COMMENTARY
Despite struggles, new-look Reds making progress
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
TODD JONES
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CINCINNATI — Most of the much-advertised $1 hot dogs were still roasting on the grill when boos began ringing through the Great American Ball Park.
Good thing the buns were free last night.
While the crowd ripped the home team for trailing St. Louis 7-0 in the second inning, Reds general manager Wayne Krivsky was tersely telling the media that one of the relief pitchers he acquired in a controversial trade in July has a tired shoulder.
That’s the same Gary Majewski who told the media before the game that he had a cortisone shot in his shoulder shortly before the Washington Nationals dealt him to the Reds.
Washington general man-
Jim Bowden fired the Reds three years ago, either hoodwinked his old club by trading damaged goods or the Reds were negligent in accepting a sore-shouldered pitcher in a deal in which they gave up two everyday starters.
No inside information here, but let’s say the next time the Reds talk trade with Bowden, they’ll be counting all players limbs, fingers and toes.
Even without the newsy intrigue surrounding the July 13 trade, last night was a steamy, miserable one for the Reds, who allowed the Cardinals to play La Bamba on their noggins to the tune of a 13-1 defeat.
The Cardinals looked like a team that has won the National League Central two consecutive years and five times in the past six, which they are.
The Reds looked like a team that has had five consecutive losing seasons and seven in the past nine, which they are.
Booing fans in Cincinnati can take solace in the fact that the one-night Tony Soprano mob hit by St. Louis left the Reds only 4½ games behind the Cardinals and, yes, still leading the demolition derby of rusting Pintos known as the NL wildcard chase — albeit tied at the top with the Dodgers.
Both facts are a sad indictment of the horrendous NL — the Cardinals are the first team in major-league history to suffer two eight-game losing streaks and still remain in first place — but also a testament to how far the Reds have come under new ownership and management.
The vibe around the previously musty Reds immediately changed when hard-charging Bob Castellini and two partners purchased the team in January and hired Krivsky a month later.
They’re trying to make this team competitive not just for this year but for years to come, said Reds center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. They want to make this a team that makes people feel like they need to watch it.
So far, not everyone around the Queen City wants to watch the hometown nine in person. Besides $1 hot dogs, the Reds offered tickets for half price in 10 seating locations last night and still fell 8,009 short of capacity.
Cincinnati is in self-flagellation mode about why fans aren’t going to games. Theories are being tossed about, including one that it’s dangerous to go downtown — as if the park were located in Baghdad.
Note to all the head-scratchers: The Reds’average crowd of 26,663 this year is only 1,925 less than they averaged in 1975, when the Big Red Machine won 108 games and its first of two consecutive World Series championships.
Fans in this self-described baseball town will eventually fill seats if the team, last night aside, continues to win in the final two months.
Krivsky is doing all he can — just short of juggling chain saws — to ensure that this season’s unexpected success continues. He acquired his sixth new relief pitcher since July 6, Ryan Franklin from Philadelphia, yesterday. Krivsky’s 10 th trade in six months is one more than his predecessor, Dan O’Brien, made in 27 months.
It speaks a lot about their commitment, Krivsky said of Reds ownership adding more than $2 million in payroll in recent deals.
"They see we’re in the hunt and they’re backing us up. They want to win."
The Reds, facing St. Louis six more times in the next 10 days, have somehow remained in contention while rebuilding half of their roster in Krivsky’s short tenure.
They might fade in the season’s dog days. Cincinnati, like every club in the NL except the New York Mets, has flaws — a truth that the Cardinals hammered home last night.
Still, the Reds — tired shoulders and all — are better off for the future with their new aggressive attitude at the top.
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Todd Jones is a sports colum nist at The Dispatch
