The Reds Rocket has had a hard time disguising the bias in favor of Griffey. I grew up in Washington, witnessed the awful Mariners teams where Griffey was the only watchable player, and when the Reds acquired him in 2000 it didn't matter that Jared Fernandez and his shitty ass knuckleball were going to be the opening day starter. But he got hurt and when his body finally healed he had aged. The first half of last year was a terrific thing to watch but his power disappeared from July on, until a torn coin purse ended the season in September. This year his bat looked slow. The swing's the same but it seemed like the only balls he hit hard were offspeed or mistakes. And I hope, defensively, that he just lost balls in the lights or whatever, rather than was simply not interested, or unable, to make a play in right.Reds fans did get to see the first 600th career home run hit by a Reds player (though I am just as interested in 610, the one which hits Sammy Sosa, his corked bat and jheri curl right in the balls). And, fortunately, as a small concession, all the players traded to the Mariners in the deal are either out of the league or their current team wishes they were out of the league (Tomko: 2-8, 6.79 ERA; Cameron: speedhead, followed by .227/.316/.465 in 71 games). But the Reds didn't win. His salary was a luxury that current attendance numbers don't support in Cincinnati. The return of Masset and Richar looks suspiciously like a salary dump rather than an acquisition of parts necessary to build a championship baseball team. The Reds have a second baseman who is under contract until 2012. One who hit 30 home runs last season and doesn't have visa problems. And we know Masset isn't going to take Fogg's spot in the rotation. The Foggster's lights out.
This site doesn't do sentimental well, but, regardless of that listed above, I'm going to have to find a new line in the Reds' boxscore to read first. Enjoy Chicago and check with Ken Williams to see if he might be interested in another Reds outfielder, one that runs pretty fast and may or may not have an on-base percentage under .220. That's the piece needed to beat the Angels in October.
3 comments:
I concur with your Junior sentiments. It still irritates me that in 2000 before the injuries started, I wasn't even paying much attention to baseball.
It's somewhat painful that the best thing you can say about Junior as a Red is "well, at least nobody suspects him of steroid use."
It's nice that he got #600 with us, but not as nice that we would have gotten more for him if we traded him last year.
Also, I still occasionally have nightmares about Jared Fernandez and his shitty knuckleball.
In times like these, my only comfort is that I'm not a Pirates fan.
"see if he might be interested in another Reds outfielder, one that runs pretty fast and may or may not have an on-base percentage under .220"
OMG, LOL
My new favorite player? The same as the Reds' broadcast team: Jerry HARRIS-TON!
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