Saturday, September 23, 2000
REDS NOTEBOOK
Williamson not risking future
By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Scott Williamson is officially out for the year. Williamson, who suffered two broken toes a week and a half ago, met with pitching coach Don Gullett before Friday's game and it was decided to shut him down.
“They don't want me to risk hurting something else,” Williamson said. “If we were still in the race or the playoffs, I'd be pitching right now. It's a lot better, but with us out of the race they don't want me to push it.”
Williamson broke his toes in a household accident. He tried to throw on flat ground before the Reds left for San Francisco, but it proved too painful.
Williamson stayed back on the trip. He would have been able to pitch in only one game the rest of the year.
“They didn't want me to alter my mechanics,” Williamson said.
Williamson, who was converted from reliever to starter at the All-Star break, plans to go to the Instructional League to work with Gullett on his pitches.
“This isn't how I want to end the season,” he said.
Williamson, last year's National League Rookie of the Year, is 5-8 with a 3.29 ERA. He leads the Reds with 136 strikeouts in 112 innings. His major problem this year has been control. He walked 75 batters this year after walking only 43 in 93 innings last year.
He entered Friday second in the NL in wild pitches with 21. He broke Jim Maloney's Reds club record of 19.
MAKESHIFT LINEUP: At 3:30 p.m. Friday, Reds manager Jack McKeon still had not posted a lineup. McKeon usually has the card filled out at least an hour before that, but he was waiting to see who could play and who couldn't.
Chris Stynes (out the previous four games with back spasms) could. So he started at third base.
Ken Griffey Jr. (partially torn hamstring) and Pokey Reese (hit on the hand by a pitch Wednesday) could not. So Chris Sexton started at second base, Michael Tucker started in center field.
The lineup: Tucker, Sexton, Dmitri Young (left field), Sean Casey (first base), Alex Ochoa (right field), Stynes, Benito Santiago (catcher) and Juan Castro (shortstop).
That's only two players — Young and Casey — from what was projected as the Opening Day lineup.
The Reds are out of race, but the injuries were the reason the lineup looked that way.
McKeon will play his regulars until the end.
“It's a 162-game schedule,” he said. “You're playing to win. When you send Pete Harnisch, you want to use your regulars. It wouldn't be fair to him to do otherwise.”
JUNIOR NOMINEE: Griffey is Reds' nominee for the Roberto Clemente Man of the Year Award.
In August, he played host to 75 children from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Cincinnati, Orlando and Seattle. Last week, he donated $10,000 toward the purchase of school supplies for Boys and Girls Clubs.NO .500: The Reds rotation had been set to allow Steve Parris to get enough starts to even his record at .500. That's no longer possible. Parris lost to San Francisco on Wednesday, breaking a seven-game winning streak and dropping him to 12-15. He has two starts left.
UP NEXT: Pete Harnisch (8-6, 4.68 ERA) faces fellow right-hander Scott Elarton (17-6, 4.77) in the second game of the series with the Houston Astros tonight.
Harnisch is going for his sixth straight win. He is 7-1 with a 3.43 ERA in the second half of the season.
Today is Harnisch's 34th birthday.
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Williamson not risking future
