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GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Jonny Gomes walked into the Cincinnati Reds spring training clubhouse early Wednesday morning singing at the top of his warbly voice.
The melody was not recognizable, but the words were plaintive: “Wainwright’s gone, Wainwright’s gone, Wainwright’s gone,” he sang joyously.
The reference was to St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright, sent back to St. Louis Tuesday to have his ouchy elbow examined.
A few minutes later, the telephone in manager Dusty Baker’s office rang while he was meeting with the writers and he said, “Hey, son. Thank you, my son. Thank you big-time. Significant, huh? A significant injury. Thank you, my son, for the tip. I love you.”
Baker hung up laughing and said, “That was my son, Darren, giving me the Wainwright Report. That’s my scout right there.”
As luck would have it, Rick Hummell, baseball writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch was in Baker’s office Wednesday and before Baker’s son called, Hummell asked about Wainwright’s arm issues and Baker said, “What kind of arm issues does he have?”
Told that he had elbow issues, Baker smiled shyly and said, “Who are they going to blame for that one?” Baker, of course, is forever being accused (wrongfully) of ruining pitchers’ arms with overuse or misuse.
Nobody could tell if Baker had his fingers crossed or if he was winking at the time behind his sunglasses, but he said, “I really hate to see that. He is not only a good pitcher, but he seems like a fine young man, too. Every time I saw him or talked to him, he seemed very polite and respectful.
“Hmmmm. Boy, it’s early for those kind of problems,” Baker added. “Nobody has the depth to overcome a Wainwright. You can replace him, but in Wainwright and Chris Carpenter you’re talking two of the top six or seven pitchers in the league.
“Philadelphia has most of the other ones,” Baker said with a laugh.
IT IS GENERALLY known that the Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs are flaming rivals who are not prone to pleasant handshakes and polite hellos.
Are the Reds and Cardinals becoming that way - big rivals with a big distaste for each other?
“The Cubs and Cardinals are not only a historical rivalry, but a geographical rivalry, too,” said Baker. “There are a lot of Cardinals fans in southern Illinois and, of course, there are Cub fans everywhere.
“Historic and geographic rivalries remain the same, but new rivalries pop up periodically depending upon what’s happening and who is good and who is getting better,” said Baker.
That fits the Reds-Cardinals. For a decade, the Reds were no threats to anybody but themselves, so the Cardinals were not concerned with them. After last season, when the Reds re-emerged from their dark cave, the rivalry heated - fueled by Cincinnati second baseman Brandon Phillips and his comments about how much he despised the Cardinals.
“I remember when I played for the Dodgers, our big rival was the Cincinnati Reds because they were The Big Red Machine and they were in our division,” said Baker, “When The Big Red Machine was dismantled, it became the Dodgers and Houston because they were good and they had Nolan Ryan and J. R. Richard.”
Of the Reds and Cardinals, Baker added, “The Cardinals were the incumbent team and we were the coming team. When you’re the incumbent team you don’t want anybody to be the coming team. We play each other a whole bunch of times, too - like Boston, the Yankees and Tampa Bay. They play each other all spring then a bunch of times during the season. In only takes one little thing to spark things for a long period of time.”
And that would be The Phillips Comments.
AMAZINGLY, over the past four years, the Reds have used two No. 1 picks to draft catchers - Devin Mesoraco in 2007 and Yasmani Grandal in 2010.
During workouts, the two are always together, either working on their catching skills or taking batting practice. On Tuesday, both put on an impressive power display during batting practice.
“How would you like to be a catcher in our system, like poor Chris Denove?” said Baker, referring to a 28-year-old catcher who was selected in the 32nd round in 2005 and is in his seventh year in the club’s minor-league system.
“They don’t just have good power for catchers, they have good power for anybody,” said Baker. “Their futures are very bright. They are strong, work hard, pay attention and it is nice to have two like that.”
The melody was not recognizable, but the words were plaintive: “Wainwright’s gone, Wainwright’s gone, Wainwright’s gone,” he sang joyously.
The reference was to St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright, sent back to St. Louis Tuesday to have his ouchy elbow examined.
A few minutes later, the telephone in manager Dusty Baker’s office rang while he was meeting with the writers and he said, “Hey, son. Thank you, my son. Thank you big-time. Significant, huh? A significant injury. Thank you, my son, for the tip. I love you.”
Baker hung up laughing and said, “That was my son, Darren, giving me the Wainwright Report. That’s my scout right there.”
As luck would have it, Rick Hummell, baseball writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch was in Baker’s office Wednesday and before Baker’s son called, Hummell asked about Wainwright’s arm issues and Baker said, “What kind of arm issues does he have?”
Told that he had elbow issues, Baker smiled shyly and said, “Who are they going to blame for that one?” Baker, of course, is forever being accused (wrongfully) of ruining pitchers’ arms with overuse or misuse.
Nobody could tell if Baker had his fingers crossed or if he was winking at the time behind his sunglasses, but he said, “I really hate to see that. He is not only a good pitcher, but he seems like a fine young man, too. Every time I saw him or talked to him, he seemed very polite and respectful.
“Hmmmm. Boy, it’s early for those kind of problems,” Baker added. “Nobody has the depth to overcome a Wainwright. You can replace him, but in Wainwright and Chris Carpenter you’re talking two of the top six or seven pitchers in the league.
“Philadelphia has most of the other ones,” Baker said with a laugh.
IT IS GENERALLY known that the Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs are flaming rivals who are not prone to pleasant handshakes and polite hellos.
Are the Reds and Cardinals becoming that way - big rivals with a big distaste for each other?
“The Cubs and Cardinals are not only a historical rivalry, but a geographical rivalry, too,” said Baker. “There are a lot of Cardinals fans in southern Illinois and, of course, there are Cub fans everywhere.
“Historic and geographic rivalries remain the same, but new rivalries pop up periodically depending upon what’s happening and who is good and who is getting better,” said Baker.
That fits the Reds-Cardinals. For a decade, the Reds were no threats to anybody but themselves, so the Cardinals were not concerned with them. After last season, when the Reds re-emerged from their dark cave, the rivalry heated - fueled by Cincinnati second baseman Brandon Phillips and his comments about how much he despised the Cardinals.
“I remember when I played for the Dodgers, our big rival was the Cincinnati Reds because they were The Big Red Machine and they were in our division,” said Baker, “When The Big Red Machine was dismantled, it became the Dodgers and Houston because they were good and they had Nolan Ryan and J. R. Richard.”
Of the Reds and Cardinals, Baker added, “The Cardinals were the incumbent team and we were the coming team. When you’re the incumbent team you don’t want anybody to be the coming team. We play each other a whole bunch of times, too - like Boston, the Yankees and Tampa Bay. They play each other all spring then a bunch of times during the season. In only takes one little thing to spark things for a long period of time.”
And that would be The Phillips Comments.
AMAZINGLY, over the past four years, the Reds have used two No. 1 picks to draft catchers - Devin Mesoraco in 2007 and Yasmani Grandal in 2010.
During workouts, the two are always together, either working on their catching skills or taking batting practice. On Tuesday, both put on an impressive power display during batting practice.
“How would you like to be a catcher in our system, like poor Chris Denove?” said Baker, referring to a 28-year-old catcher who was selected in the 32nd round in 2005 and is in his seventh year in the club’s minor-league system.
“They don’t just have good power for catchers, they have good power for anybody,” said Baker. “Their futures are very bright. They are strong, work hard, pay attention and it is nice to have two like that.”
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