Matt McLain Offers Hope

Are we too cynical to take it?

Vintagecardprices.com

Matt McLain smoked a hustle-double to left-center in his second Show at-bat Monday night, then turned the hit into a run, scoring on single to left by Jake Fraley. Both were bust-ass plays that should have provoked a measure of optimism among the remaining Club faithful. If the Reds are to find their way back into your good graces, they’re going to need lots of Matt McLain Moments.

Cynicism is a chicken-and-egg thing, except when we’re born. We don’t ka-boom out the womb, thinking the world sucks until proven otherwise. Cynicism and its annoying twin, snark, are learned behaviors.

As I’m listening to the radio description of McLain’s first career hit, I’m struck with two competing thoughts. Outstanding effort, the sort of aggression that, honestly, Reds hitters have displayed much of the year. They had three hustle-doubles last night alone. Part of it was the cavernous Coors Field outfield, but some was personal want-to. Even lacking teams can hustle.

So far, so good.

Yonder Alonso

But Thought 2 marches in lockstep with its sunny brother. “Wonder how long before this kid evolves into the next Brandon Larson, David Espinosa or Yonder Alonso?’’ Today, a created double; tomorrow, another chapter in the Club’s long book of Whatever Happened To?

This is entirely unfair to McLain, of course. He shouldn’t have to own the burden of past draft failures. But it’s not an unreasonable reaction. There’s a little bit of cynicism in all of youse.

This is especially notable now, as the Reds edge toward what they say is a bright future. After McLain will come De la Cruz, Encarnacion-Strand and Abbott. The credibility of ownership and GM Nick Krall rests utterly on the fortunes of 20-year-olds. And we’re not even talking about Greene, Ashcraft and Lodolo.

No one wants to think about a Reds future in which a majority of these guys wash out. But given the conga-line of draft-pick washouts here, those thoughts aren’t going away.

The difference between optimism and cynicism isn’t attitude. It’s performance. Unless you’re a total bore, you don’t use cynicism as a weapon. You use it as armor. Your disappointment can be massaged if you can say to yourself, so what else is new?

The Reds of 2023 are in the same position occupied by the 2003 Bengals (Marvin’s Year 1) and the Bengals of 2021 (Zac’s 3rd year). Cynicism is still better than apathy, but it’s not in the same ballpark as optimism.

Most sports fans look for reasons to be happy. When they’re happiness gets kicked in the teeth, the defense mechanisms kick in. That’s where the Reds and you are right now.

Amirite?

I felt bad after McLain’s double, that I would even see it with the same jaundiced eyes as I’d seen happiness an instant before. That said, I’ve learned my lessons following the two local pro teams. Better to be snarky and not look stupid than to be “positive’’ and confirm my callowness.

When folks I used to write about complained of my “negativity’’ I’d tell ‘em I didn’t create the reality. I reflected it. You play good, I write good.

It’s up to the Reds to change the current reality. Bravo to Matt McLain, the first window into the Reds sunny future. Unless he never flings it open.

Do you feel this way?

Now, then. . .

VACATION’S ALL I EVER WANTED. . . (Thank you, Brenda Carlisle)

Here at Palatial Estate South, the biggest decision I make all day is Keystone Light or Sierra Nevada Pale.

(Answer: Yes.)

The best vacation we’ve ever had is this one. Unless it was the last one. Johnny Thinwallet might drink expired milk that tastes fine or eat leftover turkey frozen since Christmas 2020 but he has never scrimped on vacations. They’re that important.

It’s not about “recharging’’ for me. I did this for a living. I need recharged?

It’s about time spent undistracted with the people closest to you. I cannot tell you one present I got for Christmas or my birthday. I can tell you every house we’ve rented every year for a couple decades, on the beach at South Ponte Vedra.

Remember when you bought me that sweater is no match for remember the year in St. Augustine when. . .?

I was lucky as a kid that my folks had the means to take us on vacation every year. I might not have appreciated it at the time (I had buds and girlfriends I wouldn’t be seeing) but those getaways did ingrain in me the need for that sort of bond.

My parents had a house on Cape Cod. Now, we have a condo in an old folks community in Bradenton. Family uses it all the time. We’ve pondered in This Space the existential question: Is vacation still vacation when you’re retired?

I think so. The mere act of vacating implies a need to disconnect from the everyday. (I disconnect with varying degrees of success. I mean, I’m staring at a palm tree behind a golf green this very moment, vacay or not vacay?)

Most of the best things I’ve done with my life have zero to do with the living I made. The annual sojourn to the mountains with my son, for example. That has been and keeps being life-changing and life-affirming.

Finally, here’s the problem with vacation that I had most of my career: Seven days off. First three days spent gearing down, last three spent gearing back up. Left me one day to just. . . vacate. Sound familiar?

Your idea of vacation, please. Your thoughts on the institution, generally.

Who loves ya, baby? Vegas?

WILL VEGAS WORK? The dying Oakland As have agreed on a location in Las Vegas where the team will move. It’s on the south end of The Strip, on a chunk of the current Tropicana property.

A few things:

Nobody goes to Vegas to watch baseball. Baseball, in some ways, is the antithesis of what Vegas represents. Billy Beane? Or Billy Joel?

The planned stadium will seat 30K. The Bengals get that at a Sunday morning tailgate. I suppose a major-league team can make money with a tiny park. Assuming it has a very good local TV-radio deal, which a Vegas team likely won’t. Las Vegas is #30 in the country in market size. Cincinnati is 24th. The As are leaving an Oakland/SF market that’s 12th.

Do Las Vegas citizens give a rat about MLB? There is no big-league history there, there’s a lot of transience. It’s possible that the new As fan base will resemble Tampa’s. The only time the Rays draw is when the Yankees or Red Sox are in town.

The NFL works in Vegas because it’s the NFL, the world’s first (and only) fan-eating organism. Baseball ain’t that.

SPEAKING OF EATING FANS. Yahoo!:

NFL games this season will appear on CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN, ESPN+, ABC, NFL Network, Amazon Prime and now Peacock. Like Peacock's wild-card game, the Falcons-Jaguars game in London will be exclusive to ESPN+.

Peacock will also host an exclusive NFL regular-season game for the first time this season. The prime-time AFC matchup will see Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers host Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 23.

That’s good. I guess.

TUNE O’ THE DAY. . . Most of the bands I like are Greatest Hits bands. That is, I wouldn’t usually sit down and listen to a whole album the way I would, say, Springsteen’s Tunnel of Love or Dickie Betts’ Highway Call.

Poco is among my favorite GH bands. Here’s a good greatest hit.