2008 Cincinnati Reds

[duke776]

Re: 2008 Cincinnati Reds

I never said it was a big deal, I only said how can you think what Griffey did was ok?
As a sports fan how can you not have a problem with it. This is exactly what is wrong with most Cincy fans, we are use to the nonhustling and losing and we except it.

All I have to say is, what can WE do about it? The fans, we don't have a say if we get rid of him or not, yeah we can boo him all we want, but still theres way to many Griffey fans out there that think he can do no wrong. I'd be all for it if we could get rid of an old non caring baseball player like Griffey, which we probably will this off season by not picking up his option, but we can't really do anything about it. It puzzles me why Dusty still bats him third...oh wait, it's because he's Griffey, that just it, so many people think he can do no wrong like I stated already. I really don't like to accept this nonhustling **** but if I could do something about it I'd be all ears.

[SlimKibbles]

Re: 2008 Cincinnati Reds

What Junior did definitely was not okay and if anyone needed further proof of how big a baby he was, there you go. I'm rather tired of his act.

[duke776]

Re: 2008 Cincinnati Reds

I'm not sure how important this is to anyone but the reds converted Jerry Gil to a pitcher. He throws 93-94 mph, I think he has a slider, at least it mentions it here, not sure how this will work out though, it can't hurt, he sucks with the bat.

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080731/SPT04/807310379/1071/SPT04

[jake44np]

Re: 2008 Cincinnati Reds

Griffey is gone he just approved the trade to White Sox.
They are kidding themselves if they really think he can be their everyday CFer!

[Jackdog]

Re: 2008 Cincinnati Reds

Griffey is gone he just approved the trade to White Sox.
They are kidding themselves if they really think he can be their everyday CFer!

Yes they are. I am glad he's gone.

[jake44np]

Re: 2008 Cincinnati Reds

There is another rumor here in Cincy that Dunn will be traded to Tampa before the end of the day.
The rumor on the radio is the Rays are going to trade for Dunn and Manny Ramirez today.

[duke776]

Re: 2008 Cincinnati Reds

I guess since Hariston Jr is at Triple A making on a rehab assignment when he gets off the DL he'll be our everyday CF and Bruce our everyday RF. If we trade Dunn, the supposed "baseball player" Corey Patterson might even be starting every day for us.

[slickdtc]

Re: 2008 Cincinnati Reds

Who else thinks this Griffey deal will do nothing but improve this team? Griffey wasn't anything spectacular at bat this year and he certainly isn't anything special in the field either. I guess it pushes Corey Patterson to play more (which he wouldn't if our manager didn't have a secret sexual relationship with him), but at least he'll play hard. And then of course it gives other, more deserving players some chance to play even if they aren't starting.

Plus, we get bullpen help. And that's always a good thing.

[duke776]

Re: 2008 Cincinnati Reds

Who else thinks this Griffey deal will do nothing but improve this team? Griffey wasn't anything spectacular at bat this year and he certainly isn't anything special in the field either. I guess it pushes Corey Patterson to play more (which he wouldn't if our manager didn't have a secret sexual relationship with him), but at least he'll play hard. And then of course it gives other, more deserving players some chance to play even if they aren't starting.

Plus, we get bullpen help. And that's always a good thing.

Nick Masset could always become a starter again, which is good to have as an option. Danny Richar might switch back to SS unless the reds move Phillips to SS and have Richar start at 2nd, which if that possibly happened I couldn't see them doing it until next year.

[Jackdog]

Re: 2008 Cincinnati Reds

Who else thinks this Griffey deal will do nothing but improve this team? Griffey wasn't anything spectacular at bat this year and he certainly isn't anything special in the field either. I guess it pushes Corey Patterson to play more (which he wouldn't if our manager didn't have a secret sexual relationship with him), but at least he'll play hard. And then of course it gives other, more deserving players some chance to play even if they aren't starting.

Bruce to RF. Hairston CF. Keppy SS.

[PhantomPain]

Re: 2008 Cincinnati Reds

Griffey gone...hmm. I am actually somewhat torn on this although I am truly happy. I had always hoped he would get his crap straight in Cincy but the injuries were too much. now that he is healthy he is playing like a cry baby and what he did the other day with Brantley was inexcusable. I already thought Griffey was too much of a baby but after that it solidified it for me.

But I also think he was the cancer in the clubhouse with his attitude. I wonder how Dunn will react as they were very good friends. As far as Dunn goes, I am always stuck in the middle with him. I had an argument in another thread about his ability to hit the ball and at that time he was batting about .226. Now he is batting over .240 and leads the NL in dingers. I do agree it would be awfully hard to replace ihs production and like someone said before...a .260 hitter that leads the league in strike outs is the same as a .260 hitter that doesn't. His OBP is always great so I may be falling back on the bandwagon of keeping him I just wish he would use the whole field because I know he would keep his power and hit better at the same time.

Now we need Hairston to get better and Bruce can play RF where he belongs. Patterson still needs to go. Votto better find a way to start fielding or he may find himself playing as DH someday.

This team is such a disappointment to me that I can't even get fired up at possibilities anymore. I just wish and hope they turn it around soon or I may lose all interest.

[duke776]

Re: 2008 Cincinnati Reds

I am really thinking we need Dunn back next year, earlier in the year I wanted him gone, but where are we going to get the HR production that he gives us, yes I know he K's lots of times but still we really don't have a person that we know can fill in the power. We could go the FA route and sign someody, but who? I mean there might be plenty of options, but who's going to want to come to this team, we'll have to convince them that our young talent is ready and we just need them and we can contend in the division. But, I'm sort of with PhantomPain it's hard to get excited about possibilities right now, maybe that will change in the off season but remember at the beggining of this year how we were supposed to be good. Where did that go

[SlimKibbles]

Re: 2008 Cincinnati Reds

Doc's column from today. I think it's a pretty good one. Part of me is sad to see Junior go. I think that part is my excitement that I felt when he first was traded to the Reds creating a hope that I wasn't ever able to let go of easily. The greater part of me is happy to see him gone. We should have known what we were in for when right after being traded he whined about wanting to wear Tony Perez's #24. The more stuff I've heard over the years, such as complaining about the attention Josh Hamilton was getting in 2007, Junior not signing balls unless his name would be the only one on it (I'll find that link), the Jeff Brantley incident, etc., have completely turned me off to the guy. I think the trade set back this franchise every year he's been here. It changed the mentality of the team. I did not want Jay Bruce following Junior's lead in any way other than not to use juice. It's a sad time at the moment but the franchise will be much better off.

Doc: It just didn't work out

Ken Griffey Jr. was the big box under the Christmas tree, unopened for nine years.

His career as a Cincinnati Red was more melodrama than drama, more oh-no than oh-my. His last hit as a Red was a three-run homer; his lasting image as a Red was making a throat-slashing gesture toward Reds broadcaster Jeff Brantley. Each symbolizes Griffey’s time here. You decide which is the sharper picture.

In hindsight, he never fit. Griffey never embraced Cincinnati. Cincinnati didn’t give him much of a chance. This isn’t a great town for superstars. We don’t cater well. In that respect, Griffey was always too big a presence. He wanted room service. We pointed to the drive-thru.

For better or worse, we prefer jocks who keep their shirts dirty and their opinions to themselves. This isn’t necessarily a working-class town, but it owns a workingman’s sensibility. The Kid of Seattle, who wore his hat backward and his joy on his sleeve, was a 30-year-old married father of two by the time he got here. The joy part of his game was rarely apparent.

The plan in 2000 was for a still-in-his-prime Junior to be in a Reds uniform when he hit home run No. 756. Instead, Junior hit No. 600 in Florida seven weeks ago, witnessed by a Marlins crowd you could fit into the stateroom of Griffey’s yacht. If you’re looking for a metaphor for Griffey’s nine years in Cincinnati, that’ll do.

Carl Lindner brought him back with promises to build a winner around him. That wasn’t the case. The manager at the time, Jack McKeon, grumbled that the Reds needed pitching, not Griffey. The general manager at the time, Jim Bowden, called Griffey the Michael Jordan of baseball.

The Reds built a ballpark around his longball prowess. The combination of distance and fence height down the rightfield line at Great American Ball Park was the coziest allowable by Baseball. I suggested when the place opened in 2003 they should call the sun/moon deck seats in right Griffeyville. Griffey responded that he wasn’t a pull hitter. And so it went.

Griffey was the most overtly sensitive star I’ve covered in 20 years here. His skin couldn’t cover a decent-sized onion. “They want to see me fail’’ Griffey once said to me, referring to Cincinnati fans. No, they wanted to see you hit 40 home runs and embrace your hometown. The former occurred once, his first season; the latter never did.

Leg injuries robbed him of his speed and some of his power. Between 2002 and 2004, Griffey played in just 206 games. Frustration was the biggest part of his game.

To his credit, Griffey rehabbed hard and diligently, hurt after hurt. Last year at age 37, he hit 30 homers.

Watching Griffey was like looking at both sides of a coin at the same time. His steroid-free career ennobled the sport and served as a great example. His gestures to kids could be graceful and touching. After homer No. 606, Griffey presented a 7-year-old in the seats with a signed batting helmet.

His missteps were equally notable, starting with his request to wear Tony Perez’s uniform number 24 and ending with the Brantley incident. Griffey’s sense of entitlement was shared by younger, impressionable Reds, who hadn’t earned what Griffey owned. There was (and is) no player leadership to counteract it. That’s a big reason Griffey isn’t a Red today. Too many young players, too easily led.

It was a measure of how far Griffey’s popularity had tumbled that very few fans sided with him after the Brantley incident. To most, the Griffey Era will be recalled with disappointment and regret, a match made in heaven that ended in divorce court.

He’s Chicago’s issue now. The White Sox aren’t paying much of Griffey’s money this year. When he retires, the Reds owe him all the deferred money. It was a weird exchange, given that the Sox don’t need any outfielders, or a designated hitter.

Maybe Griffey, stoked by a pennant race, will find some miles in his legs he hasn’t discovered here. He will be playing some centerfield. Good luck to him.

The fairy tale never had a chance. More’s the pity.

[jake44np]

Re: 2008 Cincinnati Reds

Most guys wont sign balls that someone else has already signed.
I am a very big collector or signed baseballs (I have about 100 signed baseballs, including 12 from the big Red machine era) and most guys will not sign a ball someone else has already signed. You really dont want them to sign them anyway as it lowers the value of the ball. Its hard to believe but a signed "team" ball is worth less then a ball signed by just one superstar.

[sportsdude]

Re: 2008 Cincinnati Reds

so with Griffey gone, I'm assuming Jay Bruce moves to RF full time, meaning that Patterson is now our everyday CF. Great. Here's hoping a speedy recovery to both Hairston and Hopper.