Has this town turned on Dunn?
 

I have been doing a lot of reading on several different sites throughout webland. It seems to me that the majority of opinions on Dunn have changed vastly over the last several months. Some examples:


Obviously these are some of the worst but not many opinions online that were really complementing him. Do you feel this Anti-Dunnism is a general consensus among Reds fans.

Re: Has this town turned on Dunn?
 

Adam Dunn is a very very flawed baseball player. He has his good points (power and walks) and he has his bad points (fielding, strikeouts, getting hits). The casual fan hates him in part, at least in my opinion, to years of Marty Brennamen destroying Adam Dunn at every chance he gets. To the casual fan Marty is the be all, end all of Reds knowledge.

Re: Has this town turned on Dunn?
 

No. If the REDS were winning, then Dunn would not be such a whipping boy. The high Ks and non-gold-glove defense make him an easy target for those who like to place blame. Those people are allowed to have their opinion (it is the United States), but they should look for bigger problems... pitching, other hitters (who own a lower OPS than Dunn... there are lots of these types), pitching, the lack of a bench and pitching.

Re: Has this town turned on Dunn?
 

Turned? They were never high enough on the guy to have to turn. He's never been appreciated by the masses. He's not Pete Rose and he's not Albert Pujols. I bet he can't wait to go somewhere else.

Re: Has this town turned on Dunn?
 

I think most casual fans probably feel that way about Dunn.

And then you have a group of die-hards who absolutely love the guy and seem to fail to see any real flaws in his game.

As someone "in the middle," I can tell you that my biggest disappointment has been that Dunn is seemingly incapable of improving on his weaknesses. Seems to me that he is a "good" player right now, warts and all. I've felt for the past several years that he could be a "great" player if he was able to make some minor tweaks to his approach. For whatever reason, that hasn't happened and he now appears to be stuck on "good."

"Good" is OK, but it's not untradeable.

Re: Has this town turned on Dunn?
 

edskin, the line below your name makes me sad. Why would anyone ever wish they hated baseball?

Re: Has this town turned on Dunn?
 

Doug-

It's a jab at myself. If I hated baseball then the Reds wouldn't drive me crazy. I could have a normal, relaxing summer :)

Re: Has this town turned on Dunn?
 

This is probably the most inaccurate statement that gets said more often than anything else in the history of this site. There just simply isn't any of the fan you're talking about. Even the most ardent of Adam Dunn fans realize he has plenty of faults. Yet we keeping having to read about these fans that don't exist.

Re: Has this town turned on Dunn?
 

It is a shame that just because one might actually appreciate what Dunn does bring to the game that it is assumed that automatically means they can't see the shortcomings in his game. He's not a good defender, he can be pitched to, and he is very streaky and yet he's been the Reds single best offensive player over the last 6 years. Personally I think there are a lot more fans that undervalue his contribution than overvalue it. Either way, I'm not convinced paying 13 million a year for Dunn would be a good idea unless he can get his OPS up in the .950 range, which doesn't appear too likely at this juncture.

Re: Has this town turned on Dunn?
 

Perhaps my statement was a stretch, but I have had many a discussion with people on this board who feel that Dunn is borderline untradeable.

Re: Has this town turned on Dunn?
 

Must have been via PM.

Re: Has this town turned on Dunn?
 

Dunn isn't the first guy to be treated like that and he won't be the last (Hi Edwin), since the BRM how many players have Cincy fans said "well he's good at this and that but he's not (incert BRM name)" as if it's normal to hold every new Reds player up to hall of famers.

Players are players, enjoy what they can do, it's the ones who can't do anything well we should be complaining about.

Re: Has this town turned on Dunn?
 

You know what it REALLY boils down to with Dunn?

For me, it's something I don't like to talk about because it is very presumptious and it is potentially character-damaging if enough people say it. So, generally, I try to keep my mouth shut about it unless it's an obvious case.

And let me state clearly, that this is nothing more than a gut feeling. A semi-educated guess. I have no sources, no data.

But deep down, I really do question Dunn's desire, work ethic, intensity, love of the game, etc...

I say this because I see this guy with tremendous physical skills. And I also say this because at times, he seems to command the plate. But it makes no sense to me that over the past few years, he has seemed incapable of making any marked improvements in areas that are fairly obviously in need of improvement.

I have no problem with Dunn having a high K rate. No problem at all. But why does he have to challenge MLB records year after year in that department?

I look at a guy like Hatteberg, and I see a player that almost never "gives away" an AB. He also seems to be at the max concentration level. Now, his talent presents him from reaching any sort of great levels, but I feel as if he maxes out his tank.

I'm just not sure with Dunn.

In a way, it's a compliment. I'm admitting he's already a good player and thinking deep down that he could be even better. It's possible that I just overrate his actual talent and that I should just accept him for what he is.

Dunn seems like a really cool dude. Someone I'd want to hang with. A good teammate. I bet he's really fun to be around on long road trips. But I do wonder if perhaps he isn't a bit TOO content to be "what he is" as a player?

Like I said, this is a personal observation, based soley on watching sports over the years. Nothing more. But yes, I do think it those feelings fuel my attitude towards Dunn.

Re: Has this town turned on Dunn?
 

Baseball is a game, not a sport. ;)

Players both act and display differently then they do in the back and forths.

It's the hardest game that looks easy that was ever invented.

Re: Has this town turned on Dunn?
 

That's too bad Edskin.