Déjà Vu: The Repeating Reds

I laugh at myself and call it the hamster wheel of mediocrity.  Cincinnati has always been, and always will be, my team.  But it is frustrating to continually see that Groundhog Day-type season come year after year (anyone see Bill Murray lurking around Great American Ballpark lately?) .

Each year, the Reds put together a lineup that, if healthy, could at least keep themselves in the playoff hunt (or the plus-.500 hunt) through late August and September.  And just like clockwork, the injuries pile up, some mainstays are traded to contending teams for relatively unknown prospects (or veterans) who are on the verge of hanging it up.

We get teased as the team plays halfway decent ball though mid-June, then suddenly hit the wall and the team can't hit, score runs, keep opposing batters off the basepaths or play fundamental baseball.

Remember when the Reds were in the hunt for a divisional title in what seemed like every year back in the '80s and early '90s?  I long for the days in which Cincinnati Reds Baseball was something to behold. 

I am sure many Reds fans have struggled with this, and it is nothing new, but another "likeness" to that hamster wheel of mediocrity (I hear the squeak of the ungreased axle in my dreams after each ridiculous loss) has come to light this summer.  Remember when the A's—Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns—made themselves known and it looked as though they could be the foundation of a Reds revival?

And then how suddenly that notion was washed away with injuries, a lack patience and discipline?

I hope it doesn't come to this, but the image of those two is starting to poke through Joey Votto and Jay Bruce.  Though, only a little.  

Kearns, a high school All-American out of Lexington, Kentucky, was a minor league star who made himself known to Reds fans in 2002, hitting .315 with 13 homers and 56 RBI in just 82 games. 

He was on his way to improving on those numbers in 2003 before that fateful game on May 21 when then-Braves reliever Ray King (the gargantuan of a man he was) literally sat on Kearns on a play at the plate.  Prior to that, Kearns was hitting .309 with 13 homers and 44 RBIs.

Following that incident was a 3-for-34 slump, a trip on the DL with an inflamed rotator cuff, then season-ending shoulder surgery.  Look closely and you will see that Kearns was never the same.  Sure, he had some okay numbers in 2006 (combine the numbers with Cincy and Washington) and 2007, but he has played only one full season and only twice has he played more then 100 games in a season.  Injuries took their toll, including his current trip to the DL.

 

Dunn, a Texan and former University of Texas Quarterback, made his debut in 2001 hitting .262 with 19 homers and 43 RBI in 66 games.  Very promising numbers, even for a guy who averaged a bit more than a strikeout a game.  With a little patience and discipline, Dunn could have kept the staggering offensive numbers and cut down on the his all or nothing attitude at the plate.

In 2002, Dunn hit .249, with 26 HR and 71 RBI in 158 games.  Although he whiffed 170 times it was nice to see the big man steal 19 bases in 28 attempts (seriously!).  

As a Reds fan, it was always a joy to see Dunn hammer the ball, but it was so disappointing to experience all those opportunities to just get a hit, move runners around the bases or hit a sacrifice fly to help the team go by the wayside.

Thus, the frustrating losses piled up.  All those chances...gone with the wind created by Dunn's attempt to reach Louisville with each swing of his slugger.  Dunn's average did increase once or twice over the next few years, though only slightly.  His 40-plus homer season streak should continue this year, but he's doing it with the Nationals, who have no one else so he gets all the pitches he can handle. 

No discipline and satisfied with his way of not being a real team player. He's hitting nearly .280 this year, but I'll make a bet with anyone on whether he can do that again next year.

  Today it seems as though the J's—Joey Votto and Jay Bruce—might be following the same path.  Votto showed some talent in his 24-game debut in 2007, then he exploded on the scene, hitting for average and power with discipline at the plate in 2008.  His .297, with 24 homers and 84 RBIs in 151 games at least gave us some hope that Cincinnati finally had a homegrown product they could build around. 

His numbers this year are even better, but they took a serious hit when he landed on the disabled list with some stress-related issues (apparently attributed to the death of his father).  He was hitting .357 with eight home runs and 33 RBIs through 38 games before struggling with an inner ear infection.  That infection continued to bother Votto off and on for the next two months.

Ironically, that's about the time the Cincinnati went from a National League Central player to the bottom of the pack.  Votto has since recovered and is hitting .305, with 20 HR and 65 RBI, but imagine the numbers he could have put up. His setbacks don't seem to be long-term and I hope they aren't, but that remains to be seen.  

Bruce has all the makings of Dunn revisited with an all or nothing attitude at the plate. 

His debut in 2008 (after being named the Minor League Baseball Player of The Year) saw him hit .254, with 21 homers and 54 RBI in 108 contests.  Again, good numbers for a rookie with power trying to make a name for himself (just like Dunn).  And, also like Dunn, he averaged over a whiff a game with 110 strikeouts. 

Nothing to fret over as a little work on discipline and patience can help improve those numbers. This year nothing really changed.  Before his injury, Bruce was hitting .207 with 18 HR and 41 RBI through 83 games.  Though he seemed to cut down on the Ks (63 total), he still couldn't find the ability to just put bat on ball or not worry about swinging for the fences each time.

It is still early in his career, but Cincy's staff needs to get rolling on assisting Bruce with becoming more of a complete player.  

I sure hope Joey and Jay don't become the latest version of Austin and Adam. 

Maybe they can learn something from veterans like Scott Rolen and Brandon Phillips. Imagine those four in the lineup at their best?  Opposing pitchers would have to pitch to somebody and it wouldn't be pretty.

  Maybe that hamster wheel will get too rusty to turn or, possibly, someone could just feed that damn hamster to their neighbor's cat.  I would love to see the Reds play an entire season like I know they can and make August and September more than just football months for me.

That, my friends, would be nice.  Meanwhile, I will still be reliving the magic of 1990 in my head.  Good night, Reds fans.