that it can be something that is maintained and increased and improved upon," said Price, "not just over the course of a season, but over the course of an era."