Respelling the word.

Reds' architect returns

It sounded great at the time. The Reds would move into their new closet of a ballpark with a lineup of large men ready to homer their way into local hearts and minds. It was that time in baseball history. Chemically enhanced Popeyes were hitting baseballs into various avenues and bays. Chicks dug the longball. So did everyone else.

It comes up now because the Washington Nationals are in town. Their General Manager, James G. Bowden IV, was the principal architect of the plan that didn’t work. To be fair, the plan made sense when it was hatched.

The Reds would build Great American Small Park (GASP!) with the smallest dimensions Baseball allowed. They’d draft Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns in June 1998, big-bicep guys who could hit the ball a mile. Or in Cincinnati’s case, 325 feet down the rightfield line and 328 to left. By the 2003 opening of GASP, Dunn and Kearns would be ready to rock.

Bowden would add Wily Mo Pena in the Rule 5 draft. Pena was a born DH who was allergic to speed and defense but could stroke a batting practice baseball like it was a Titleist ProV1.

The crowning glory would be bringing home Ken Griffey Jr., to swing for the short fences and pass Hank Aaron.

It worked best as a concept. The Reds did hit lots of home runs. Also, they became the dumb blondes of the National League, a title they still hold.

(By the way, in ’03, the first year of the GASP, I suggested the club rename the seats closest to the visitors’ bullpen in right “Griffeyville’’. I ran it past Junior. “I’m not a pull hitter,’’ he informed me then. Griffey explained his power ran toward the alleys. Uh-oh.)

Between 2003 and last year, here’s how the Reds ranked in homers in the 16-team National League: 6th, 6th, 1st, 2nd and 3rd. And that’s with Griffey hurt half the time.

Here’s where they ranked in wins: 13th, 10th, 13th, 7th and, drum roll, please, 13th.
This year, Cincinnati stands fifth in home runs and 12th in wins.

There could be a pattern.

I’m not often a stats guy. Stats are like politicians and the decisions they make:

Arbitrary, capricious and deceiving. Not these, though. Here are a few more:

In 2003, the Reds ranked 6th in the NL in homers and 13th in runs. They lost 96 games. In 2006, the Reds hit one more home run than the Philadelphia Phillies. . . and scored 116 fewer runs. The following year, they hit 33 more longballs than Colorado and scored 77 fewer times.

Take me home, Adam Dunn.

The Reds still swing from the high heels, and run that way, too. Too often, they couldn’t buy a two-out, two-strike hit if it were on sale at Wal-Mart. When hitting home runs is all you do well, you don’t win when you’re not hitting them. This year, the Reds are 5-22 in games they’re homer-less.

We’ve praised the offense over the years, mainly because we’ve seen the big names, if not the big picture. Junior! Dunn! The Reds are like the Bengals that way. Big names – Chad! Carson! T.J.! – hide the cracks in the foundation.

Walt Jocketty has the keys to the Big Man’s car. He has a few advantages: A roster loaded with free agents who should rent by the hour, a track record suggesting he knows what he’s doing and, a pair of working eyeballs.

With Bob Castellini’s money and blessing, Jocketty will remake the roster to look more like a contender and less like a killer lineup at Rumpke Park. Line drives would be good, first base to third on base hits up the middle, the chance to beat teams games without having to clobber them into submission.

Jim Bowden thought the Reds would bash their way into your hearts. It hasn’t worked. Time to change the message on the valentine.

By Paul Daugherty

VOLTRON vs. HAMMY?
July 15th