Ludwick: I'm calling fans out

[redssince75]

At this point, my only takeaway from all this is that Reds fans are just some combination of cheap and lazy. The games are on TV every night, doing a great number in the ratings, and it's easier to sit at home and watch on your couch than it is to go down to the ballpark. It's cheaper to have a beer from your fridge and cook dinner for your kids at home than it is to go to a ballgame. The amount of planning required to make a couple sandwiches (to avoid concession costs) is just too much for Joe Redsfan to handle.

With today's attendance of 26,223, Cincinnati Reds fans established a new Great American Ball Park attendance record of 2,371,103.

"We are very grateful to our fans for attending in record-breaking numbers, and we are anxious to see how much we can grow the final attendance number by packing the park for all three games of the Pirates series this weekend to finish the regular season," said Phil Castellini, Reds Chief Operating Officer.

The previous mark of 2,355,259 was established in GABP's inaugural 2003 season.

The club's all-time high mark of 2,629,708 was set in 1976 at Riverfront Stadium.

At the conclusion of today's game, Reds front office staff will be positioned at the gates around the ballpark to personally thank fans for their support all season and for helping to break the attendance record

[Chip R]

as I mentioned, I´m used to a totally different fandom culture (german soccer) and as a fan I can only criticize the team for their poor performance if I gave my best as fan to support the team...

cheering with a 3-0 lead is not difficult and not very important.. cheering to "help" the team if it is a close game or the team is behind is in my opinion more important...

but there is a lot of criticism about the manager, votto (media and some fans aswell) , bruce (because of his k´s) etc. but if the fans get a little criticism some of them overreact big time

IMO, baseball fans aren't too proactive. They are mainly reactive. It's rare to go to a game when fans are on their feet cheering from 1st pitch to the final out. A lot of the time fans won't have a sustainable cheer unless prompted to by the scoreboard or at some other predestined part of the game (2 strikes on the visiting teams hitter, 10 strikeouts when 11 gets you free La Rosas, etc.)

Cheering to "help" is great but does it have any effect? Blaming others for your lack of performance is not what winners do. There will always be some excuse with people like that. If the fans were cheering and the team failed, did the fans not cheer loud enough? That mean umpire had a bad strike zone and he caused me to melt down. It was a day game and I don't play well during day games. That fan interfered with the foul ball I was going to catch.

[texasdave]

FWIW, and it's probably not worth much:

Reds' home record when the most fans are in attendance in 2013 (20 games) - 12-8.
Reds' home record when the fewest fans are in attendance in 2013 (20 games) - 15-5.

Maybe Ryan should have asked all the fans to stay at home.

[Always Red]

Really? 90+ wins and fighting for playoff positioning isn't something to be loud and energetic about? What are you waiting for?

What am I waiting for?

I'm not waiting for anything, I bought 80 tickets this year and watch on TV every other game.

What I want, is to stop being blamed.

It's not up to Reds fans to create conditions that might induce players to play better. Isn't this the place where many think that baseball is not an emotional, rah rah game like football (or soccer, nodding to tomnuetten)? Actually yes, that's said here all the time. Every day.

Reds fans set a record this year, coming to see the Reds at GABP this year. So there's that. Reds fans are coming to the games.

There were what, 26,000 people there yesterday (on a Wednesday afternoon), waiting to get excited by something the Reds might do, supporting them. Is it the Reds fans fault that the team was hypnotized by a pitcher who has not been able to so to any other team in 5 years?

I don't have a problem with it one way or another. Not until I get blamed for not making enough noise. Is Ludwick saying the Reds would play better if they had more energetic fans? Yes that's exactly what I think he's saying.

I don't even have much of a problem with the Reds being shut down by Dice K, it happens and I know they're trying. But don't turn around and blame me, who is nothing more than a fan, because you got shut out.

[Carin4Narron]

yeah and it´s dusty´s fault again...

do you know what dusty said to bp after his comments? do you know what he said to bruce (wasn´t a big deal) or to ludwick (isn´t a big deal)

no you don´t.. he didn´t say something negative about the comments in public but you don´t know what he said to them face to face...

Yes it is dusty's fault in some ways.

Ludwick should be fined for his comments. Brandon Phillips should have been fined for going into Dusty's office to get on a reporter and interupting his post game press conference a few weeks back

My main point nobody's accountable for stupid things or lousy play. Now to get on the fans? OUTRAGOUS!

[BuckeyeRedleg]

What am I waiting for?

I'm not waiting for anything, I bought 80 tickets this year and watch on TV every other game.

What I want, is to stop being blamed.

It's not up to Reds fans to create conditions that might induce players to play better. Isn't this the place where many think that baseball is not an emotional, rah rah game like football (or soccer, nodding to tomnuetten)? Actually yes, that's said here all the time. Every day.

Reds fans set a record this year, coming to see the Reds at GABP this year. So there's that. Reds fans are coming to the games.

There were what, 26,000 people there yesterday (on a Wednesday afternoon), waiting to get excited by something the Reds might do, supporting them. Is it the Reds fans fault that the team was hypnotized by a pitcher who has not been able to so to any other team in 5 years?

I don't have a problem with it one way or another. Not until I get blamed for not making enough noise. Is Ludwick saying the Reds would play better if they had more energetic fans? Yes that's exactly what I think he's saying.

I don't even have much of a problem with the Reds being shut down by Dice K, it happens and I know they're trying. But don't turn around and blame me, who is nothing more than a fan, because you got shut out.

Money post.

[OldXOhio]

What am I waiting for?

I'm not waiting for anything, I bought 80 tickets this year and watch on TV every other game.

What I want, is to stop being blamed.

It's not up to Reds fans to create conditions that might induce players to play better. Isn't this the place where many think that baseball is not an emotional, rah rah game like football (or soccer, nodding to tomnuetten)? Actually yes, that's said here all the time. Every day.

Reds fans set a record this year, coming to see the Reds at GABP this year. So there's that. Reds fans are coming to the games.

There were what, 26,000 people there yesterday (on a Wednesday afternoon), waiting to get excited by something the Reds might do, supporting them. Is it the Reds fans fault that the team was hypnotized by a pitcher who has not been able to so to any other team in 5 years?

I don't have a problem with it one way or another. Not until I get blamed for not making enough noise. Is Ludwick saying the Reds would play better if they had more energetic fans? Yes that's exactly what I think he's saying.

I don't even have much of a problem with the Reds being shut down by Dice K, it happens and I know they're trying. But don't turn around and blame me, who is nothing more than a fan, because you got shut out.

A primary take away for me from Ryan's comments is the fans were vocal in Pittsburgh and that made it tougher on the Reds to win. He's asking for the same be placed before the Pirates this weekend.

[BuckeyeRedleg]

That was a pretty damn vocal crowd last year in game 3 vs. the Giants. At some point the players need to execute when it's all on the line and quit deflecting.

[OC_Red]

I live in Irvine, California, but I bought MLB.tv premium and watched and listened to just about every game they broadcast. I *wish* I could have gone to a game at GABP, but I couldn't and sadly I missed my shot when they were in LA. I still find Ludwick's comments as a "meh"...I think the media is magnifying it to sell page hits and I think Ryan needs to be a bit more concerned with his lack of a clue at the plate and less about how many butts are in the seats and how loud those butts are...errr..wait..

[Chip R]

A primary take away for me from Ryan's comments is the fans were vocal in Pittsburgh and that made it tougher on the Reds to win. He's asking for the same be placed before the Pirates this weekend.

But the Reds won 2 of 3 in that series despite the vocal PIT fans. Should they have been more vocal? If that's Ludwick's logic, I'm confused.

[westofyou]

The subtext of this is excitement, fans what something to excited about, often offense is highlighted as the thing that best creates excitement. That in itself is a Cincinnati tradition, not pitching and defense, which happens to be a big part of the equation when looking at this teams success.

Offense is on a wane, there is less of it, the Reds still produce in the upper part of the table, just in a lower run environment. Fans want wins in big games, "The Reds can't win the big one." A was a common cry in 1974, and is today. I think to expect LOUD fans in baseball is a bit much considering the nature of the game.

But a lot of folks dig the long ball, not getting on base 300 times and 2-1 wins, that much is sure.

And in the end winning is the sexiest thing out there.

[jhu1321]

I just don't get this logic. To me, this isn't the mark of a true fan.

Fact: It's hard to fully embrace something that breaks your heart time after time.

I was at the game Tuesday evening and it's almost like people have come to expect the team to fail in crucial situations. Inning after inning we'd get runners on and the fans around me would say "they're probably going to hit into a double play" or "can't wait to see how they are going to blow this opportunity". The sad part is that in a good number of situations we have failed in clutch situations and it's hard to blame people for not allowing themselves to believe something different. It was almost comical when the crowd started to go nuts after Frazier struck out but advanced to first after the ball squirted away only to have Cozart ground into a double play the next pitch.

I love this team and sport and will root my ass off until the last out but I must admit I'm struggling to believe they will come through when it matters.

[BuckeyeRedleg]

But the Reds won 2 of 3 in that series despite the vocal PIT fans. Should they have been more vocal? If that's Ludwick's logic, I'm confused.

And again, I'm wondering how loud that Pirates crowd was in the 9th inning on Sunday, with the Reds up 11-3. I doubt it was too crazy.

Really, though, comparing the two crowds is pretty much apples and oranges anyway. Sure there might be a difference in the overall mood of Reds fans and Pirates fans and I think the fact that the Pirates celebrated making the playoffs and the Reds didn't is an example of that.

But Pittsburgh has gone a LONG time without even a winning season. The Reds have already taken that step, three years ago, but are kind of stuck in limbo. Reds fans are showing up and are vocal, but they are also kind of waiting for this team to get over the hump and take it to the next level. It seems whenever the Reds gets close and everyone gets excited, the rug gets pulled out and the fans probably are sensitive to that.

[westofyou]

Fact: It's hard to fully embrace something that breaks your heart time after time.

True.

That's what the Globetrotters are for though.

[OldXOhio]

I think Ryan needs to be a bit more concerned with his lack of a clue at the plate

You mean his lack of power numbers? Since a slow first four games back against the Brewers and Cubs (Aug 12-15, 0 for 11), he's hitting .284.