Sunday, July 01, 2001
Reds are paying for sideshows, not good players
OK, Reds, give us your Jose Rijos and your Pete Rose Jrs. Give us “sport hernias” and the controversial Joe Nuxhall. Can't the man just call the ballgame for a change? It's amazing what these young broadcasters will do for attention. C'mon, baby, let the sideshows roll. The alternative is to start taking the games seriously, and no one wants that. Just because Tim Foli bit Ron Oester's leg doesn't make him a bad dog.
When you're 15 games under .500, no one's immune and anything's possible. Nuxhall said Barry Larkin was losing it, but he didn't say what Larkin was losing. Maybe Nuxie was talking about Larkin's hair.
The broadcaster wants you to know he's not controversial. “I didn't say it for that reason. I'm sorry it turned out that way,” Nuxhall said Saturday.“I hope (Larkin) gets better.”
You just know there will be lots of days like Saturday for the Reds, when Bill Selby cue-balls a three-run double down the left-field line, Kelly Stinnett hits two home runs and Jose Acevedo throws a five-hitter for seven innings. Until then, give us more weeks like the one just finished, when Nuxhall denies being outrageous.
Get rid of Bob Boone. His managing is tragic. Move Larkin off shortstop. Fire Jim Bowden. He's assaulting the ballclub's dignity, whatever that means.
No one's immune. Anything's possible. How 'bout this:
The Reds are 15 under .500 because they don't have enough good players. They don't have enough good players because ownership doesn't want to buy them.
Ownership, in fact, wouldn't mind if a few of the existing good players — Dmitri Young, mainly — were exchanged for more 19-year-olds. They got another teen-ager Saturday, a pitcher from the Yankees. They traded Mark Wohlers, who makes $500,000, for Ricardo Aramboles, who makes lunch money.
Soon, the Reds won't need coaches, only hall monitors.
In 20 years of watching baseball for money, here's something we've learned:
It's really hard to be a good team with four rookie pitchers in the starting rotation.
It would be nice if someone in charge of wallets would say: “The new stadium will make the value of my investment rise like dough in the oven. Given that my contribution to that handsome appreciation is nil, and the taxpayers' portion is extraor dinary, I'd like to show my gratitude by paying to field a contender.”
Owners such as Carl Lindner should not hide behind the small-market curtain when the public is paying to make them wealthier. Sooner or later, they start looking like The Wizard of Oz. Or Mike Brown.
Until the money flows more freely, we'll amuse ourselves with fans who want to commit suicide whenever Boone pinch hits for Juan Castro with the pitcher's spot up next.
A good reason for the designated hitter is it prolongs the careers of worthy players. An other is that it reduces the mindless second-guessing of those who have nightmares after Boone sends a left-handed reliever in to face a right-handed hitter.
“(When) we've got $12 million on the field and the other team's got $60 million, we're not supposed to win,” says Boone, who's nevertheless intrigued by the effort.
How many games in a year can an NL manager win or lose with his brain?
If you answer “more than three,” you are in serious need of medication.
Strategy was so important in 1990 to career American Leaguer Lou Piniella, he won a world title as an NL rookie. Piniella made the adjustment because he had good players.
The Reds have OK players and not enough of those.
Let the sideshows roll. Nuxhall should be applauded for what he said. As it is, he feels a little bad about it. The Ol' Left-hander, rounding third and heading for remorse.
Don't sweat it, Nux. It was a nice diversion. We need those when there is no money.
E-mail: pdaugherty@enquirer.com. Past columns at Enquirer.com/columns/daugherty.
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DAUGHERTY: Reds are paying for sideshows, not good players
