Sunday, February 20, 2000Pokey plays hard, works harder
BY TIM SULLIVAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
SARASOTA, Fla. — Pokey Reese gobbles up ground balls like a turbocharged lawn mower He stalks pop flies the way a lion does his dinner. He has more range than Montana and an arm like an artillery piece.
Pokey Reese
(Michael E. Keating photo)
| ZOOM |There's only one play he can't make: He can't play it cool.
The Cincinnati Reds' second baseman owns a Gold Glove and a child's lack of pretense. He showed up for work Saturday morning wearing a Randy Moss replica football jersey, and left intent on starting a simulated basketball season on his Dreamcast video game.
Success has not spoiled him. It has barely touched him. He has achieved stardom and remained star-struck. When Ken Griffey Jr. enters the Reds clubhouse Monday morning, Reese's aim is to acquire his autograph.
“As soon as he gets in here, if there's not too much media around him, I'm going to get it,” Reese said Saturday in the Reds clubhouse. “He's the best ballplayer I've seen.”
For the better part of three months, Pokey Reese was seen as the main obstacle between the Reds and Griffey. General Manager Jim Bowden initiated trade talks with the Seattle Mariners by identifying Reese and first baseman Sean Casey as his two “untouchables.” When an impasse was declared at the winter meetings, Reese was identified as the central stumbling block.
Some of baseball's brightest observers were stunned. They thought Pokey Reese holding up a Griffey deal as ridicu lous as Ringo Starr roadblocking a Beatles reunion. Reese wondered about the wisdom himself.
Productive player
As recently as last spring, Reds General Manager Jim Bowden was so unsure of Reese's readiness that he explored a trade with Milwaukee for Fernando Vina. He signed Carlos Baerga as a fallback in case Reese flopped. He worried about whether Reese would hit enough to hold the job.Bowden's caution was commendable, but his anxiety was misplaced. Reese produced more offensively than anyone projected — hitting .285 with 52 extra-base hits and 38 stolen bases. Defensively, he was a revelation.
Asked if he had ever seen a second baseman play so deep, Johnny Bench replied, “Or so well.” ESPN's Dave Campbell said Reese had more range than any second baseman he had ever seen.
Still, Bowden was blasted for failing to close the Griffey deal by including Reese, as if the Reds' GM failed to appreciate what he was passing up. What a lot of erstwhile experts failed to understand was the amount of leverage the Reds held in their negotiations with the Mariners. There was no need to trade Reese in order to get Griffey, and there was even less justifi cation.
Elite middle infielders are a scarce commodity in the major leagues, and rarer still is the star-quality player who remains eager to please. Pokey Reese probably should be the Reds' regular shortstop, but he has embraced second base in deference to Barry Larkin. He bats leadoff or eighth with equal enthusiasm and is so intent on improvement that he has volunteered for winter ball following the 2000 season.
Most clubs are hard-pressed to persuade marginal prospects to compete in the Caribbean in the off-season. They don't need the money and they don't want the aggravation. The few front-line players who participate are usually natives making cameos in their home country.
"I want to be the best'But much as Pokey Reese adores his video games, he loves the real thing that much more. His idea of the perfect vacation is a balmy climate and a batting cage.
“People tell me not to do that, not to play winter ball,” Reese said, picking slowly at a salad. “But I love going and going and going and I want to be the best. Look at (Texas catcher) Pudge Rodriguez. He plays year-round. It will only help me improve my game.”
Some guys in Reese's shoes would become insufferable. They might interpret their role in the Griffey deal as an excuse to start taking things for granted. Reese, however, continues to chase his dream by lunging rather than loafing.
“I'm going to try to raise my game to the point where people say, "This is why they didn't trade this guy,'” Reese said. “There are still going to be questions of whether I was a one-year wonder. I'm trying to prove that I wasn't.”
Pokey Reese is not cool enough to coast.
Enquirer columnist Tim Sullivan welcomes your E-mail. Message him at tsullivan@enquirer.com.
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![[reese]](http://reds.enquirer.com/img/photos/2000/02/022000reese.jpg)