Williams: What will it take for Cincinnati Reds fans to forgive the Castellinis?
GOODYEAR, Ariz. − What will it take for Reds fans to forgive the Castellini family?
Seems like an easy answer: Field a winning team again and all will be forgiven for owner Bob Castellini gutting the Reds’ payroll, his son Phil Castellini making the cringeworthy “where you gonna go” comment and the club losing 100 games last year.
No?
Prediction: It’ll take more than a winning season for the fans to fully forgive the Castellinis. It’ll take the Reds winning a playoff series, something they haven’t done since 1995. Or some fans might be willing to forgive if the rebuilding Reds make the playoffs ahead of schedule and show promise of a return to the postseason.
Am I completely misreading it? Will it take more than that?
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It took a Super Bowl appearance last year for Bengals fans to forgive owner Mike Brown.
Maybe it’s not fair to compare the Reds and Bengals owners in this context. Brown was working against three decades of pent-up fan apathy. Only a Super Bowl could've revoked Brown's membership in the Worst Team Owners club.
Bob Castellini isn’t in the club. His troubles didn’t really start until about a year ago, when the Reds let go of Jesse Winker, Eugenio Suárez, Sonny Gray, Amir Garrett, Tucker Barnhart and Wade Miley. It snowballed from there.
Anger has given way to apathy. The Reds are on the right track. Unlike the NFL, however, baseball isn't setup for quick turnarounds. The Reds likely won't be ready to compete for at least two more seasons.
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Let me know in the comments below or on email what you think it’ll take to forgive the Castellinis. And by the way, if a sale is what you’re waiting on to forgive, you might be waiting a while. Bob Castellini has no plans to sell the Reds.
Inbox: Sounding off on Thom Brennaman
I share my viewpoint. It’s only fair I let you share yours. In this space, I’ll respond to some of your emails.
Readers flooded the inbox after last week’s column about Thom Brennaman, in which I wrote it’s time some team or college athletic department give him a second chance at broadcasting. Surprisingly, most readers agreed. Here’s a sampling of what landed in my inbox:
Mike wrote: “Thom is a good man and is a victim of the PC Police. Thanks for being a voice of reality.”
Reply: What the statute of limitations on forgiveness? It’s been 2½ years since Brennaman’s hot-mic incident. Many professional teams and college athletic departments don’t want to give a guy like Brennaman a second chance because they fear the backlash on social media. They give way too much credit to anonymous Twitter posters. Often times, Twitter comments don’t reflect how the paying customers feel. If a team or university wants to seriously consider hiring Brennaman, they should poll their season-ticket holders.
John wrote: “I agree he’s been ostracized long enough. Having said that, I hope he never announces another sporting event involving a team or game I might watch or listen to. My opinion: He was a terrible announcer. It was always about him – not the game. He added nothing to the broadcast and detracted from it.”
Reply: Some Reds fans misread my column. I wasn’t suggesting Brennaman return to calling games for his hometown Reds. I understand Reds’ fans frustration with Brennaman’s on-air negativity. That said, he’s an incredibly gifted play-by-play announcer. He was fantastic on FOX’s NFL broadcasts. He was good on college basketball in the 1990s, when he called University of Cincinnati basketball games on local TV. A fresh start out-of-town would be best.
Microscoops
∎ Don’t be surprised to see the Reds eventually move their sportsbook from Great American Ball Park across the street to a larger space at The Banks. The Reds have been eyeing open space at the riverfront development. The sportsbook currently is located inside the ballpark.
∎ The Reds had to reschedule their team-building, 3-point shooting competition because of rain here on Wednesday. It's been rescheduled for Monday. More than 50 players and coaches have signed up to participate in the event, a first for the club. The players are really into it, even posting the odds of winning for each player in a hallway by the clubhouse. Reds manager David Bell strongly believes team-building exercises pay off over a long season.
"I don't know if it's possible to overachieve, but you can absolutely get the most out of who you are as a team when you're playing together and you have each other's backs and enjoying one another and just playing together," Bell said. "I know for sure it is way more fun, and I'm very convinced that you can play better."
Contact columnist Jason Williams by email at jwilliams@enquirer.com and on Twitter @jwilliamscincy.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Will Reds fans forgive Bob and Phil Castellini?
