Wednesday, February 24, 1999
Reese makes move to 2B
BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
![[reese]](http://reds.enquirer.com/img/photos/1999/02/022499reese_150x188.jpg)
Pokey Reese and Joe Nuxhall share a laugh at spring training.
(Craig Ruttle photo)
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SARASOTA, Fla. — Becoming the Reds' second baseman of the present after being their shortstop of the future isn't a transition for Pokey Reese. It's an upgrade.
“I'm probably the happiest person right now (because) I'm finally getting a chance to play,” Reese said Tuesday as the Reds began full-squad spring training workouts. “I'm coming in here knowing that second base is mine to lose, really. I just have to do the job.”
Fortunately for Reese, baseball has never been a job to him. The joy he expressed at getting an opportunity to start drives him to embrace his new position.
“The biggest thing about Pokey is he loves to work,” said infield coach Ron Oester. “He can't get enough of it. Instead of you telling him "That's enough,' he wants to keep going.”
That's necessary for Reese, 25, who'll need repetition to make his biggest adjustment: Learning the double-play pivot from the second baseman's perspective. Whether feeding shortstop Barry Larkin or taking a throw, Reese must learn a new set of angles and steps.
“That's the toughest part of it,” said Oester, who successfully made the same switch as he launched his 13-year Reds career (1978-90). “Some guys pick it up right away. For oth ers, it takes longer. But Pokey has picked it up pretty well. He still has a little bit of work to do. But the more he does it, the more comfortable he's going to feel.”
Larkin said Reese must feel comfortable working by himself before trying to perform with a partner.
“The foremost thing is that he feels good about what he's trying to accomplish,” Larkin said. “Then it's a matter of putting me in the mix. But there's nothing worse than when you're thinking about what you're trying to do. You try not to make a mistake and that's when you make them.”
As a lifelong shortstop, Reese was accustomed to gliding toward second base and facing the oncoming runner. Now he must head to the bag with his back to the play, not knowing how much time he has before a runner tries to upend him with a vicious slide.
“Oh, it's going to be very interesting not seeing that runner coming,” Reese said with a grin. “But I'll get used to it, getting "taken out' (bowled over) a couple of times.”
Adopting a realistic approach, Reese has told anyone who'll listen for the last few months that he can't be Bret Boone, his predecessor at second who had his finest season in 1998. Before being traded to Atlanta on Nov. 11, Boone not only won his first Gold Glove for fielding excellence but also led the Reds with 24 home runs and 95 RBI.
Defensively, Reese possesses gifts that Boone didn't. “He doesn't have to be as quick as Bret with his glove because he has such a good arm,” Oester said.
Offensively, Reese said he'd settle for a .260-to-.270 average with about 30 stolen bases. He enters this season with a .228 career average with 28 thefts in a season-and-a-half.
Reese is physically ready for his challenge. Once he recovered from the torn ligament in his right thumb that ended his 1998 season on July 30, he began lifting weights and bulked up to 185 pounds after finishing last year at 178.
He also strengthened himself psychologically, refusing to dwell on the Reds' efforts to acquire an experienced second baseman: Talking with free agents Carlos Baerga and Pat Meares or trading for Pittsburgh's Tony Womack or Milwaukee's Fernando Vina.
“I don't listen to that stuff,” Reese said. “If I give 110 percent every day, things will work out for me. I don't care who they talk about getting. If it happens, it happens. I'll go out and try to win another position, that's all.”
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![[reese]](http://reds.enquirer.com/img/photos/1999/02/022499reese_398x500.jpg)