Unrequited passion
I had this brief text exchange Wednesday with a media pal who was down at Pretty Good:
He: “Was just in the Pirates clubhouse. Not a bunch of household names on your beloved MPWS.’’
(For youse newcomers, that’s short for My Pirates Who Suck.)
I: “I’m off the SS Nutting. I root for ‘em to L.’’
He: “Then it should be an awesome year.’’
I: “I’m hoping.’’
Do you think MLB has a wicked sense of humor or simply a keen appreciation for hardball irony?
Scheduling the Reds to open the baseball season with the Pirates, I mean. Are there two teams more representative of what ails the game than these two? Oakland, for sure. The Nationals, maybe, but at least the Nats have won a trophy since the George H.W. Bush administration.
The Pirates are 0-for-44 years. The Reds are Empty-for-33. Each is offering a semblance of effort. Neither is close to proving it knows what it’s doing. Here’s one big difference:
Pittsburgh has abandoned its baseball passion. Cincinnati has only a few toes out the turnstiles. The Pirates to Pittsburgh are a curiosity, like an old scrapbook or photos in an album. Their fans will re-visit the faded newspaper clippings and the photos from the lake, but just for a little while. There’s football to be played and hockey to be served up.
If that’s starting to sound like you, well. . .
Lately, the Reds have not been kind to their greatest assets, tradition and goodwill. Ancillary stuff is still very good: The Community Fund, the ballpark amenities. Those who make it to Pretty Good are usually glad they did. Except for, you know, the losing part.
More than almost any other baseball place not named Boston or St. Louis, Cincinnati takes its Reds personally. This isn’t some anonymous outpost squatting bestride a freeway (Arlington, TX, say; Oakland, CA) where baseball is rumorous and vague. This is the Queen City, where baseball has been king since 1869.
I know ownership understands this. Bob Castellini went to Crosley when he was a kid. In what seems like another lifetime, The Big Man boldly expressed his desire to return trophies to the riverfront. We believed him, because that’s what Reds fans do, what they’ve always done.
He hasn’t succeeded. But for many seasons, we at least felt his aim was true. He was One of Us. He hired Dusty Baker, a big-time manager. He brought in his pal Walt Jocketty, who had rings. The payroll was slightly oversized for the market.
The execution — The Plan — was flawed, guided as much by fanly impulse as by rational game-planning. Then COVID hit, the bottom fell out financially and Castellini made the choice almost all baseball owners make:
When forced to decide between winning games and keeping his shareholders happy, he chose the latter.
I don’t blame him. Most of us would do the same. I am disappointed, though.
Consider the money those investors have made since they bought in with The Big Man all those years ago. A franchise Castellini’s ownership group bought for $270 million in January 2006 is now worth more than four times that. Not only that, the minority partners’ money has not been lost.; Castellini has said on numerous occasions that the Reds budget to break even.
I dunno ‘bout you, but if somebody told me I could quadruple my initial investment over 17 years, without fear of losing my shirt, I couldn’t say yes fast enough. And of course, the appreciation of the asset owes in large part to taxpayers funding the asset, ie the ballpark. Please, someone build me a house, then allow me to sell it whenever I like, for gobs of your money.
Buying a sports team comes with no hard and fast obligations to win with that sports team. MLB isn’t the Premier League. Bob Nutting, Pirates shameless owner, is no danger of being relegated.
But as I mentioned, baseball here isn’t like baseball most anywhere. This ownership group was entrusted with a $270 million heirloom. Have they been good stewards?
The parade starts at noon. It’s a wondrous thing, as vital a stitch in the local fabric as exists. A hundred and a half groups will take over the streets of downtown, celebrating a heritage unlike any other. Their hearts are in the right and good place.
The game is personal here and with that intimacy comes a request that ownership honor the gift it has been given. Maybe it’s time to do better than break even with the hearts entrusted to your care. It’s passed time.
As a lifelong fan of baseball and now an active member of the Reds Hall of Fame 1869 Red Stockings Vintage Base Ball team, I participated in the Reds Opening Day parade for the first time. You're right Doc, it is a stitch in the fabric of Cincinnati Baseball. Yes, I have attended the OD parade multiple times in the past, but this was the first time I was a walking/jogging/high-fiving with the fans lining the streets participant. Wow! Nuff said on that. Then comes game time at the GABP. Sunshine, temperatures warming into the 60's, all the pomp and circumstance one could ask for at any sporting event and the fans excitement rose to fever pitch. Fans filled the GABP in record numbers to see the beloved Red Stockings, Redlegs, Reds of 2023 take on the Pirates of Pittsburgh. I'll leave it at "Hope springs eternal..." Then the last out was recorded on a called third strike and there was no joy in Mudville alongside the Muddy Ohio River. We do it all over again, this time for the KIDS, Saturday is KIDS Opening Day in Reds Country. Once again, hope will spring...and the sights and sounds of baseball will fill the air in Cincinnati.
My wife and I take the 78 to McMicken and then walk to a friend’s lot for brats and beer at 11A.M. with a spot to watch the parade. This year it lasted a little more than two hours. The entire day is such a celebration for the Queen City! Then we walk down to the banks and join friends and observe all of the people enjoying the day with a few beverages. We walk up to Fountain Square and watch some of the game on the big screen. Afterwords, we walk to Sixth and Vine to catch the 78 back to St. Bernard where we continue to enjoy the day and appreciate some of the good things in life. This trip also reminds us how important public transportation is for so many people. I sat next to a lady from Lincoln Heights and learned she is married to a good friend and coworker from Princeton City Schools. Getting out of your everyday routine is good for the soul as you see and hear life from a different perspective and vantage point !