My Chat with Brandon Phillips

I made the trip to Bowling Green and the Reds Winter Caravan and waited in line for about 1/2 an hour. They were just about right on time and we were all told that we could only have 1 thing signed per player. There were about 200 people on hand, more or less. Now the fun starts.

After going through the line and signing up for the giveaways we finally got to Devin Mesoraco (2007 #1 Pick), Brandon Phillips, Bob Miller (VP/Asst. GM), Marty Brennaman, Chris Welsh, and Lee May.

Here it goes:

Me: Hey Brandon (shook his hand) as Devin signed my sheet. Hey Bob (Miller) when are we going to get a bat?

Miller (Ignoring Me)

Me: Hey Bob, when are we going to get a bat?

Brandon: What? What? What? Why do we need a bat?

Me: I think you need some help for the offense.

Brandon: I don't need any help. Why do we need a bat? We have a great team.

Me: I just think the Reds need a bat because we lost a great one.

Brandon: Who, who did we lose? Who are you talking about?

Me: Adam.

Brandon: What did he do? What did he do? What did he do?

Me: Well, he hit 40 homers every year and drove in 100 every year.

Brandon: You know how many times he struck out?

Me: What's the big deal with strikeouts? Why does that matter? He made less outs than anyone on the team.

Brandon: How many RBIs did he have compared to his homers?

Me: It's hard for him to drive in runs with no one on base.

Brandon: Are you saying Willie ain't gonna get on base? Are you saying I didn't get on base? I got on base. What should we do, just give away half our team?

Me: I didn't say anyone should be traded. I just think you guys could really use some help and Willie Taveras isn't going to cut it. He just doesn't get on base enough.

Bob Miller: You know what his on base percentage was last year?

Me: I think it was about .308 or something like that. That is not good and I think the money could have gone towards a better hitter.

Bob Miller: It's only 2 million.

Me: And 4 million next year.

Bob Miller: We didn't have a lot of choice. His on base was .370 before that. It's hard to hit in Colorado.

Me: He was terrible in Houston before that and terrible in Colorado after that. You could have gotten the same thing out of Patterson for 800k.

Bob Miller: We tried that.

Me: Hey Marty, nice to meet you.

Marty: Nice to meet you young man. How are you?

Me: I am good, but Bob and Brandon don't think the Reds need another bat.

Marty: Rolls his eyes. What did Brandon say?

Me: I told him they need some help and told Bob the Reds need another bat. Chris, what do you think?

Chris: It would be nice.

Bob Miller: The offseason isn't over.

Me: It was reported yesterday that the Reds were done. Well, Today Bob said they may not be done.

Marty: Chris, you don't agree with Brandon do you?

Chris: Speechless and in agreement with my point.

Lee and Chris: What did Bob say today?

I told him what was said and then said good luck to Chris, Lee, and Marty.


I'll just say this. For all we hear about Brandon Phillips, well, I'm not sure. He is very confrontational and very arrogant. I wasn't even talking to him and he just starting trying to intimidate me. I wish I would not have gone now. I was trying to be nice to him and say things in a respectful way, but he got really smart with me really fast. It was obvious he wants to be the team and doesn't want to share the spotlight. He obviously did not like Dunn either. I was surprised. I thought Marty would be kinda smart, but he could not have been nicer and Chris Welsh was in full agreement with my points. I talked to them for several minutes and left some things out, but that was the basic conversation. Bob Miller wasn't very polite either. Brandon Phillips does not want any help. He think the Reds are a great team.

Wow.

I did get all their autographs and have a Brandon Phillips signed Calender and an autograph sheet with everyone there on it.