What is ticking with the 2012 Cincinnati Reds, other than all those Player of the Week watches Jay Bruce collects?

What makes the Reds special? What makes them a team that plays together and stays together?

It starts with the manager’s office, occupied by a man who commands so much respect that not one complaint emanates from the clubhouse because of Dusty Baker.

It is a total buy-in, a total all-in, a total acceptance of what the man does and what he expects.

It is pitcher Mat Latos, a problem child in San Diego, asking to pitch in relief in Game 1 when Johnny Cueto went down. Latos was scheduled for the more glamorous role of starting Game 3 in front of the home crowd in Cincinnati. Instead, he volunteered — almost demanded — that Baker let him pitch four innings of relief for the good of the team and personal gratification be damned.

It is Joey Votto accepting the fact that his surgically repaired knee weakens his power. Rather than stubbornly swing for the fences so he can be the star, he chokes up on the bat and punches the ball for singles to help the team, personal gratification be damned.

It is outfielder Chris Heisey accepting his role as a fourth outfielder, a pinch-hitter, when fans want him in the lineup ahead of Drew Stubbs. He smiles and accepts his less glamorous role for the betterment of the team rather than sulk over not being able to prove his worth as a starter.

It is Aroldis Chapman, promised a role as a starting pitcher, something he prefers, accepting the necessity of going to the bullpen, even though he was the best starter the Reds had during spring training. Instead, for the betterment of all concerned, he accepted his assignment in the bullpen and became one of baseball’s best closers.

It is Todd Frazier, sacrificing a chance to win Rookie of the Year, accepting a seat in the dugout to await a turn and an assignment, for the betterment of the team. Instead of creating a disturbance, he became a clubhouse leader and top spokesman for the team concept, rare in a rookie.

It is Sam LeCure, another who dreams of a role as a starting pitcher, accepting the anonymity of middle relief, a thankless job that generates little media attention except for those rare occasions he fails.

It is Brandon Phillips, a guy who would prefer one spot in the batting order, batting wherever the team wanted. He does not like batting clean-up, but he did it without a single frown or word of despair when it was needed, even though he does not fit the prototype.

It is Drew Stubbs, batting leadoff without success and listening to boos, never once disparaging the fans for the insults, then accepting without clamor his movement around the batting order from first to second to sixth to seventh to eighth and saying only, “Whatever the team needs.”

It is Jonathan Broxton, who accumulated 23 saves in the first half of the season with the Kansas City Royals as a closer after a successful run as a dominating closer with the Los Angeles Dodgers, coming to the Reds in July and accepting a new role, that of Chapman’s set-up man, putting his ego under his arm and doing the best job possible.

All this and much more has enabled the Reds to overcome the kind of adversity that would weaken a less-resolute team’s knees. Instead of taking the woe-is-me approach, the Reds pulled up their red socks, jutted out their chins, and won 97 games and buried the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central.

And it is why they now stand one game from sweeping the San Francisco Giants in the NLDS, one small step from advancing to the National League Championship Series.

It is because egos are left in the parking lot and not one player in the clubhouse owns the attitude of, “I’m better than you are,” except when they take the field and believe, as a whole, “Our team is better than your team.”

When are the Reds' playoff games?