Ludwick: I'm calling fans out

[WildcatFan]

From Daugherty (so obviously take it with a grain of salt):

Ryan Ludwick, for one, blames you.

“Coming over here, I heard about how big a baseball town this is. We’ve put a
winning ballclub out there’’ three of the last four years, said Ludwick. “This is a good team. When we went to Pittsburgh, they had an advantage. (Fans) were loud. A playoff atmosphere.’’

Ludwick said he had an epiphany of sorts Wednesday. With two outs in the Reds 9th, he heard a woman in the fifth row behind the home dugout, loudly taking the fans to task. “We have a great team and our fans f------ suck,’’ she said, according to Ludwick.

He said a Mets player raised similar issues Tuesday night: “You guys are in the middle of a pennant race and no one’s here. What’s going on?’’

Said Ludwick, “I might be be calling (fans) out. But I’m calling them out in a positive way. We want loud and energetic. It’s like a natural Red Bull. We need every positive aspect we can to keep this thing going.’"

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/2...-out-Reds-fans

This doesn't sound as menacing as Doc makes it out to be in his headline, but it's worth noting that at least one player isn't happy with the fan support down the stretch.

That being said, of all players to bring it up, it should have been one who can actually hit a baseball.

[Always Red]

I say give Reds fans something to be loud and energetic about, and they won't disappoint.

[Matt700wlw]

Record attendance. Sorry we're not St. Louis.

I've been to a handful of games this year, and the place was pretty jacked up most of the time.

[RollyInRaleigh]

Yeah, I'm going on Sunday and hopefully I'll get to see a team play like there's something on the line....and I'm not talking about the Pirates. Can't take the Mets and it's the fans fault.

[PuffyPig]

F

That being said, of all players to bring it up, it should have been one who can actually hit a baseball.

Ludwick was one of our major producers last year.

He's recovering from a serious shoulder ailment.

And I'm not sure why any of this is relevant to his point.

[Falls City Beer]

You get paid millions of dollars to pretend you're playing in front of 42000 nightly.

Though I'm guessing these guys are merely doing the organization's bidding by hectoring fans.

Whatever. It's stupid and I'm tired of hearing about it.

[Norm Chortleton]

What not to do: "I might be calling the fans out. ..." after telling a story about a fan and an opposing player calling out other fans.

What to do: "We love our fans and we need them to turn out in record numbers this weekend and be the loudest they've ever been."

[BuckeyeRedleg]

The team sleepwalks thru a game and the fans should be giddy by the 9th inning?

A yawn is contagious Ludwick. I'm calling you out. Play like a player that gets paid like you do. Oh, yes I did.

Play like a player that is on a World Championship caliber team.

Injury or not, so far you ain't doing it. And neither was the rest of the sleepwalkers today as well.

By the way, this "baseball town" outdrew that crazy band-wagon jumping Pittsburgh crowd by nearly 3000 a game this year (and last year...and the year before that...and the year before that....etc.).

[klw]

I guess it is only fair. After all, the game thread and elsewhere had been full of the Fans calling out the Reds for mailing in the last two games offensively.

With the number of Reds players who have said this recently, time for the fans to look in the mirror. Pretty sure lecure and Bruce have said similar things too.

[WildcatFan]

Ludwick was one of our major producers last year.

He's recovering from a serious shoulder ailment.

And I'm not sure why any of this is relevant to his point.

Because it came after a 1-0 bedwetting against the Mets. Worry about your production on the field before you worry about the production around it.

[Ghosts of 1990]

Ah, I see its that time of year again. Fall short and then play the blame game on the fans. It was October 10th of last year - the night before the game five collapse in the NLDS in which the fans were the scapegoats in the media. Absolutely unbelievable.

Like any fan base would have been okay with coming home and getting beat three in a row to get knocked out of the playoffs.

Ryan, go play in the Bronx and then tell me what you think of Cincinnati fans. Go play in Boston. Cleveland draws 22,000 every night, they are on fire.

Give me a break.

[BuckeyeRedleg]

By the way, 44,000 fans came out three times last year to support you in the NLDS and you guys pooped down your collective legs to the Giants.

I recall an article ripping the fans around that time as well. If you can't win one single game in that environment, don't blame the fans.

[kaldaniels]

nm, thought better of it

Crummy sensational headline however.

[Ghosts of 1990]

Ludwick was one of our major producers last year.

He's recovering from a serious shoulder ailment.

And I'm not sure why any of this is relevant to his point.

He has a hole in his bat; I don't feel its the time of year to bring your fan base into it; on a day when we set an attendance record. That doesn't have a good look to it.

Man up, go out and beat someone. You just got shut out by Dice-K Matsuzaka and a bunch of guys who had nothing to play for. "Great teams" (Ludwick's words) don't do that.

[dsmith421]

Heh, you want to rip up that contract Ryan, and go play somewhere else, I'm pretty sure all the rubes here in Cowtown, USA would be perfectly fine with it.

What an absolute idiot. How stupid do you have to be to come out with this garbage?