Friday, May 19, 2000
Rest doesn't sit well with Bichette
McKeon says he'll have to live with crowded OF
By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Dante Bichette won't back down. Bichette did not start Thursday for the third straight game.
He entered the game in the eighth inning as a pinch-hitter, and his single in the 10th sent Sean Casey to third and set up the winning run in the 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The key to his hit?
“I was so relaxed because I had three days off,” Bichette deadpanned.
Reds manager Jack McKeon sat Bichette, who is hitting .215 overall, after he went 1-for-13 in the four-game Houston series.
“Hopefully three days of relaxing will help,” McKeon said. “Everyone wants to do well. It gets to the point where you start trying to do too much.”
Bichette said flatly that the rest has done him no good. But he doesn't want to be perceived as a malcontent.
“I'm not used to sitting out,” he said. “But the bottom line is the team is winning. I just want to be back in there and hitting (fourth) behind (Ken Griffey) Junior. I think even when I'm struggling I'm a name in there. Dmitri (Young's) been doing a good job. But that's where I'd like to be.”
McKeon said he understood Bichette was not happy to sit.
“He's been playing with clubs that do things differently,” McKeon said. “He's going to have to get accustomed to what we do here. That's the way it's going to be.”
The crowded outfield picture makes it that way.
“We've got five pretty good outfielders,” McKeon said. “No one likes to come out.”
Four of the five are competing for two spots. Griffey is going to play every day because of his defense in center field.
McKeon may give Griffey a day off at some point, but it's unlikely.
“I've tried to take him out of couple of games,” McKeon said. “But he doesn't want to come out. I'll take him out some game when we're way ahead.”
Reds Stories
• Return to Reds front page...
Rest doesn't sit well with Bichette
