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Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy has retired from the Dayton Daily News after covering the Cincinnati Reds for 37 years. Hal's blog, though, will continue to be a must-read for Reds fans. He'll share his thoughts on the team this season and will file updates from Great American Ball Park. You also can catch Hal in print every Sunday in his popular Ask Hal columnHome > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2009 > February
February 2009
Alonso: early to arrive, anxious to learn
If you don’t like Yonder Alonso, you don’t like M&Ms. Or Oreos.
As the No. 1 draft choice last June by the Cincinnati Reds, a kid with a major-league contract, he could be a heavy ego load.
Far from it.
At dawn’s early light, before the sun peeks over Ed Smith Stadium, Alonso walks into the clubhouse, usually around 6:30, the first player there, every morning.
“I want them to know how serious I am, how much I want to be part of this,” said Alonso.
Then he slips into his uniform and heads for a back field for extra infield practice or batting practice.
Instead of swaggering around as if he owns the place, Alonso watches and learns and asks — especially Joey Votto and Jay Bruce.
“They’ve been through this spring training process a few times and it isn’t their first rodeo,” he said.
Alonso knows he is destined for the minor-league camp when cuts begin, but he savors every moment of dressing with and playing with the big boys.
“This is huge, man, and any kid dreams of doing something like this. Coming from where I come from (Havana, Cuba), not too many get this chance. Every day I soak it up and every day I thank God for being here.”
His first game action was a nightmare — an error at first base that led to five runs and 0 for 2 at the plate with a strikeout.
Alonso laughs about it and says, “It is crazy to say, but almost all my first games are shoddy.”
In high school he struck out three times in his first game. In college at Miami he came up three times with the bases loaded and all three times hit checked-swing grounders.
“They were booing me, but it all came out pretty good at the end,” he said.
He was feeling low after his error this week, but his spirits lifted when manager Dusty Baker called him aside to tell him about his first exhibition game — a throwing error from left field that crashed 50 feet up on the backstop.
“I was done, really sad, but when he told me that I was relieved,” said Alonso. “That really pumped me up.”
Said Baker, ‘I know how bad this kid wants it. And he’ll get it.”
A GAME SATURDAY night against the Red Sox was the last before six Reds report to their World Baseball Classic teams — Edinson Volquez, Johnny Cueto, Joey Votto, Willy Taveras, Ramon Hernandez, Jerry Hairston Jr.
“I’ll be checking updates on them every day and just hope they don’t end up on an injury report,” said Baker. “They all came to camp in good shape and I expect them to stay in shape. I hope they all get enough work, playing time and get to pitch.”
THE LATINOS on the Reds are playfully chiding Hairston for playing for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic.
“You don’t even speak Spanish,” said Francisco Cordero. “You’ll be the only gringo on the team.”
THERE HAS BEEN talk about moving 21-year-old prospect Juan Francisco from third base to outfield or first base. After watching him for little more than a week, former major-league third baseman David Bell, manager of the Reds Class AA Hickory team, says he should stay right where he is. “He has really good actions at third base, has the arm strength to play there and has good hands,” said Bell. “Good hands comes from good footwork and he has that, too. As footwork improves, your hands get softer.” Faulty footwork is what plagues current third baseman Edwin Encarnacion.
“ALL IS KNOW is she has a whole bunch of letters behind her name.” — Manager Dusty Baker, talking about Michelle Macedonia, a nutritionist hired by the Reds who spoke to the team Saturday morning about eating habits and nutrition.
(Check out the post below this one for a report on the Red Sox annihilating the Reds Saturday night)
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TweetFrom the (sniff) beach to Fort Myers (sniff)
Almost didn’t make this hour-and-a-half ride south to Fort Myers Saturday for a night game. Was it worth it? Boston 16, Cincinnati 5.
For the last couple of days, I’ve had this terrible cold with the sneezes and my nose was dripping like the tap at an Irish bar on St. Patrick’s Day. So I spent two hours on the beach this morning and didn’t sneeze once nor did my nose drip.
Beach therapy, can’t beat it.
So I made the trip only to encounter fans leaving the City of Palms Park with cars exiting the parking lots. What? Did we miss the game? Was it a day game?
No, the Red Sox scheduled a split-squad game and they played Northeastern University in the day game. Some game. Red Sox 14, Northeastern 0.
Had to be careful when I sat down in a chair in manager Dusty Baker’s office. Last year when I sat down, the chair collapsed and I was sprawled on the floor. Not skipping a beat, Baker said, “They were probably saving that chair for the Yankees.”
This is the last game the Reds will play before six of their regulars depart for the World Baseball Classic - Edinson Volquez, Johnny Cueto, Joey Votto, Jerry Hairston, Jr., Willy Taveras and Ramon Hernandez.
WONDER IF the Sarasota politicians returned the $10 million they were to receive from the State of Florida to renovate Ed Smith Stadium and the City of Sarasota Sports Complex to keep the Reds in town. The Red Sox and Orioles both checked into possibly relocating in Sarasota, but fled back to Fort Myers and Fort Lauderdale.
NICK MASSET, a fifth starter candidate who has impressed all spring, had a first inning that had bullpen written all over it.
Julio Lugo singled, Brad Wilkerson groui’ Ortiz walked on a full count to load the bases.
J.D. Drew, on a full count, rocketed one toward right, normally a two-run single, but seclnd baseman Danny Richar made a diving stop and got one out at second base as a run scored. Jason Bay, whom the Reds couldn’t get out when he played for the Pirates, singled for another Red Sox run.
Jason Varitek roped a double up the left-center gap for two more runs and a 4-0 Bosox lead, bringing pitching coach Dick Pole to the mound to say something like, “You might want to mix in an out at this point.”
Wasn’t over. Masset hit a batter and Nick Green singled to refill the bases and a Boston writer in the front row said, “Oh, no, just like Northeastern again (Bosox 14, Northeaster 0, earlier in the day).”
Finally it ended on a double play ground ball - 4-0 after one. And that was all for Masset. Long ride, short stay on the mound - 31 pitches, 18 strikes, four runs (three earned), four hits, one walk, one hit batter, one partridge in a pear tree.
Maybe it will be worse than Bosox 14, Northeastern 0.
Robert Manuel took Masset’s place in the second and quickly gave up a single to Lugo and a two-run home run to Brad Wilkerson, Boston’s first home run this spring.
That made it 6-0 and I told Mark Sheldon of MLB.com, who ferries me around in his red rented MItsubishi, “Go warm up the car, pal.”
Big Papi walked, Drew singled and Bay walked and I was wishing I had stayed on the beach. My nose wasn’t running, but there were nosebleeds all over the field left by Reds pitchers.
Manuel finally recorded an out, a fly to left by Varitek, but it scored a run to make it 7-0. Chris Carter (no, not the former Middletown-Ohio State-Minnesota Vikings) ripped a single to left, reloading the bases.
Green chopped an infield single to third - 8-0, bases still full. Gil Velaquez singled - 9-0, bases still loaded. New pitcher. Yikes. When the second ended, Manuel had retired one batter and given up six runs and six hits and it was 10-0.
Enough, enough. No mas, no mas.
Just for the record, the Red Sox won, 16-5. Joey Votto had two hits, Drew Stubbs had a two-run pinch-hit double and nobody got hurt.
“A rough day,” said manager Dusty Baker in gross understatement. “It’s disappointing, but it’s why we have spring training. To find things out.
“Masset have been overamped,” he added. “He was throwing the ball hard. He’ll be better next time.”
Better be.
(Check out my earlier post on Yonder Alonso and some Reds shorts and briefs (no bikinis).
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TweetArroyo was all thumbs (texting)
Bronson Arroyo spent at least two hours standing outside in the sun, near the Cincinnati Reds offices, wearing civvies and scrolling through his cellphone.
“Do it about once a week,” he said. “I’m so busy doing stuff around here that I can’t answer so everybody leaves me a text or a voicemail. I answer ‘em all, but I do it like once a week.
“Some players are real jerks and don’t answer their messages, but I try to answer ‘em all,” he said.
In between thumbing texts and answering voicemails, Arroyo said, “I can’t wait to get on the mound today. Feels like it has been a year-and-a-half since I pitched. I know we’ve been throwing on the back fields, but that’s not like facing hitters on the other team. And, for some reason, I feel so skinny.”
In the first inning, it was as if Arroyo sent texts to Philadelphia’s Sane Victorinio and Raul Ibanez to tell them what pitches were coming. Both doubled for a run as Arroyo appeared to be lobbing the ball.
He was. He said he just tries to throw strikes in the first inning, get a feel for things. He’d rather give up hits than walk people and said, “No matter how established you are you don’t want to go out there and walk people. Shane Victroino (Philadelphia’s leadoff hitter) smoked that double off me, but I was happy that it was a good pitch.”
He was more Arroyo-like in the second inning, going 1-2-3.
ARROYO’S POINT was well-proved by Philadelphia starter Andrew Carpenter, a rookie. He didn’t retire a batter at all, not one. He walked three, gave up three hits and four runs. He faced six hitters and all reached base. That spawned the down home hlumor of Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel, who said, “What did he do wrong? He didn’t get anybody out, that’s what he did wrong.”
From the four-run first, the Reds built it into a 10-3 victory.
Joey Votto had a run-scoring single, Juan Francisco, playing third base for Edwin Encarnacion, banged a two-run double to left (the opposite way) and Jonny Gomes drilled a two-run double. Gomes later doubled again.
WILLY TAVERAS walked and stole second in the first inning, his first theft of the spring. But since this one doesn’t count on his stats, he still has 100 to go to reach his goal for 2009. Taveras also dropped a bunt for a hit in the fourth inning.
Of Francisco’s two hits, manager Dusty Baker said, “That young man can hit.”
The game ended with left fielder Darnell McDonald making a diving, belly-flopping catch.
“Good defense again, especially the one to end the game,” said Baker. “We’re playing good defense every game and that’s a great sign this early.”
NICK MASSET starts for the Reds tonight at 7:05 in a game at Fort Myers against the Boston Red Sox. Aaron Harang pitches against the New York Yankees in Sarasota Sunday afternoon in front of an expected full house of Yankee fans, most wondering if Alex Rodriguez will make the trip across the Sunshine Skyway.
The guess here? No.
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TweetJuan Francisco: A bright, bright future
The Cincinnati Reds clubhouse was closed to the media at 8:30 this morning so that Players Association Executive Director Donald Fehr could talk to them, something about, “Don’t get caught using steroids.”
Before the doors were closed, Fehr was heard telling an associate, “When I write a book I’m going to point out that a good team is something other than a collection of good players.”
Profound. Very profound. I’d love to see what kind of team he would put together. For sure, it was have a higher payroll than the Yankees.
THE REDS host the World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies this afternoon and manager Dusty Baker gave Brandon Phillips, Jay Bruce and Edwin Encarnacion a day off. It makes sense because those three will play a night game Saturday in Fort Myers against the Boston Red Sox, “Then we come back and play a day game on Sunday (against the New York Yankees),” said Baker.
The Phillies didn’t bring their ‘A’ team to Sarasota. In fact, it was barely a ‘B’ team. No Ryan Howard, No Jimmy Rollins. No Chase Utley. And former Reds pitcher Gary Majewski, trying to make the Phillies, was not on the trip - cutting down the chances of one very long inning.
With Encarnacion out of the lineup, fans were presented the chance to see Juan Francisco at third base. Just two years ago, the 6-2, 180-pound Dominican hit 25 homers and drove in 90 runs for the Class A Dayton Dragons in 135 games. Last year he hit 23 homers and drove in 92 runs in 127 games for Class A Sarasota.
During winter ball in the Dominican this year, he hit 12 home runs for Cibao, a Dominican Winter League record for lefthanded hitters.
“He can hit,” Baker said of Francisco. “He is what you want young hitters to be. He is aggressive. You want a young hitter you can tone down rather than have to tone up. You want guys to be selective, you want guys to go deep in the count. But that comes with experience. But you want to see young hitters be aggressive.”
Francisco’s aggression has led to 284 strikeouts the last two years and Baker said, “That’s what I mean about toning something down. You can turn that flame down. That’s easier than turning a flame up.”
Baker said Francisco’s winter ball numbers carry credence.
“I put big stock in them,” said Baker. “Anybody who has played winter ball knows. It’s more serious baseball for guys in that country than ours is. You have people into it big-time, gambling on games (by fans). That’s how it is, therefore it puts pressure on you. You better play good or you’re going to hear from somebody up there.”
Tossed bottles and pulled guns are part of the winter league fabric.
“Dominican baseball is as good as there is in winter ball and Francisco is batted cleanup on his team, a kid (21) just out of ‘A’ ball,” Baker added. “And those parks down there are big. I put a lot of stock in that.”
Francisco is a third baseman by trade, but there is chatter about moving him to the outfield or first base.
“He has a great arm,” said Baker. “There is a good athlete in that young oversized body right now. He’ll tone up. He’s working hard. Not everybody is born skinny. Everybody wants him to be thinner, but Albert Pujols wasn’t skinny when he started, either.”
Francisco has the quick hands of a third baseman, but as Baker says, “I’m sure he can play the outfield and can play first base, too. It depends on what the organization needs. I mean it’s a matter of stockpiling.
“You got Todd Frazier at short and Yonder Alonzo at first and Frazier also at third and Chris Valaika at short. Eventually they are all going to be playing together so you have to find where they can play according to body type, arm, speed, athleticism. We have to make the right decisions on where we put these kids,” Baker added.
BAKER DISPLAYED nothing but sympathly for first baseman Yonder Alonso and his mishap Thursday. The team’s No. 1 draft pick last June made his debut in an exhibition game against the Twins. The first ball hit to him ricocheted off his glove with two outs and the bases loaded.
A run scored on the error then the next batter hit a grand slam home run.
“A little too aggressive,” said Baker. “He needs to turn the flame down a little. But I remember my first play in a spring exhibition game for the Braves. They put me in left field and I’d never played there. I had a ball hit to me and a guy was trying to score from second. I thought, ‘I got this guy,’ but my throw went 50 feet up the backstop screen. I’m not kidding. Fifty feet up the screen.”
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TweetWonder where the people are?
Why it doesn’t pay to go goofy-gaga over one exhibition game - even if it was the Cincinnati Reds beating the American League champion Tampa Bay Rays Wednesday, 7-0, holding the Rays to four hits.
The very next day, the Reds played their home exhibition opener against the Minnesota Twins and had their helmets handed to them, 10-4.
Francisco Cordero gave up two runs and four hits in one inning. Arthur Rhodes gave up two runs, three hits and a walk in one innings. First baseman Yonder Alonso booted a two-out squibber of a grounder, then Ramon Ramirez gave up a grand slam to somebody named Brock Peterson.
It was a forgettable day for the Reds’ No. 1 draft pick last June. Besides the error (that cost the team five runs), he was 0 for 2 with a strikeout and failed to dig a couple of throws out of the dirt.
Now how many of you still want Joey Votto moved to left field to make room for Alonso aft first base? I know, I know. One game. Let’s not go goofy-gaga.
It was Yonder’s first major-league game and manager Dusty Baker gave him a pass. “He is just a kid and he is working hard on his defense. He comes in early in the morning every day and works on it. He is getting better. He just was a little out of control on the grounder, a little too aggressive.”
THE ONLY POSITIVE news was three scoreless innings (two hits) by pitcher Micah Owings, his first competition since last mid-July when the Arizona Diamondbacks shut him down with a sore shoulder, then traded him to the Reds for Adam Dunn.
BEST NEWS of the spring so far: Rita Butcher, mother to Reds Media Relations Director Rob Butcher, brought her homemade bean soup and cornbread to the complext today. Even though I already had partaken of a rather large Italian lunch, I had the bean soup.
The next best news will be when she brings her homemade Plant City strawberry pie.
BE IT THE economy or the fact the Reds are fleeing town after this spring, the stands were barely half full Thursday for the home opener. And normally the mayor gives a welcoming speech on Opening Day, but she didn’t appear this year. She was one of the politicians against doing what it took to keep the Reds in Sarasota.
Here’s a guarantee, though. When the Yankees and Red Sox come to Ed Smith, the joint will be jammed, with most of the fans rooting for the Yankees and Red Sox.
LOVE WHAT broadcaster Marty Brennaman calls this park: “Tired old Ed Smith Stadium.” It is tired but it isn’t that old - only 20 years. But it looks 100.
WONDER WHEN leadoff hitter Willy Taveras is going to put down a bunt? Hasn’t tried it yet in an intrasquad game and two exhibition and through the first at-bat of the second exhibiton game. Oops. No sooner wrote this than Taveras tried to bunt his way on in the fourth inning Thursday against the Twins and was thrown out.
MAKING MY maiden voyage of the spring to the puppy emporium tonight - the Sarasota Kennel Club - for greyhound racing. There goes the meal money. Wish I could go on Friday afternoons when they have 50-cent hot dogs, 50-cent soft drinks and 50-cent beer, although I sometimes wonder if I have in the past bet on one of the hot dogs I’d eat.
ASKED OUTFIELDER Laynce Nix today, “Why the ‘y’ in Laynce?
“Wish I had a good answer,” he said. “But I don’t. My dad is named Laynce. My brother who plays for the White Sox in Jayson. I have a sister named Lyndsey.”
Guess he doesn’t know ‘y?’
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TweetThe new, improved Homer Bailey
If you blinked, you missed it. Even if you didn’t blink you might have missed it. It happened so fast, a now-you-see-him and now-you-don’t production.
Homer Bailey pitched one inning Wednesday in Port Charlotte against the American League champion Tampa Bay Rays. His day was eight pitches - eight blinks - and he went 1-2-3.
Then he went to the bullpen and threw 25 more.
He only pitched one inning because manager Dusty Baker wanted to make certain Edinson Volquez and Johnny Cueto each pitched three, their only appearance for the Reds until they get back from the World Baseball Classic, whenever that may be. Bailey starts a game Monday in Bradenton against the Pirates.
The Reds beat the Rays, 7-0, and Tampa Bay had only four hits, after which Baker said, “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a shutout in the first exhibition game.”
Of Bailey, Baker said, “If he had all his stuff together, he’d be up here right now. And not only putting it together, but being consistent. He was focused yesterday as well as I’ve seen. That was a good tuneup for his start.”
Bailey smiled when asked about his eight-pitch day and said, “Since there were eight pitches, I can tell you exactly what each pitch was. Anything past nine, I’m done.
“The first batter was three fastballs for strikes - the third one was fouled off,” he said. “I was trying to elevate each pitch but I didn’t get the third one high enough. Then it was a slider for a strikeout. The next one was two fastballs and a curve (three-pitch strikeout). The third batter was a first-pitch ground ball.”
Good thing Bailey isn’t paid by the pitch.
It looked as if Baileys velocity was better than last year, but he isn’t certain about that.
“Ahhhh, not that I necessarily remember, but it wasn’t like I was thinking about it, either,” he said.
I don’t know if it is maturation, he is only 23, or if somebody got to him, but Bailey’s personality this spring is a major turnaround, a sheer delight. He is polite, cooperative, humorous and smiling. I know some of you don’t give two rosin bags and a broken bat for how a player conducts himself with writers, but this observation includes his inner-action with teammates and coaches.
On Thursday morning, his custom cowboy boots in his locker, Bailey awaited a team meeting by reading a Larry McMurtry book, Leaving Cheyenne, and is reading a book about the Lewis & Clark expedition back at his condo.
“I like to read, usually have a couple of books at a time going,” he said.
And it appears, so far, he is reading hitters, too.
BAKER BELIEVES the way the Reds beat the Rays, 7-0, is the way they will win a lot of games in 2009.
“When you get good pitching, when you do score, it’s huge,” he said. “It was 0-0, a good game in the fifth, then, ‘BAM,’ we put a five-spot on them, thanks to Jerry Hairston Jr.’s grand slam, then everybody feels good.
“Those are the kinds of games, it appears to me, we might be playing a lot of this year,” he added. “That’s the kind of team we’ve built. We showed good speed and very good defense again. I mean, it was huge, a big play, in the first inning when Chris Dickerson ran that ball down the (left field) line. If he doesn’t catch it, it’s 2-0 and who knows how many more they might get.
“That’s what we’re trying to stress, the importance of little things - not just hits, RBIs, stolen bases and the obvious little things that create for you or creates a bad situation for the other team.”
LITTLE BALL is fine, but a mixture is needed and so far it has presented itself. In Tuesday’s intrasquad games, two home runs (a three-run shot by Joey Vott) produced five of the winning team’s seven runs. Against the Rays, six of the seven runs came on homers - a grand slam by Hairston and a two-run blast by Adam Rosales.
“I’ll take the home run in a minute,” said Baker. “I equate it to basketball. You can’t live by the three-point shot. You need layups, too. You need defense and rebounding. You can’t win one way. Remember the old high-scoring Denver Nuggets?”
He was referring to an NBA team that would score 135 to 150 points a game - and lose.
And of his emphasis on small ball, Baker said, “It’s not like it is anything new. Maybe around here it is, but not for me. This is all based on the personnel we have, the makeup of the team. And after eight years of losing around here you have to try something different, don’t you?”
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TweetVolqeuz can always change it up
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — When his fastball is vamanos, Edinson Volquez smiles and calls on Old Reliable, the changeup.
While his fastball sometimes takes a side trip, the changeup is his trusty sidekick. And it was with him Wednesday as the Cincinnati Reds bull-whipped the Tampa Bay Raysm 7-0 at Charlotte County Sports Complex.
Volquez pitched three scoreless innings against the American League champions and gave up two hits and one walk.
Good numbers, but Volquez wants a more productive fastball.
His only trouble was in the third inning when the Rays put two on with two outs.
“I threw two fastballs to Evan Longoria, both for balls (2-and-0), then threw three changeups and struck him out,” said Volquez.
Johnny Cueto followed Volquez with three scoreless, hitless (one walk) innings and Homer Bailey pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts.
“Volquez wasn’t sharp, just sharp enough,” said manager Dusty Baker. “Cueto and Bailey were REAL sharp.”
Jerry Hairston Jr., playing shortstop during the absence of Alex Gonzalez, crashed a grand slam home run in the fifth inning and Adam Rosales ripped a two-run homer in the ninth.
“I was a little bit wild, but I was able to make the adjustment and make my pitches,” said Volquez, making his only appearance for the Reds before reporting March 1 to the Dominican Republic team for the World Baseball Classic.
“I was in trouble mostly with my fastball, it was running a little bit, but I went back to my changeup,” he said.
Said Baker, “That’s Volquez. Get in trouble, get out. And when you get good pitching like we got, suddenly you get a big inning and you’re in business.”
Because he won 17 games last year and proved himself, Volquez isn’t concerned about abandoning the Reds for a while.
“I showed everybody today I’m ready to go,” he said. “More easy now because I don’t have to make the team. I think I got a spot. I don’t have to worry about it.”
Baker’s first-game lineup sniffed suspiciously like something close to Opening Day on the regular season — minus Gonzalez.
The lineup: CF Willy Taveras, SS Hairston, 1B Joey Votto, 2B Brandon Phillips, RF Jay Bruce, 3B Edwin Encarnacion, LF Chris Dickerson, C Ramon Hernandez.
“I’ll only be able to use this lineup until Taveras, Hairston, Votto and Hernandez leave (for the World Baseball Classic),” said Baker. “In reality, this lineup is a four-day lineup until they leave (March 1).
“I’m trying to get them as much time before they leave as I can and I’ll try to increase their innings played quicker than I normally would,” Baker added. “They need to get their legs and endurance underneath them to be prepared for the World Baseball Classic.”
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TweetVolquez, Cueto Hairston start fast
Quick update on the Cincinnati Reds first exhibition game against the American League champion Tampa Bay Rays in Port Charlotte:
They led the Rays, 7-0 after batting in the ninth, and had 14 hits.
Edinson Volquez pitched three scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk. He was a bit off on his fastball, a little wild, but each time he got in trouble he resorted to his trusty weapon, the change-up, and sneaked out of it.
He had a 2-0 on count in the third on Evan Longoria, two fastballs, with two on and two outs, then went to three straight changeups and struck him out.
Jerry Hairston Jr., starting at shortstop for Alex Gonzalez, hit a grand slam home run in the fifth inning off lefthanded sidearmer Randy Choate.
Johnny Cueto followed Volquez with three scoreless, HITLESS innings, walking one. Homer Bailey pitched one perfect inning and struck out two.
Adam Rosales clubbed a two-run homer in the ninth after Daryle Ward singled. Rosales sprints the bases on walks and homers even faster than Pete Rose once did and after his homer he almost caught Ward between third and home on his home run sprint. Not trot, sprint.
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TweetThe every day lineup? Well, almost
The Charlotte County Sports Complex isn’t like an elderly painted lady. They fixed this place up so that it almost looks reborn. They just didn’t put some paint here and a few bricks there. They did it right.
The Tampa Bay Rays and Charlotte County put $26 million into the place that has been empty for seven years. When the Texas Rangers abandoned it, the place was one step above a toxic waste dump. Now it is state-of-the-art, a baseball mansion.
It is so different that even though I was here seven years ago I was turned around and lost about every 10 steps Wednesday when the Cincinnati Reds came here to help inaugurate the place with the Rays.
And to think - with a little forethought and vision, the City of Sarasota and Sarasota County could have done the same thing at Ed Smith Stadium for the Reds and the Reds would be there for the next 30 years.
Instead, the Reds leave for Arizona (as the Rangers did four years ago) next year, leaving Ed Smithy and its shabbiness and smelliness to sit idle, probably for several years.
MANAGER DUSTY BAKER put what looks closely like an Opening Day lineup on the field for the exhibition opener against the Rays Wednesday, something highly unusual this early in spring.
The only player missing was shortstop Alex Gonzalez, carefully nursing and rehabbing his surgically repaired knee.
The lineup: CF Willy Taveras, SS Jerry Hairston Jr., 1B Joey Votto, 2B Brandon Phillips, RF Jay Bruce, 3B Edwin Encarnacion, LF Chris Dickerson, C Ramon Hernandez. They used a DH and Jonny Gomes performed that duty. Edinson Volquez was the starting pitcher.
“I’ll be only be able to use this lineup until Taveras, Hairston, Votto and Hernandez leave (for the World Baseball Classic),” said Baker. “In reality, this lineup is a four-day lineup until they leave (March 1).
“I’m trying to get them as much time before they leave as I can and I’ll try to increase their innings played quicker than I normally would,” Baker added. “They need to get their legs and endurance underneath them to be prepared to go seven or nine innings - or whatever they’ll play in the World.
“If you don’t do that, well, basically they’d be going from the winter time to playing nine innings and it doesn’t work like that,” he said. “They’ll play five innings today, then six or seven their last three games.”
An April lineup?
“Pretty close,” said Baker. “Depends on who we’re facing and depends, well, on Opening Day we’ll face (Mets lefthander) Johan Santana, so it might be a little different.”
HOW ABOUT GONZALEZ? Baker said even the makeup of the roster depends on the health and well-being of Gonzalez.
“He’s doing good and he might DH a few games, maybe in a week, just to see,” said Baker. “He is one guy who benefits from the extended time (an extra week) we’re down here this year. That extra week could be big for him.”
CINCINNATI NATIVE and one-time parti-time Reds outfielder Skeeter Barnes is a base-running and outfield instructor for the Rays and was outside the Reds clubhouse Wednesday, waiting to talk to former teammates Eric Davis.
Back in my tennis-playing days, when I played every day on the road, Paul O’Neill had seen me play and he had seen Barnes play tennis. He bet Barnes that not only could he not beat me, he wouldn’t get more than a game off me in three sets.
We set up a match at Echo Park in Los Angeles, courts without wind screens and right next to Sunset Blvd. I beat him, 6-0, 6-1 and 6-0. O’Neill won his bet and Barnes said, “They didn’t have screens and car headlights kept getting in my eyes.” Said O’Neill, “How come they didn’t get in Hal’s eyes?”
Thanks, Paul.
And please forgive any typos today. Not only is the glare in the pressbox blinding, but halfway through typing this blog I lost the internet connection and it wiped out everything I wrote. Started over, wrote quickly, and posted quickly.
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TweetVotto off-and-running early
SARASOTA, Fla. — Joey Votto usually is semi-ambulatory during spring training and those who haven’t peeked at the back of his baseball card wonder, “Can this guy hit at all?”
Well, it is 2009 and Votto showed on Day One under game conditions, “It’s a new year and it’s a new me.”
Votto saw two pitches Tuesday in an afternoon workout that evolved into an intrasquad game.
Pitch One — run-scoring double.
Pitch Two — three-run home ru
Vott’s white-pants Home team scored a 7-3 five-inning victory over the gray-pants Visiting team.
Aaron Harang pitched the top of the first, a 1-2-3 10-pitch inning, “That was free and easy,” then threw 20 more pitches in the bullpen.
“Trying to get out of here quick today,” Votto said of his two-pitches and two hits day.
Votto, 25, has reason to have his skills tuned early this spring. He leaves in a few days to join the Canadian World Baseball Classic team,
“Those were two decent pitches that I was able to put two decent swings on,” said Votto.
Decent? A stinging double? A ringing home run?
“Sometimes you have a bad spring, but once you make the team all that matters is that you have a good season,” he said.
Votto did not have a good spring last year (.206, two homers, seven RBIs in 63 at-bats)), but hit .308 the first month of the season and kept it going, finishing at .297 with 24 homers and 84 RBIs to finish second in the National League Rookie of the Year voting.
“I just want to be ready to play winning baseball when the season begins for the Reds,” he said.
“First, though, I’m happy to play for my country and in Toronto, in front of family and friends,” he added.
Of his slow start last spring, Votto said, “That was last year and I’ve proven myself, so I’m not worried about anything.”
Votto appears to have lost weight, but says hard workouts have made him, “Stronger and leaner.”
Hearing that, lockermate Chris Dickerson said, “Don’t forget faster, too.”
And Votto is upbeat about the 2009 Reds.
“We have a leadoff hitter who is completely locked in to batting leadoff (Willy Taveras) and there is no debating that.
“Adding (catcher) Ramon Hernandez is a big deal and getting shortstop Alex Gonzalez back (if he doess come back) is probably the most important move of 2009,” Votto added. “He is a shortstop who plays good defense with a solid bat.”
Votto and Jay Bruce were contributing rookies last year and now know what The Show is all about.
“It is really important for a young player to get that first full year in and know what the grind is about, to know how difficult it is throughout the whole year.”
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TweetCordero doused with hot coffee; he’s OK
SARASOTA, Fla. — You know it is a slow news day when the biggest thing to happen early in the morning involved me and Francisco Cordero.
I ran into him in the clubhouse Tuesday morning. Literally. I was carrying a just-filled 16-ounce cup of steaming coffee when Cordero and I collided. As the coffee splashed on him, I had visions of putting the Reds’ closer on the DL.
But he quickly brushed it off and said, “Hey, no problem. It’s OK.” They grow ‘em tough in the Dominican. And polite and understanding.
BEFORE TUESDAY’S workout, Aaron Harang, David Weathers, Homer Bailey and Mike Lincoln were spotted in Gus’s 12th Street Cafe, across from Ed Smith Stadium, partaking of breakfast.
Harang finished first and left. When the others finished and went to pay their bills, they were told by Gus’s wife, Diane, “It’s already been taken care of. Harang paid it.”
AFTER today’s afternoon workout — (shhhhh, we’re not allowed to call it an intrasquad game because intrasquad games are not permitted by the players’ union until Wednesday) — the Reds open their exhibition season Wednesday in Port Charlotte against Tampa Bay, the AL’s World Series representative.
Outfield candidate Jonny Gomes, who played for Tampa Bay last season, will face his old teammates.
“I have nothing bad to say about that organization,” he said. “They treated me with respect and dignity and they helped make me the player I am today. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them. It will be fun going back to see the guys.”
EVEN MANAGER DUSTY Baker said it is time for exhibition games to begin.
Every morning at 8 a.m. he meets with the three beat writers and the topics are running thin: Who’s in left, who is No. 5 in the rotation, how is Alex Gonzalez, who is batting where?
“Yeah, I’m saying it is time to see some game action,” said Baker. The meetings are becoming like Groundhog Day — the same things over and over.
EDINSON VOLQUEZ and Johnny Cueto will pitch Wednesday in Port Charlotte, their only appearances before they leave for the World Baseball Classic. Also leaving are Joey Votto, Jerry Hairston, Jr., Ramon Hernandez and Pedro Viola.
“With three guys going, that leaves us a little thin in the pitching,” said Baker. “But we have a bunch of position players I need to see. We don’t have any split-squad games this year, so I have to figure out how to see how these guys in games. And I need to get the position guys who are leaving for the WBC (Votto, Hairston, Hernandez) a lot of innings in the next four days - 7 to 9 - to get them ready for the WBC.”
AN OUTSIDER asked Baker about the dynamics of the clubhouse this spring with Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn gone.
“It’s a natural reaction for things to be different when superstars leave,” said Baker. “But time goes on and the game goes on. They left pleasant memories. Sometimes I listen for Griffey’s infectious laugh or Dunn’s humor and wit. But they’re gone.
“Of course, they were gone late last season, so that makes it a bit easier this spring,” Baker added. “There is a period of adjustment. When Hank Aaron left the Braves and wasn’t in spring training in 1975, man, that was strange.
“Nobody in the clubhouse is a lightning rod,” Baker said. “That’s what Griffey was, a lightning rod. Dunn was a little lightning rod.”
SOME HAVE asked my opinion on the Reds leaving Florida for Arizona.
In a word, “Rats.”
Sarasota is perfect — a medium-sized city (not too small, not too large) with all the amenities one needs. I stay in a condo in Siesta Key, on the beach. My wife, Nadine, says she doesn’t want to leave Florida for Arizona because there is no beach and I tell her, ‘Honey, it’s all beach in Arizona, all sand, but there’s no water.’”
And I’m not fond of rattlesnakes.
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TweetHomer Bailey’s off-season like Homer Simpson
SARASOTA, Fla. — It’s always strange how baseball injuries happen in the most unexpected of ways — and times.
Homer Bailey, Exhibit A. Two off-season incidents were, uh, scary.
First, while fooling with a hunting bow in October, a string snapped between the index and middle fingers of his pitching hand.
“Seven stitches,” he said. “I put the last stitch in myself and took them all out two weeks later.
“Fortunately I missed the tendon, and I was thinking two things — a real serious injury or I’m going to be able to throw one hell of a split-finger.”
Then came December and while lifting Bailey dropped an 84-pound weight on his LEFT hand — fortunately the left hand.
“Hurt like hell,” he said. “I couldn’t even stick my hand in my glove. It’s OK, though.”
Had it been his right hand, well, that No. 5 spot in the rotation might not be in his future.
WHEN NEGOTIATIONS were under way, Pat Calhoon, City of Sarasota Sports Complex facilities director, tried to tell the City of Sarasota and Sarasota County, “You are never going to get a better deal than what the Reds are offering.”
Now a saddened Calhoon says, “My prophecy came true. The Reds are leaving after this year (for Arizona). I mean, the Reds offered to sign a 30-year lease, were contributing $9 million, would take care of the place — as I told the city and county, ‘the best deal in Florida.’ But they let it get away. Sad.”
BAKER WAS ASKED about his preference for 11 or 12 pitchers on the roster. “Way too early,” he said, gazing fondly at the long list of pitchers on a board in his office. “The way our guys have looked I wouldn’t mind having about 14. They can increase the roster to 28 or 29 and that would be real good.”
THE REDS PRACTICED sliding Monday, but feet first only because Baker is not a fan of head-first slides and said, “I prefer my guys don’t go head and I REALLY prefer Bronson Arroyo not do it any more. Remember that one last year? I almost had a fit.”
(For Monday morning’s report on Alex Gonzalez’s dilemma, read the blog below).
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TweetGonzalez: No games for at least a week
The knee-jerk reaction is: “Oh, oh. Here we go again with Alex Gonzalez. And knee-jerk is the right terminology.
Gonzalez’s left knee, the one that kept him out of the entire 2008 season, the one that was surgically repaired on July 7, is yipping and yapping at him.
As a result, the Cincinnati Reds shortstop has not worked out the last two days (Sunday and Monday) and manager Dusty Baker revealed Monday morning that Gonzalez won’t play in Tuesday’s intrasquad game and won’t play in the first few spring exhibition games.
When the Reds play a five-inning intrasquad game Tuesday, Jeff Keppinger will play shortstop for one team and Paul Janish will play shortstop for the other team.
While Baker says it is too early in the spring to fret about Gonzalez, one wonders. Will the shortstop be Keppinger or Jerry Hairston Jr. or Janish?
Gonzalez has had his ups and down this spring, but probably did himself no favors by trying to keep up with all the other players in early drills - a natural thing after misisng an entire season and wanting to prove to himself and his teammates that he is ready to play.
But is he?
“Gonzo is not going to start tomorrow (in the intrasquad game),” said Baker. “And he won’t play for a few days. At least a week. It is because of what I see and what the trainers see and where we are in the schedule for him to get ready for Opening Day.
“We’re trying to keep him healthy to be ready,” Baker added. “He still has a lot of tests he has to pass. Sliding. Cutting. Get out of the way on double plays. Avoid a collision. There are certain things we can simulate, but how can you simulate a collision?”
Yeah, especially with Ryan Freel gone.
BAKER WAS ASKED about his evaluation of players - how important exhibition games are and how important past history is and how important workouts are.
“There are practice players, there are game players, there are early-in-the-spring players and there are players who need for reps in order to get themselves right,” said Baker. “That’s why I like to use their career stuff as well as what I see now and what I see in exhibition games.”
Good thinking. As Baker said, “If I just used what I saw in spring exhibition games, Joey Votto never would have made the team last spring.” Votto hit less than .200 last spring and looked as if he didn’t know if the bat knob was supposed to be at the bottom or the top.
And he finished second in the Rookie of the Year balloting.
THE REDS worked on sliding Monday - feet first only, no head first slides.
“Everybody assumes they can slide, but nobody does it correctly,” said Baker. “Most of them slide too late or are indecisive on the slide.
“The head first? I’m really not a fan, but some guys know how to do it,” Baker said. “Rickey Henderson did it for years and never got hurt. I did it one time and Donn Clendenon (former Dayton resident) got all over me, told me the risks of sliding head first. He said, ‘Man, you can mess up your wrist, your fingers, your wrists, your elbows.’
“I prefer my guys don’t do it and I REALLY prefer Bronson Arroyo not do it any more,” said Baker. “Remember that one last year? I almost had a fit. But in the heat of battle, players might do anything.”
And sometimes they even do things right.
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TweetChasing that coveted No. 5 spot
SARASOTA, Fla. — Competition for the oh-so-available No. 5 spot in the Cincinnati Reds starting rotation doesn’t just start during exhibition games.
It starts from Day One and it was apparent Sunday afternoon during live batting practice.
On one field, Nick Masset was throwing to hitters, who were not making solid contact and manager Dusty Baker said, “Umm, umm. He is throwing really good, isn’t he?”
Baker, general manager Walt Jocketty and pitching coach Dick Pole watched intently.
Masset was happy with his session and said as he walked off, “Just want that No. 5 spot.”
As Masset left, the scene shifted to another field and Baker, Jocketty and Pole all left to watch Micah Owings.
“Somebody is going to be a big surprise, I’m telling you,” said Baker. “Owings is throwing good, too. It is good to have these options. Either Masset or Owings could make the rotation and the other guy could be valuable in the bullpen.”
Homer Bailey? They say he remains in the mix and he will pitch with the starters the first week of exhibition games, but his name on the depth chart board hanging in Baker’s office is far, far, far down the list.
BAKER WATCHED lefthanded sidearm pitcher Ron Flores during live batting practice and said, “This guy is interesting. He throws harder than Brian Shouse (highly successful lefthanded sidearmer) but doesn’t have the same consistency on his breaking ball.”
Flores, 29, is 1-4 with a 3.05 ERA for 53 major-league relief appearances for Oakland. The Reds signed to a minor-league contract and invited him to camp.
With Bill Bray and Arthur Rhodes the only lefthanders in the bullpen for now, Flores could be an interesting addition as a guy to come in and face a lefthander or two, the way Shouse does it so well.
BAKER HAS MIXED emotions on how to handle shortstop Alex Gonzalez as he returns from knee surgery.
“I have to talk to him about whether he’ll start right away in exhibition games,” said Baker. “There is a point when you wonder about holding him back so he won’t be ready or when you might be overexposing him. He’s still in a gray area.
“The real hurdle is getting past when you have to think about things,” Baker added. “When you no longer have to calculate your cuts and moves and plants and turns and jumps and throws. You just do it.”
Gonzalez isn’t there yet, “But he is a lot better than a lot of people thought he would be. He is way ahead.”
Sounds to me as if this is iffy, iffy, iffy, a situation that needs to be monitored closely.
RELIEF PITCHER David Weathers to coach Ted Powers as he warmed up: “Does it mean anything when buzzards circle over head when you start throwing?” For a guy who performs pretty well in the clutch most of the time (yes, he makes it squirmy and breath-holding sometimes), he takes a lot of grief. Somebody e-mailed me the week spring training began by saying, “This is the week that pitchers, catchers and David Weathers report.”
Ouch, that’s nasty.
PLAYERS ARE SUPPOSED to report to the clubhouse each morning by 9:15, but first baseman Joey Votto was on a field at 8 a.m. working on his defense and Baker said: “That’s Joey Votto. That doesn’t shock me.”
Doesn’t shock me, either. He’s the strong, silent type. Never makes noise. Never know he’s around. Until he gets into the batter’s box and that’s when the noise begins.
(For a blog posting early Sunday morning, read the previous blog belowtg this one)
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TweetJones, Gomes: no great risk involved
It is neither a shock nor a secret that Jacque Jones and/or Jonny Gomes is/are reclamation projects - guys who tripped over baselines or disappeared in a far corner of dugouts last year.
Both signed minor league contracts with the Cincinnati Reds so if they can’t recapture their days of success, well, nothing ventured nothing gained - or lost.
The Reds are looking for a left fielder if Chris Dickerson can’t hold it. And they’re looking for bench help if Dickerson lays claim to left field.
Manager Dusty Baker realizes he is flirting with another Corey Patterson situation. Patterson played for Dusty in Chicago, was brought in to Cincinnati last year, and was a bigger flop than any one-day-and-close Broadway Show.
He doesn’t believe that will happen with Jones.
“Jacque can play,” said Baker. “Jacque can run, he hustles, he is a good outfielder. He had a down year last year just like Gomes. But they both have some track records of excellence. Just because you fall down for a while doesn’t mean that you’re through.”
Jones, once a star in Minnesota, was a 2008 fizzle - .165 in 24 games with Detroit and .108 in 18 games with Florida. He played winter ball in Mexico to resurrect his career.
Gomes, once a budding star in Tampa Bay, hit .182 in 77 games last year and was sent to Triple-A at one point and then was left off TB’s postseason roster.
Jones will be 34 in April and Gomes is 28.
“Jones is 33? That ain’t nothing,” said Baker. “Al Campanis (former Dodger GM) told me you are in your prime from age 32 to 36. Then you stay there or go down from there depending upon body type, how you take care of yourself, injuries and desire to play.”
For sure, Jones has a sculpted, fat-free body. But so did Patterson. Let’s see what happens before fans come down heavily in their combat boots and work shoes on any necks.
CATCHER HUMBERTO COTA, the last player signed (minor league contract, invite to majoer-league camp), had difficulties getting out of Mexico (he didn’t think it would be too cool to try to cross the border at Tijuana under cover of darkness), showed up in camp Sunday morning.
He won’t be here long. He leaves a week from tomorrow (March 2) to play for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic. Also leaving the Reds that day are Edinson Volquez, Johnny Cueto (Dominican Republic), Joey Votto (Canada), Jerry Hairston Jr. (Mexico) and Ramon Hernandez (Venezuela).
“And we found out today that Pedro Viola (hard-throwing lefthanded pitcher) is going to pitch for the Dominican Republic,” said Baker.
EVEN THOUGH EXHIBITION games start Wednesday, after an intrasquad game is played Tuesday - a shorter than usual workout period - Baker said the team has accomplished most of what needs to be done.
“We haven’t done sliding yet,” he said. “We’ll try to do that tomorrow (Monday). “You get more injuries sliding than you get in any other thing. We’re working on cutoffs and relays and chasing pop-ups today.
“You never get everything in because there are not enough days prior to games,” he said. “You try to get the more important stuff in before the games. Then you add-on as you play the games. Or you go over again what you need to go over as you go along.”
Not too many people are thrilled about moving spring training to Arizona next year, but Baker knows one reason it is good.
“The one drawback with Florida versus Arizona, is that in Arizona all the teams are so close together you can do fundamentals AND batting practice before you leave for a road game because the other parks are so close. You just go play the game.
“Here in Florida, with the lengths of so many of the trips, you’re lucky to get batting practice at their parks and that’s about it. You have to do all your work only for home games. In Arizona you can work every day.”
FOR THOSE once-in-a-while complaints about typographical errors and misused syntax, here’s the deal. If you’re an English teacher looking for perfection, look elsewhere.
Our blog posting site has no spell check. I read what I write quickly because I want to post it for the readers as soon as possible. The type is very small and difficult for me to read (I’m legally blind and errors do slip through). And don’t blame DDN editors. They don’t read the copy before I post it. It is my blog and my responsibility. You want perfection? Go elsewhere. You want information and you want entertainment, come on in.
And I thank those who always step forward to defend me. Appreciate, it, guys (and gals).
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TweetGonzalez still up, down, up, down
SARASOTA, Fla. — The Alex Gonzalez Saga remains in flux.
Some days he is good, some days not so good. And that’s why Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker remains cautious.
Gonzalez sat out all of last year with a compression fracture of his left knee that required surgery.
“He is trying to do everything everything else does and tries to keep up,” said Baker. “We noticed him limping a bit a few days ago and backed him off a couple of days.
“But on Friday he looked great doing baserunning drills and taking infield practice,” Baker added.
Will Gonzalez plays when exhibition games begin Wednesday?
“Don’t know yet,” said Baker. “We’re still toying with that one.”
IT IS ALMOST time, exhibition gvames begin Wednesday in Port Charlotte against Tampa Bay after an intrasquad game Tuesday.
Because Edinson Volquez and Johnny Cueto both are leaving camp this week to pitch for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic, both will pitch Wednesday against Tampa Bay, along with a couple of innings by Homer Bailey.
After that: Micah Owings pitches the exhibition home opener against the Twins Thursday, Bronson Arroyo starts Friday against the Phillies, Nick Masset starts against the Red Sox in Fort Myers Saturday and Aaron Harang faces the Yankees at home Sunday.
“We’ll pitch Homer Bailey in that Yankees game because he’ll only pitch a couple of innings Wednesday,” said pitching coach Dick Pole. “We don’t know how long Volquez and Cueto will be gone — a week or three weeks, depending upon how long their team survives.”
(See Previous Two Posts for developments Friday and Saturday)
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TweetMaybe Reds won’t be a running joke
For those who wonder if the Cincinnati Reds ever work on anything in spring training but their golf strokes, fishing casts and toasty tans, Friday would have been a good day to watch the team work out.
Fans were highly critical last year of the team’s baserunning gaffes - rightfully so - and wondered if the team ever worked on the nuances of baserunning.
There was evidence Friday as Eric Davis and Billy Hatcher conducted a workout that had manager Dusty Baker in awe.
“I’m going to tell the guys at the meeting (Saturday morning) that yesterday was THE finest baserunning conditioning workout I’ve ever seen,” said Baker. “As far as technique, as far as cutting the corners on bases, as far as energy, as far as training - along with some fun and competition as well - that was THE best.
“Eric Davis made sure they cut the corners correctly and Eric and Hatcher discussed technique and energy,” said Baker.
So we can expect better baserunning this year? We shall see, we shall see.
REMEMBER BROOKS Kieschnick? He was an outfielder who threw so well that the Milwaukee Brewers used him in the bullpen. Sometimes they would have him pinch-hit, then go into a game as a relief pitcher.
Micah Owings is just the opposite - a pitcher who can hit, not an outfielder who can pitch. But Baker is considering using him the same way as the Brewers used Kieschnick in 2004, “If Owings doesn’t make the rotation. We could have him pinch-hit, then go into the game and pitch in relief.”
Baker was asked if he has Owings practice hitting more than a regular pitcher, knowing he might be used as a pinch-hitter, and he said, “He goes in and hits on his own. I went to the cage one day and said, ‘Man, who is that kid with that big ol’ helmet on?’ I thought it was Todd Fraizer by his stroke (a good one) by how and it looked and it ended up being Owings.
“Every pitcher likes to hit, enjoys hitting, butOwings likes to hit because he CAN hit,” said Baker. “I told him to make sure he is stretched out before he hits too much. Hitting is different than throwing.”
Kieschnick hit .270 with one homer and seven RBIs in that role with the ‘04 Brewers, but Owings displays a propensity for hitting even better than that, at least for average.
Kieschnick was a power plant. Actually, he was in camp with the Reds one year, as an outfielder only. He didn’t make the team but he was a Batting Practice Wonder, hitting some balls that knocked down clouds and threatened the landing/takeoff patterns of flights in and out of Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport.
Couldn’t do it in games, though.
SPEAKING OF TODD FRAZIER, one of the team’s highest prospects, Baker was asked if he had talked much to him yet this spring.
“Just a little bit,” said Baker. “I see him, but I hear him mostly. I hear his bat. He has a different sound in his bat. He has a different swing, but it is very effective.”
Frazier is one of the many shortstop prospects in camp - Paul Janish, Frazier, Chris Valaika.
“We have decisions to make at the minor league level when you have guys like (first baseman) Yonder Alonzo, (third baseman Juan Francisco), Frazier and others,” said Baker. Because the club is rich in shortstop and third base prospects, some switching may be done.
“Francisco may play third and/or outfield and Frazier may play short, third or outfielder,” said Baker. “And with Valaika at short, you know, where are you going to put all these guys if they play on the same team? They all need at-bats, but they need to be in positions where they might play in the big leagues.”
There is some talk that Frazier might be too big for a shortstop (6-3, 220), but in this day and age, how big is too big?
Baker doesn’t subscribe.
“Every time I looke at him I think of Cal Ripken Jr.s body type,” he said. “He supposedly didn’t have the body type for a shortstop. If he walked into this room and you didn’t know he was a shortstop, there was no way you’d think he was a shortstop.”
And how did that work out?
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TweetGomes can deal with adeversity
SARASOTA, Fla. — Jonny Gomes said he knows people kept a watchful eye on him last year, “Expecting me to turn over a table or demand a trade.”
That’s the way a lot of players react when their playing time is cut, which is what happened to Gomes at Tampa Bay.
They didn’t know Jonny Gomes.
When you have a heart attack on Christmas Eve when you are 23, when you are in a car wreck that kills your best friend, well, it is easy to put baseball into a proper perspective.
Gomes has ‘AW’ tattoed on his right biceps in honor of Adam Westcott, his friend killed in the accident.
And if the 28-year-old outfielder makes the Cincinnati Reds this spring he might have ‘KM’ tattooed onto his left biceps.
Kevin Mitchell, a former Reds outfielder, called manager Dusty Baker to suggest the Reds sign Gomes.
“He’s good people,” said Gomes, referring to Mitchell. “There are a lot of people with good numbers in this game who can’t teach it. Mitchell had great numbers on the field and he can teach it. I call him ‘Hit Doctor.’”
Gomes, expected to be a star at Tampa Bay, hit 58 home runs his first three full years with the Rays, all in a platoon scenario, but played only 77 games last year and hit only .182 with eight homers and 21 RBIs.
Instead of pouting and throwing duffel bags, Gomes was the quintessential teammate — first out of the dugout to congratulate good deeds. And he was suspended twice last season for his involvement in on-the-field scuffles, protecting his teammates. “Over the long haul we’re in, we have to keep it a tight family,” he said. “So many peaks and valleys in a season, so you have to keep guys loose, laughs and cries, so we have to be a brotherhood, like the family back home. If somebody messes around, you have to step in and not get bullied around.”
Not only did Gomes get platooned, when the Rays made the playoffs he was lopped off the roster.
Mad? Put out? Get me out of here? Not Gomes.
“If you ask me if I liked to be platooned, I’d say no,” he said. “If you asked if I’d platoon and go to the World Series, I’d say, ‘Hell, yes,’ every time.’”
He was platooned. The Rays made it to the World Series. He didn’t. But he’ll get the ring.
He smiled when asked about his heart attack and said, “Boy, that’s a while ‘nother bag of worms.
“To lay on that hospital bed and look up to see a light with a doctor telling you, ‘We don’t know, we don’t know.’ And you’re only 23. Then you battle through it and they tell you to keep your heart rate down, which means you can’t be active, which pretty much takes away your life. That was an adversity check.”
He was hospitalized five days, underwent an angioplasty and returned to the game.
Now he seeks a job with the Reds, left field, bench, whatever. After a deadly auto crash and a heart attack, what’s a little competition for a baseball roster spot?
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TweetGriffey’s triumphant Seattle return
Gran Torino is great. Slumdog Millionaire is great. With the weather on the chilly side (No, I’m not complaining) it is more movie time than beach time. That’ll change back quickly.
Tried to clog my arteries yesterday by eating lunch at The Sports Page (patty melt) and dinner at Shaner’s (a bar and grille owned by former major-league pitcher Shane Rawley), but my buddies visiting me from Dayton, Murray Greenberg and Jeff Gordon, had soup and salad at Shaner’s, as did I.
This morning, just a day after Ken Griffey Jr. decided to return to the Seattle Mariners, Seattle Times baseball writer Larry Stone popped into camp to talk about Griffey, specifically if he had anything left.
Manager Dusty Baker’s take:
“It depends on how much he still likes to play and I think he loves to play. That being said, that will help him going back to Seattle. He is a good person and good people need to feel the love.”
Griffey returned to Seattle with the Reds two years ago with great trepidation, fearing his reception. There was nothing to fear. He was treated like a long-lost son, like an icon. It was Lovefest ‘07.
And Cincinnati?
“It was missing in Cincinnati a little bit,” said Baker. “I’ve only been here one year but I can tell. Sometimes it is time to go, before you say something or do something that will ruin 20 years of great relationships. I was there myself in San Francisco. It was time to go.”
Asked how much he thought Griffey’s sore knee (drained twice last year and surgically repaired in the off-season) hampered him, Baker sighed and said, “He never complained about it. I walked into the training room one day and it liked to scared me to death - I saw the scares he had on him and the big divot in his leg (a hole that wouldn’t heal from his hamstring surgery and leaked, sometimes through his uniform pants when he played) and the trainer told me the story about it.
“This guy loves to play and it is not about money (besides $2 million from the Mariners he’ll be paid $5 million a year by the Reds for the next 15 years). It’s about loving to play,” Baker added.
When a guy gets older and he is secure, everything reverts back to the beginning again. He might as well be in amateur ball at this point because he is not playing for the money. Things go full circle. You are financially secure for you and your family and you are back to playing for love.
“Some of the things he had done - screws in his shoulder and in his wrists,” said Baker. “And that was from playing and playing hard. That’s what he knew. He might be almost 40, but he still is Junior. He was very good with the young players like Jay Bruce and Joey Votto. He knew when to chide ‘em and when to rap ‘em.
“You know you are doing something right when you can go back home,” Baker continued. “There are not many people who can go back to a prior relationship. And the exception is love and I don’t care what kind of relationship it is. The hard part about going back there is that they are going to expect the Junior that was there when he left - when he was the best player in the game. Through natural process and again, that can’t be.”
BELIEVE IT NOT, the exhibition season start Wednesday with the Reds visiting Tampa Bay at their refurbished digs at Port Charlotte.
Funny story. The Rays are worried they might run out of baseballs. There is a retaining pond behind the left field fence that is a refuge for wildlife and is designated a preserve. It has an alligator or two, poisonous snakes, birds and a whole lot of baseballs that can’t be retrieved.
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TweetSome spring training odds and ends
Starting the morning the way Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker started it Thursday isn’t the way you want your day to start. The toilet in his Siesta Key condo was stopped up and overflowed.
Just what you want to do first thing in the morning - plunge right in.
“Usually I’m on my way to the park by 6:45 a.m., but today it was 7:30,” said Baker. “I started to get mad, man, but I said, ‘Cool it, man, it’s only 7 a.m.’”
MEANWHILE, Jay Bruce calmly ate his breakfast at a table in the clubhouse. Wheaties? Nope. Cheerios.
“Plain Cheerios, no Honey-Nut Cheerios,” he said. “I like my cereal sweet, but I like plain Cheerios with sugar better than Honey-Nut,” said Bruce. Was he angling for an endorsement?
MEANWHILE (again), seated around Bruce at the same table, eating their cereals, were three former Reds, all wearing their uniforms and their numbers from when they plauyed - Eric Davis (44), Mario Soto (36), Ted Power (48).
THERE IS a possibility CEO/owner Bob Castellini is to be in Sarasota today on business and might pop in to camp for his first spring visit and first look at his 2009 Cincinnati Reds.
RESTAURANT ADVICE from Joey Votto, whose mother runs a restaurant in Toronto and Votto said if he didn’t play baseball he would be a chef: “In Sarasota try the Word of Mouth for breakfast. Outstanding.”
Had some pizza at Demetrio’s on Tamiami Trail Wednesday night. Also outstanding. The place, a rather large place, was full on a Wednesday night and it isn’t even tourist season yet. That says a lot right there.
JUST WHEN I was about to turn blue wondering why I let brown see what it could do for me, UPS delivered my box of shorts and polo shirts - four days after it said it would.
FOR THOSE WONDERING: Yes, Brandon Phillips will be the team’s clean-up hitter again this year.
And, no, Chris Dickerson doesn’t have left field firmly wrapped in his fingers. That’s why Jacque Jones, Jonny Gomes and Laynce Nix are in camp.
That’s because Dickerson has to prove he is what he was last August and because the team needs back-up in case of injuries - not only just Dickerson, “But in case something happens in center or right, too,” said Baker. “Remember last year when we were down to three outfielders after we traded Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn and had injuries to Norris Hopper and Ryan Freel?”
THERE WILL BE no captain named by Baker and he has no idea who will be the team leader this year.
“It ain’t up to me who is the leader,” said Baker. “Whoever steps up. And I believe in leaders in different departments - like the bullpen, the infield, the outfield. We need some leaders on the bench.
“And I’ve always said, leaders are not appointed, they are anointed,” he added. “The teammates anoint - somebody they know they can talk to under any circumstances, who they can trust with their utmost secrets. You hope it is somebody with a consistent personality so you can approach them the same way every day.
“Just because you are the best player and the highest paid player doesn’t make you a leader,” he said. “And not everybody wants to lead. That’s why I don’t appoint.”
SOME INTERESTING managers and coaches in the system: David Bell, son of former major-league manager and player Buddy Bell, is managing Cincinnati’s new Double-A team in Carolina. Tom Browning is his pitching coach.
Delino DeShields, who stole 463 major-league bases, is the hitting coach at Class A Billings and former major-league pitcher Bob Forsch, who owns two major-league no-hitters, is the Billings pitching coach.
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TweetE.E. - The Man with a Plan for 2009
The lockers in the Cincinnati Reds clubhouse are in numerical order - stars are not awarded special comfortable locations, like an end locker so that there is nobody on one side of you. If your number falls where you are shoved into a tight corner, like Michah Owings’ No. 33, so be it.
There is no large, black steamer trunk in front of anybody’s locker, like the one Ken Griffey Jr. had in front of his locker, a trunk that not only was at his home locker, but magically appeared in front of his locker on the road.
Nobody has more than one locker. Stuff it all in one cubicle, pal.
Democracy has arrived with the Reds.
Edwin Encarnacion, heavier of wallet by $7.6 million for the next two years, is toward the back of the clubhouse in the middle of a row. He doesn’t mind. He was astounded when he was told he has the third most service with the Reds of anybody on the team and he is only 26 with little more than three years of major-league service.
“Unbelievable,” he said, when told he had the third most service with the Reds. “Now I can make the rules.”
Edwin comes from, uh, a rather large family and when asked how many brothers and sisters he has, he said, “Oh, wow. Uh…15. And now I can help feed them.”
Encarnacion is basically a shy guy, but for him he was effusive Wednesday morning when he reported to camp.
He is a Man With a Plan for 2009.
“Last year I tried to pull the ball too much, tried to hit too many homers,” he said. While he hit a career-best 26 homers, he drove in only 68 runs and hit .251.
“I’m going to try to be more consistent with my hitting,” he said. “I know I can do it. I’ve done it before, so I know I can.”
With only 16 home runs in 2007, Encarnacion drove in 76 and hit .289.
“I just have to work on it and hit the ball up the middle,” he said. “Last year I tried to hit the ball too hard and pull everything. Sometimes you mind goes crazy. You have to be smart in this game. You have to go into a season with some plan for hitting.”
And then there is defense - or the lack thereof. He made 23 errors last season.
“That’s one of the things I worked hard on during my off-season,” he said. “It’s my throwing. I know that. I catch everything, but sometimes I throw it away. I’m working hard to keep those errors down.
“That’s the first thing you have to do to win games, play good defense,” he said. “If you don’t play good defense, you are not going to win games.”
Manager Dusty Baker is happy to hear Encarnacion’s mission statement.
“That’s what we’ve talked about with Edwin over the winter,” said Baker. “The Edwin I knew was a right-center hitter who can pull. To be a pull hitter, boy, you gotta be perfect all the time on your swing and you’re actually cutting your territory down.
“It’s like using a slice of the pie instead of the whole pie and then they can start defensing you easier,” Baker added. “Sometimes it happens at this point of your career. It happened to me and it happens to a lot of players. It’s a deadly disease - well, it ain’t dealy, but it’s a disease. It call it home run-itis. You start liking the trot and then you end up hitting lower with less RBIs.”
Encarnacion is living proof of that, but he is young enough to rectify it.
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TweetEncarnacion loses, but still wins
Well, it’s Tuesday. UPS was supposed to deliver a large box of my clothes last Friday. No box yet. And the jeans I’m wearing can probably stand by themselves in the corner and whistle The Star Spangled Banner.
The Cincinnati Reds wasted a few thousand dollars on a trip to Phoenix, but Edwin Encarnacion and his agent saved face.
The Reds, led by Assistant GM Bob Miller, were in place in Phoenix for today’s schedule arbitration hearing with Encarnacion, but Encarnacion and the team came to terms on an agreement early today - a two-year contract believed to be worth $5 million.
Encarnacion saved face but he most likely was going to get his head handed to him in arbitration. He was asking for $3.5 million and the team was offering $2.2 million. Arbitrators would have decided which figure was best - no compromises - and conventional thinking was that in this economy and Encarnacion’s shaky numbers he would have lost.
And he would have had to sit through the hearings and listen to members of the front office tell arbitrators how bad he was last year and how he doesn’t deserve $3.5 million. With a low-key guy like Edwin, a guy with a fragile ego, it could have ruined his season.
The thing is, even if players LOSE in arbitration, they still win. They still get huge raises. Encarnacilon made $450,000 last year and the least he could have made this year was $2.2 million. Some loss, huh?
“Those are never nice and the aftermath is never nice,” said manager Dusty Baker of the arbitration process. “I’m glad they came to an agreement before the hearing. Good for Edwin and good for us.”
JOEY VOTTO is on Canada’s provisional 40-man World Baseball Class roster and it is certain he’ll still be on the roster when it is cut to 27. Is he going?
“Yes, I’m going to play for Canada and I’m looking forward to it,” said Votto. Votto was invited by Canada to play in the first WBC in 2006, but he declined. “I was just coming out of ‘A’ ball and I didn’t want to miss spring training.”
ALEX GONZALEZ is in camp, looking trim and talking positively after missing all of last season with a compression fracture of the left knee. He says he is ready to go full bore from Day One in spring training.
“It’s hard, very hard, to miss a whole year, but you have to stay strong in the mind,” said Gonzalez. “I’ve worked hard for a year to get back. I’ve done a lot of stuff with workouts and weights and taking ground balls and hitting. Last year was frustrating, but you have to forget last year and focus on this year - especially in your mind.
“I like this team,” he said. “We’ve added catcher Ramon Hernandez and center fielder Willy Taveras. With Brandon Phillips at second and me at short I think we’ll be one of the best defensive teams up the middle in the league. And Willy is one of the best leadoff hitters in the league, too.”
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TweetTaveras: “I can steal 100 bases”
Willy Taveras can do the math.
-Only 533 late appearances last year.
-Only a .251 batting average last year.
-Only a .302 on-base average last year.
And still he stole 68 bases for the Colorado Rockies.
Taveras, newest leadoff hitter for the Cincinnati Reds, doesn’t change expressions when he says, “I can steal 100 bases this year.”
That’s because Taveras believes he should get 700 plate appearances this year. He also believes he can hit .300 and raise his on-base average to .350.
“Do all that and, yes, I can see steal 100 bases,” he said.
Taveras sat a lot last season, a Never On Sunday player.
“I can remember only playing one game on Sunday all year, for some reason,” he said.
There can’t be a happier man anywhere to be in a different venue.
“I’m more than excited,” he said. “I’m pleased to be here. I’m so blessed to be able to put on a major-league uniform, I’m blessed to play for Dusty Baker and I’m blessed to play with my friend, Edwin Encarnacion and I’m blessed to play for the Cincinnati Reds.”
Taveras said some things escaped him last year in Colorado and he plans to recapture some 2007 magic when he hit .320.
“I have to use my speed and bunt more,” he said. “I got away from that last year. I’m working on it and I can say that I’ll try to bunt at least once a game. I need to do that to put pressure on the other team - first by bunting, then by stealing bases. No excuses. I’ll be better.”
MANAGER DUSTY BAKER was talking about the possibility of three Latinos in the rotation (Edinson Volquez, Johnny Cueto, Ramon Ramirez) and somebody asked how important it might be to have a Latin catcher like Ramon Hernandez.
“Well, (pitching coach) Dick Pole, me and (third baseman) Edwin Encarnacion all speak Spanish, too,” said Baker. “Of course, Edwin talks so low you can’t here him. That probably comes from the fact he comes from such a large family (15 brothers and sisters), so he probably was never heard anyway.”
SPEAKING OF CATCHER Hernandez, Baker is trying to give him a crash course in learning the pitchers. The newly acquired Hernandez is leaving camp to begin March 2 practice with the Venezuelan team for the World Baseball Classic.
Baker is trying to get Hernandez to catch every pitcher in camp at least once during their sessions before he leaves, “Give Ramon a condensed synopsis of our pitching. He is leaving so soon I was concerned. But he said he went through the same thing in Baltimore and came out OK. He is one of the best catchers out of his country and everybody is short of catching.”
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TweetBailey once again focus of attention
The list of candidates for the fifth starting spot on the Cincinnati Reds reads like my wife’grocery list - long and varied, with some recognizable and some in undisclosed packages.
Even manager Dusty Baker had to ask a writer to move from in front of a roster listed on the wall so he could run down the names so as not to miss any.
Oh, we know about Michah Owings. And we know about Homer Bailey. And we know about Daryl Thompson. We know about Ramon Ramirez (a little bit).
“We have a lot of guys,” said Baker. “We even have guys we’re going to stretch out (guys who have worked in the bullpen like Nick Masset). We’ll get some extended looks at Matt Maloney and Sam Lecure, James Avery, Ben Jukich and Jordan Smith.
Who?
“I say there are one or two surpises in there,” said Baker.
Because of the World Baseball Classic, spring training is longer than normal this year and because some players will leave camp to play for their countries (Edinson Volquez? Johnny Cueto?) there will be innings available for pitchers while the others are gone - a chance to prove something.
“While I’m no longer new around here, there are still a lot of guys I don’t know and haven’t seen,” said Baker. “I can look at scouting reports and video, but there is nothing like seeing people in person.”
Bailey? Is he the front-runner for No. 5? This is his fourth major-league camp and everyone continues to await his emergence. He was the anointed one in camp last spring, but fizzled and ended up going 0-6 with a 7.93 ERA in eight major-league starts and was 4-7 in 18 starts at Class AAA Louisville.
“Hope put the big name in camp on him because he happens to be a No. 1 draft choice (2004),” said Baker. “Here’s the ball, Homer. I’m not going to put any pressure on him other than what he puts on himself. I’m pulling for him, big-time. He is one of the guys in the mix.
“He’s had some opportunity, but he is still so young,” Baker added. “He’s not close to having his opportunities exhausted. He’s 22. We’ve just heard about him forever. You’d think he was 30 years old. We’ll keep trying to instruct him. The ball is in his hand.”
And that’s fine with Bailey.
“I had a pretty good off-season and that always helps,” he said. “I feel good physically. Just another year of opportunity.
“I took November off, then in December I started working out Monday through Friday, then went hunting on the weekends,” he said.
Somebody asked if Bailey had put on weight, but he said to the contrary, he lost weight. “I ended the season at 215 and now I’m at 205. They said gaining weight wouldn’t hurt me, but I feel better than I ever felt.”
A spot in the rotation and some success would make him feel even better.
And if not, Baker even mentioned some guys who in rotation consideration could move to long relief, where a couple of spots are up for determination. And he said Bailey7 cold be one of those.
“I’ve never pitched in relief,” said Bailey. “But whatever Dusty wants, whatever he asks, I’m willing to do. I’ll play first base if he asks - although I’m sure it’ll never come to that.”
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TweetHarang: Lean, mean machine
Spring training is even a better harbinger of spring than the first robin.
And I had two early indications that spring training finally is here: (ONE) My transportation engineer, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com, got stuck for 10 minutes at the south end drawbridge getting off Siesta Key en route to the ballpark and (TWO) I had my first meal at Gus’s 12th Street Cafe across the street from the ballpark, where omelettes are as big as truck tires.
Or as Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker said, “You know spring training has begun when you board the plane for Florida. It’s like the first day of school. We even get new clothes.”
BAKER WASTED NO time in dropping some news: Despite his 6-17 record last year, Aaron Harang, barring unforeseens, is the Opening Day pitcher April 6 against the New York Mets.
“If we started the season tomorrow, Harang would pitch,” said Baker. “If he stays healthy he’s the guy.”
Harang has started the last three openers and Baker said, “I’m not going to let one down year spoil three straight Opening Days for him. And confidence-wise, it will be good for him.”
Harang walked into the clubhouse and mouths dropped. As he took his physical, team physician Dr. Tim Kremchek asked, “What did you do, leave half of yourself at home?”
Harang says he left more than half at home: 25 pounds and memories of last year and said, “I’ve flushed two things down the toilet - 25 pounds and what happened last year. I’m not even looking back over my shoulder.”
Harang pitched at 280 pounds last year and is at 255, looking thin in his 6-foot-7 body.
“I did it with workouts and a change of diet - less eating out, better meals, smaller portions,” he said. “I think it will add to my durability?”
Durability? Nobody is more durable than Harang, who has pitched 211.2, 234.1, 231.2 and 184.1 (he had a sore elbow last season) innings over the past four years.
“Maybe this year both Bronson Arroyo and I can pitch 240 innings, while Edinson Volquez and Johnny Cueto pitch 220 and whoever the fifth starter is pitches 200, that would be great. It would be good for the bullpen, too.”
BAKER WAS ASKED what he says to people who say the Reds are not as good this year as they were last year.
“Nothing,” he said. “What can you know now? Did anybody last year think Cueto would make the rotation? Did anybody last year think Volquez would win 17? Did anybody last year think Harang would lose 17? I can see improvement.
“I don’t care what people say,” he said. That’s why we play the games. I wish I had a crystal ball, but then that would take the fun out of it.”
The fun has just begun.
IN HONOR of St. Valentine’s Day, when the pitchers finished their first day’s workout, they found valentine’s addressed to them in the clubhouse. Pitching coach Dick Pole personally signed each one and inside they said, “You’re magical.”
ALL THE PITCHERS threw of a mound for 10 minutes Saturday and after Homer Bailey’s first eight minutes catcher Ramon Hernandez turned to a catcher next to him and said, “Does this guy every throw balls out of the strike zone. So far every pitch has been a strike.”
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TweetIt’s time: Spring training is here
From the beach at Siesta Key (not really, I’m in my condo in Sarasota — I’d be on the beach, but sand and laptop computers don’t agree):
I’m here to cover spring training with the Cincinnati Reds for the 37th year, our last in Sarasota before moving to Goodyear, Ariz., for 2010.
With the Reds leaving, I can’t imagine what condition the City of Sarasota Sports Complex will be in. Do they care anymore? Last year they had problems with toilet stoppage (and let’s have no comments about the smell emanating more from the field and the fifth-place Reds than from the commodes).
By the way, with all the travel problems last year, I have a new favorite airline.
AirTran.
There were no extra luggage charges. Both legs of my flight, from Dayton to Baltimore and from Baltimore to Sarasota, left early and arrived early. And not only did my luggage arrive with me, the wheels on my suitcase were intact.
And we were treated to FREE beverages and a FREE bag of bagel chips.
The pitchers and catchers report Saturday morning for physical examinations, the first workout is at 1:30.
Oh, yeah, it was 77 degrees today and it is supposed to remain in that vicinity for the next week, enabling the Reds to begin working out in earnest to improve last year’s fifth-place finish.
Will they?
They have to prove it to me — and everybody else. What was done over the winter wasn’t overly dramatic — the additions of CF/leadoff hitter Willy Taveras, the addition of catcher Ramon Hernandez (second most errors, second most passed balls in the American League last year and at the cost of Ryan Freel), LHP pitcher Arthur Rhodes — all 39 years of him — plus minor-league contracts for outfielders Jonny Gomes and Jacque Jones.
I don’t think boots are quaking in Chicago, St. Louis, Houston and Milwaukee, but there is always hope to catch lightning in a thimble. People point out the success of Tampa Bay last year, but the Rays were loaded with excellent young players who all came through.
For the Reds to do the same, everything has to fall in place, everybody has to play to their abilities or above and injuries have to be avoided (and how often does that happen?).
But that’s why they play the schedule, and let’s see what develops over the next seven weeks. Stay tuned for daily reports in this locale as the Reds work on their game and I work on my tan (I forgot my sun tan lotion, but I think they have some at the drug store).
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TweetRose gives his take on A-Rod
Pete Rose, his hair retreating and his waistline expanding, still knows how to hold a crowd in the palm of a fist that stroked 4,256 major-league hits.
And without being asked.
Rose, knowing his audience, launched into his feelings about the Alex Rodriguez situation Wednesday night at a VIP gathering at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
Rose, the man banished from baseball for betting on the game, speaks this morning at the Community Leadership Breakfast to benefit the Miami Valley Council of the Boy Scouts of America at the Mandalay Banquet Center.
In the middle of Rose’s off-the-cuff remarks, his cell phone rang and Rose playfully said, “Wait, that might be baseball commissioner Bud Selig. Let me check it.”
It wasn’t and he said, “Damn, I missed (re-instatement) again.”
Of A-Rod, Rose said, “I would have got 5,000 hits if I took steroids.”
Then talking seriously, he added, “Being my good and close friend, I was disappointed about A-Rod’s admission that he took steroids.
“I really thoughgt A-Rod and Junior (Ken Griffey Jr.) were the two of the greatest players out there today who were clean - that’s what I was led to believe.”
And Rose, who went on national TV to admit he bet on baseball after denying it for 15 years, was disappointed in some of the things A-Rod said during his confession on ESPN.
“I don’t quit understand how his name surfaced out of the 104 names (players who tested positively in 2003) and I don’t think that was fair,” Rose added.
“I guess we all want and need to know who they other 103 - and I guarantee you my name won’t be on that list.
Rose said some of A-Rod’s answers to questions put to him by ESPN’s Peter Gammons perplexed him.
“There was 700 tested and only 104 were found positive,” said Rose. “A-Rod said that was the culture back then and I don’t believe that.
“I understand him saying he had pressure on him after signing a $252 million contract (with Texas) to do well.
“Pressure? A lot of us are understanding in these times that pressure is signing a $250 contract, not $250 million.
“Hey, when you sign a $252 million contract, there are not a certain amount of home runs or a certain amount of games you have to win a certain amount of games,” Rose said.
“If he had pressure on him, I’d love to have that kind of pressure on me,” he said. “In the three years in question (2001-03), he averaged 52 home runs. The other 10 years he averaged 39.
Rose said he would vote for A-Rod for the Hall of Fame and likes his chances better than guys like Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens because A-Rod has nine years remaining on his contract and has to wait five years after he retires to be on the ballot, “And in those 14 years guys writing now won’t be around.”
Of A-Rod’s contract, Rose laughed and said, “When I signed, I could cash my check at the nearest drug store.”
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TweetTorre had it right: A-Fraud
Now we know why A-Fraud or A-Ro(i)d or A-God is chasing Madonna. Maybe the ‘roids made him do it.
Whatever it was, Alex Rodriguez only looked foolish abandoning his wife to make Madonna his designated hitter.
Now he looks stupid.
After denying it at least twice on national television, A-Fraud admitted this week that, yes, he was a steroid user, when he played for the Texas Rangers.
He said he felt pressure from signing that $252 million contract with the Rangers, felt he had to be the best he could be to justify the contract, that the pressure was immense.
Pshaw and balderdash.
Give me $252 million for 10 years and I’ll be most loosey-goosey, la-de-da and happy go lucky for the rest of my life. Hey, even if he failed, they couldn’t take it away from him. It was guaranteed money.
A-Fraud (I guess Joe Torre knew what he was talking in his book when he said teammates referred to A-Rod as A-Fraud) admitted using from 2001 to 2003, when he won the American League MVP award (2003).
Of course, his admission came after he was outed by Sports Illustrated. Without that, he’d still be denying and lying.
Are we to believe he only did it in his Texas years? The ‘roids helped him win the MVP in 2003, so why would he quit then? He already has lied to us, so is he now telling the truth when he says that were only years he used?
And what happens now? The testing that nailed A-Fraud was in 2003 and it was supposed to be done anonymously. No names named. It was an agreement between MLB and the Players Association that testing would be done to see how rampant the problem, with nobody identified.
Well, it turned out that of 750 major-league players, 104 were nabbed. Some say that’s not many. They’re wrong. 104 of 750 is a damn lot.
Now that A-Fraud has been outed, how about the other 103? Is it fair to the 646 who tested negatively to be suspected? No, it’s not. They shouldn’t have to defend themselves.
The morass just gets swampier and swampier. I’m on record as saying I won’t vote steroids users and HGH users and other illegal enhancement users for the Hall of Fame - Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sota. Now you can add A-Fraud to that list.
It’s frightening. My list of possible Hall of Famers gets smaller and smaller. Pretty soon, if this keeps up, I’ll have to say, “No, thanks. I’m not voting any more.” What a shame.
While it doesn’t shock me about A-Fraud, it disappoints me immensely. We all thought he would be the clean guy to wipe away Bonds and Sosa and McGwire.
So who’s next?
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TweetTorre had it right: A-Fraud
Now we know why A-Fraud or A-Ro(i)d or A-God is chasing Madonna. Maybe the ‘roids made him do it.
Whatever it was, Alex Rodriguez only looked foolish abandoning his wife to make Madonna his designated hitter.
Now he looks stupid.
After denying it at least twice on national television, A-Fraud admitted this week that, yes, he was a steroid user, when he played for the Texas Rangers.
He said he felt pressure from signing that $252 million contract with the Rangers, felt he had to be the best he could be to justify the contract, that the pressure was immense.
Pshaw and balderdash.
Give me $252 million for 10 years and I’ll be most loosey-goosey, la-de-da and happy go lucky for the rest of my life. Hey, even if he failed, they couldn’t take it away from him. It was guaranteed money.
A-Fraud (I guess Joe Torre knew what he was talking in his book when he said teammates referred to A-Rod as A-Fraud) admitted using from 2001 to 2003, when he won the American League MVP award (2003).
Of course, his admission came after he was outed by Sports Illustrated. Without that, he’d still be denying and lying.
Are we to believe he only did it in his Texas years? The ‘roids helped him win the MVP in 2003, so why would he quit then? He already has lied to us, so is he now telling the truth when he says that were only years he used?
And what happens now? The testing that nailed A-Fraud was in 2003 and it was supposed to be done anonymously. No names named. It was an agreement between MLB and the Players Association that testing would be done to see how rampant the problem, with nobody identified.
Well, it turned out that of 750 major-league players, 104 were nabbed. Some say that’s not many. They’re wrong. 104 of 750 is a damn lot.
Now that A-Fraud has been outed, how about the other 103? Is it fair to the 646 who tested negatively to be suspected? No, it’s not. They shouldn’t have to defend themselves.
The morass just gets swampier and swampier. I’m on record as saying I won’t vote steroids users and HGH users and other illegal enhancement users for the Hall of Fame - Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sota. Now you can add A-Fraud to that list.
It’s frightening. My list of possible Hall of Famers gets smaller and smaller. Pretty soon, if this keeps up, I’ll have to say, “No, thanks. I’m not voting any more.” What a shame.
While it doesn’t shock me about A-Fraud, it disappoints me immensely. We all thought he would be the clean guy to wipe away Bonds and Sosa and McGwire.
So who’s next?
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TweetThe man who drew Pete Rose
There is a new book out called “Drawing Pete,” a book stuffed with cartoons of Pete Rose drawn over the years by former Cincinnati Enquirer sports cartoonist Jerry Dowling. It’s a winner that anybody who loves (or despises) Pete Rose should grab.
Dowling asked me to write the foreward in the book and I’m going to share it with you here. Then go out and buy the book. It’s available mostly in Cincinnati and at the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.
By the way, Rose will be in Dayton on Thursday morning speaking at the annual Community Leadership Breakfast to benefit Boy Scouts at the Mandalay Banquet Center.
The foreward I wrote:
When it comes to the cartoonist’s pen, Pete Rose is easy and Pete Rose is perfect. He is a walking caricature. With his jutting jaw, his constantly changing hairstyle and his forest-fire lifestyle, he is the perfect foil. Rose once said, “To play baseball, I’d walk through hell in a gasoline suit.” And that’s the way he walked through life, setting himself on fire wherever he want, on and off the baseball field.
Nobody captures the hairpin twists and turns of Rose’s life better than talented cartoonist Jerry Dowling. Rose may have been easy to draw — and Dowling does it better than anybody — but capturing his life and its constantly changing ascents and descents was something Dowling mastered.
From his rise as a brash rookie who ran hard to first base on walks, a deed that earned him the nickname “Charlie Hustle” from former New York Yankees pitcher White Ford, to his plunge into the abyss of gambling on baseball, Dowling recorded it all cleverly with pen and ink.
Pete Rose was a beat writer’s delight and I was fortunate to cover it all, from the magestic takeoff to the burning crash-landing. Want a tory? Walk over to Rose’s locker, click your Bic, open your spiral notebook and Rose would fill it full of pithy quotes and astoundingly funny anecdotes. His recall was unfathomable. He could go back five years and recall any at-bat, the pitch he hit for a double, the count, the inning, the situation.
I was commissioned to do a coffee table picture book called “The Pete Rose Scrapbook” in the 1970s. Armed with about 500 photographs, I sat down for breakfast with Rose. The backs of the photographs contained cutlines describing each event depicted in the pictures. Rose didn’t need them. Each time he was shown a photo, he described what was happening, when it happened, why it happened and he furnished anecdotal material. Fascinating stuff.
Off the field, he left you scratching your head. Once in Philadelphia, he walked through the hotel lobby arm-in-arm with his pregnant girlfriend and she wore a T-shirt over her swollen stomach on which was printed, “Pete’s Baby.” When his first wife, Karolyn, filed for divorce, it was no distraction to Rose. That night in New York he went 5-for-5 against the Mets.
As a player he had no equal at the craft of collecting base hits. He was obsessive. He doesn’t like people to say it, but he got more out of his abilities than any player … ever. There wasn’t a team in baseball that wanted him and the only reason he was given an opportunity was because the scout who signed him, Buddy Bloebaum, was his uncle and the Reds were doing Bloebaum a favor, never realizing they were doing themselves an unbelievable favor. When he reported to big-league camp, most of the players despised him because he was there to take the job of popular infielder Don Blasingame.
Rose and his magnetic personality won them over. Rose’s competitive spirit was always on the sleeve on his uniform and sometimes it bristled, especially during his 44-game hitting streak. He was angry after Atlanta relief pitcher Gene Garber ended the streak by striking him out with a 3-and-2 slider.
“He pitched me like it was Game 7 of the Word Series,” said Rose. Even Rose should have known that if he was Gene Garber, he, too, would have done anything imaginable to be the guy to stop the streak.
Rose helped win an All-Star game in Cincinnati and ruined a career. He scored a run by obliterating Cleveland catcher Ray Fosse, who was never the same after injuring his shoulder. The night before, Rose had entertained Fosse with dinner at Rose’s home.
Rose was so popular in Cincinnati that when he became a free agent and went on tour listening to offers, fans ridiculed the Reds for not coming up with the cash and accouterements to keep him in Cincinnati. Rose was offered a Budweiser beer distributorship by the Busch family in St. Louis. He was offered a racehorse by Pittsburgh owner John Galbreath. The Philadelphia Phillies didn’t offer him the Liberty Bell or a lifetime supply of Philly cheesesteaks, but he took their offer and led the Phillies to a World Series title.
He wasn’t gone long. Eventually he came back to Cincinnati, amid much fanfare, as the team’s player/manager. His first time at bat, fans rattled Riverfront Stadium on its concrete foundation by diving head-first into third base.
Everybody knew Rose loved to gamble on horses, dogs, jai-alai, football, basketball, boxing, hockey and, hell, if you could have bet on track and field he would have done that, too. He began hanging around unsavory characters, body builders whose bodies were built by steroids. And he began betting on baseball.
People ask if writers covering the team knew he was doing it. We knew he loved to gamble. He didn’t hide it. His regular haunts during spring training were Tampa Bay Downs, a horse track, and Derby Lane, a greyhound-racing emporium in St. Petersburg. He talked openly about betting on football and basketball. He never, of course, talked about betting on baseball. He knew the rule was clear, posted on every clubhouse wall, Rule 21(D). Betting on baseball and betting on games in which you were involved brought life-time banishment.
But he was Pete Rose. He was Mr. Baseball. The rule didn’t apply to him. He wouldn’t get caught, and if he did he could talk his way out of it. He stiffed bookies. One Dayton bookmaker said, “If he wasn’t Pete Rose he would be in the bottom of the Ohio River with cement shoes.”
As a manager, he bet on games involving the Reds. He says he never bet against the Reds, only bet on them to win. But there were days when he didn’t bet and the same Dayton bookie said, “When Pete didn’t bet on the Reds that was like he was telling us that he didn’t think the Reds would win that day.”
In the spring of 1989, he was standing on a practice filed talking to me and another writer and said, out of the blue, “I have to go to New York for a couple of days. The commissioner wants to ask my opinion on a couple of things.” It was strange. Why would the commissioner request an audience from a major league manager at the start of spring training, “To ask his opinion on a couple of things?”
Couldn’t that be done over the telephone? That was his summons by the commissioner to answer questions about an upcoming Sports Illustrated story that Rose had bet on baseball.
Right then was the turning point of Rose’s life. I was time to come clean. Time to ask for help. As a forgiving nation, fans would have sided with Rose and his problems. Baseball probably would have suspended him for a short time, required him to get help and that would have been that.
Rose, though, took the low road, took a 15-year denial trip, denying, denying, denying and once saying, “I’m only guilty of being a bad picker of friends.” Even faced with the staggering evidence compiled in investigator John Dowd’s report, he denied, denied, denied.
The Dowd Report, completed in 1989 before Rose’s banishment from baseball, opened a lot of eyes, including mine. While I had no idea he was bettor on baseball, the Dowd Report revealed some things I had witnessed. Rose once called Detroit manager Sparky Anderson from his office before one game when I was seated there. He asked Sparky, “How’s your pitcher tonight? Does he look good?” When he finished the call, I asked Pete, “Detroit is in the American League so why do you care about tonight’s pitcher?”
His answer was, “You know me, Hal, I just want to know what’s going on all over baseball.”
After reading the Dowd Report, I surmised that Rose was pumping Sparky for information before making a bet. Even when he admitted he bet on baseball, he did it all wrong.
Taking a $1 million commission, he admitted in a book, “My Prison Without Bars,” that he did, indeed, bet on baseball, including games involving the Cincinnati Reds. Before the book’s release, he went on television and admitted his guilt, but continued to dodge the truth. He said he never made bets from the clubhouse, but one of his bookmakers, Ron Peters, said he not only made bets from the clubhouse, he made them from a dugout telephone.
Peters said Rose called him once and while they were on the phone Peters looked at his television during a pregame show and saw Rose in the background, in the dugout, talking to Peters on the telephone, placing his bets.
There is no doubt in my mind that Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame. Think about it — 4,256 hits. No player will do that again. If a players has 200 hits a year for 20 straight years, that’s 4,000. And he still is 256 hits shy of Rose’s record.
There also is no doubt in my mind that Rose never should be allowed back into the game. He violated the cardinal rule of baseball and lied about it for 15 years. It’s a Catch-22.
He is not eligible for the Hall of Fame until he is reinstated from his banishment. If he is reinstated, he can come back to the game in some capacity and be eligible for the Veteran’s Committee to put him in the Hall of Fame. That won’t happen. The veterans are dead-set against him.
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TweetReds sign Jones, Ward to minor deals
The Cincinnati Reds made two moves today that could help their thin bench situation, if Jacque Jones and Daryle Ward can make the team and can return to past performances.
Jones, 33, and Ward, 33, were signed Thursday to minor-league contracts with invitations to the major-league camp.
Jones, once a star outfielder for the Minnesota Twins, appeared last season in 42 games with Detroit and Florida.
He has played in in 21 playoff games, including both Division Series (2002-04, 2007) and the 2002 American League Championship Series. He has 20 career leadoff homers and a .287 lifetime average with runners in scoring position.
Ward, 33, made 89 appearances last season for the Cubs and in recent seasons has mostly been used as a pinch-hitter.
His 11 pinch-hit homers ties him with Tony Clark for fourth-most among active Major Leaguers. Ward has made 11 career post-season game appearances, all in the National League Division Series (1999, 2001, 2007, 2008). He is the son of two-time AL All-Star Gary Ward.
Jones’ best years were 2006 with the Cubs when he hit 27 homers and drove in 81, while hitting .285, a year similar to 2002 with the Twins when he hit 27 homers with 85 RBIs and batted .300.
Ward had an excellent season in 2007 as a part-time performer for the Cubs and Dusty Baker when he batted 110 times, hitting three homers, driving in 19 runs and batting .327 with a .436 on-base average. But he slipped badly last season with the Cubs, hitting only .216 with a .319 on-base average while hitting four homers and driving in 17 for his 102 at-bats.
“By signing them to minor league contracts, it is a no-risk situation for us,” said general manager Walt Jocketty.
“(Manager) Dusty Baker and I have had discussions the past few weeks and one of the things we’ve looked at is improving our bench with veterans who can contribute off the bench and are good people and leaders.
“Dusty likes both of them. I liked Jones when I was in St. Louis and tried to get him and Ward has hurt us (the Reds) quite a bit in the past,” Jocketty added.
“Jones played winter ball in Mexico (.314 with 37 hits in 118 at-bats, with three homers and 17 RBIs), so that shows he is dedicated to working on his game,” said Jocketty.
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TweetConcepcion or Larkin? Take your pick
An intriguing question was posed on Mark Schlemmer’s WONE radio talk show in Dayton this week: Davey Concepcion or Barry Larkin?
Listeners were asked to choose which former Cincinnati Reds shortstop they would pick for their team.
Schlemmer asked me and I said, “I’ll give you the first pick and I’ll take the other guy.” It’s that close.
If somebody threatened to force-feed me a peanut butter cookie made from Peanut Corporation of America peanuts, I’d say: Larkin.
Defensively, they’re a wash. Both played 19 seasons. Larkin’s fielding percentage was .975 and Concepcion’s was .971, with Larkin winning three Gold Gloves and Concepcion five.
The difference is offense. Larkin was a force while Concepcion was a snug-fitting piece on the Big Red Machine. While Larkin’s career average was .295 and Concepcion’s was .267, interestingly enough, Larkin drove in 960 runs, only four more than Concepcion.
Larkin hit 198 homers and won nine Silver Slugger Awards. Concepcion hit 101 homers and won two Silver Slugger Awards. Larkin wins the on-base average contest .371 to .322. Larkin was on 12 All-Star teams to nine for Concepcion.
Both played their entire careers in Cincinnati, although late in his career Larkin had to veto a trade to the Mets to stay. And I believe Larkin and Concepcion are the only two players ever to wear a captain’s ‘C’ on their Cincinnati uniforms.
My solution? Larkin at shortstop and Concepcion at third, where he played during his last days in Cincinnati.
Or maybe I’d put Larkin at third and Concepcion at short. Wouldn’t matter either way.
I do remember that when Larkin was coming up through the system - real, real fast (only 175 games in the minors), Kurt Stillwell was another shortstop in the system.
There was discussion about moving Larkin to second base so Stillwell could play shortstop. That didn’t happen and Stillwell eventually was traded.
How fortuitous was THAT move - leaving Larkin at shortstop?
There are those who remember the time Larkin was in a snit about something and ripped the captain’s ‘C’ off his chest. It didn’t last long and blew over and was one of the few times Larkin was not the perfect citizen.
And there was the time when his contract was about to expire and CEO-at-the-time John Allen didn’t want to re-sign him. GM Jim Bowden traded him to the Mets, but Larkin invoked his no-trade clause and said no.
Then he went over Allen’s head to owner Carl Lindner and got himself a $27 million deal.
Lindner loved Larkin and Ken Griffey Jr. Once Lindner drove his $200,000 Bentley convertible to a game. Larkin and Griffey asked to take it out for a spin and Lindner tossed them the keys.
Before they returned it, they removed all of Lindner’s cassette tapes and replaced them with rap and hip-hop tapes.
And speaking of cars, when Larkin retired, he bought a new Mercedes for clubhouse attendant Rick Stowe.
Concepcion had trouble gaining clubhouse attention from the media because of the presence of Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, George Foster and Ken Griffey Sr.
And he loved attention. In the mid-70s, when clothes were garish, Concepcion went beyond garish, purchasing and brown and tan suit in large plaid. With it, he wore a dark brown velour bow tie.
When he boarded the team bus in the outfit, Rose burst out laughing and said, “When did we trade for Bozo the Clown?” He did look like a dressed-up Bozo and for the rest of the year that was his nickname, “Bozo.”
One time Concepcion felt he was wronged by the media and when he was approached after a game, he said, “I’m not talking to you guys.”
So we all ignored him. And ignored him and ignored him. Nobody tried to talk to him.
He always called me Mack-Coy and after about three weeks, I was walking past his locker and he said, “Hey, Mack-Coy, I talk to you guys now.”
I said, “OK, Davey.” And we cruelly ignored him for another week before we approached him again. He never refused to talk again.
When it comes to shortstops, though, both should have their pictures emblazoned in the grass behind their position in Great American Ballpark. That was 38 straight years of unbelievable shortstopping for the Reds.
Which one would you take?
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