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Thread: Kearns rips Cincinnati fans...

  1. #1
    Making sense of it all Matt700wlw's Avatar
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    Kearns rips Cincinnati fans...

    Dan Kearns that is (Austin's father)

    Washington Post


    "I'm telling you, those Nationals fans made a difference for him," Dan Kearns said. "They talk about Cincinnati being a great baseball town, but they look for you to strike out so they can boo. Here they were, Washington, in last place, and they cheered everything."


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  3. #2
    2009: Fail Ltlabner's Avatar
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    Re: Kearns rips Cincinnati fans...

    BRACE! BRACE! BRACE!

    Whoop....whoop....whoop...this is not a drill.

  4. #3
    Manliness Personified HumnHilghtFreel's Avatar
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    Re: Kearns rips Cincinnati fans...

    I can see where he's coming from. The thread recently about the way fans treated Griffey comes to mind.

    I think Washington is still in a state where they're just happy to have baseball again and don't expect much. Cincinnati is in a long streak of bad times and it weighs on the fans as much as the players.

  5. #4
    You know his story Redsland's Avatar
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    Re: Kearns rips Cincinnati fans...

    Translation: In Cincinnati, they don't like it when you fail. In Washington, they don't care either way.
    Makes all the routine posts.

  6. #5
    Senor Votto
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    Re: Kearns rips Cincinnati fans...

    Well you know Austin if you don't want to be booed for striking out DONT STRIKE OUT.

  7. #6
    Puffy's Daddy Red Leader's Avatar
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    Re: Kearns rips Cincinnati fans...

    I'll be interested to hear a quote from Dan after the 2007 season.

    They are going to SUCK this year. They could come close to losing 100.
    'When I'm not longer rapping, I want to open up an ice cream parlor and call myself Scoop Dogg.'
    -Snoop on his retirement

    Your Mom is happy.

  8. #7
    Member Tom Servo's Avatar
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    Re: Kearns rips Cincinnati fans...

    Let's see how those cheers go if (when?) Kearns is injured for the better part of the next few years and struggles when he does play.
    “I don’t care,” Votto said of passing his friend and former teammate. “He’s in the past. Bye-bye, Jay.”

  9. #8
    Member Highlifeman21's Avatar
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    Re: Kearns rips Cincinnati fans...

    Quote Originally Posted by degenerate10 View Post
    Well you know Austin if you don't want to be booed for striking out DONT STRIKE OUT.
    I know I wish Austin Kearns was still striking out for us in RF.

    Imagine the defense in the OF with Denorfia and Kearns. Makes me weak in the knees, and brings a tear to my eye.

    Ah, what might have been.

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    Re: Kearns rips Cincinnati fans...

    Quote Originally Posted by HumnHilghtFreel View Post
    I think Washington is still in a state where they're just happy to have baseball again and don't expect much. Cincinnati is in a long streak of bad times and it weighs on the fans as much as the players.
    That's kind of how I see it. They were that way in Denver for awhile too. Years of Rockies suckitude have changed the atmosphere somewhat though. Give Washington 5 or 6 straight losing seasons and I'm betting the fans will be a little harder on the players than they are now.

  11. #10
    Member texasdave's Avatar
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    Re: Kearns rips Cincinnati fans...

    'Cuz in Cincy we loves us some booing. :kearns: Booooo!!!

  12. #11
    Rally Onion! Chip R's Avatar
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    Re: Kearns rips Cincinnati fans...

    Here's the actual article from the Cincinnati Post

    http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs....703060326/1027

    Kearns out of his comfort zone
    Ex-Red trying to live up to expectations

    By Barry Svrluga
    Washington Post

    VIERA, Fla. - There are still remnants of Austin Kearns's old life in his new one. Each day, when he leaves the Washington Nationals' clubhouse at Space Coast Stadium, he puts his blue Kentucky basketball hat backward on his head, a reminder of where he came from and where he still lives. But the stunned expression is gone. The uncertainty of last summer was exchanged for a three-year contract, for stability.

    "The comfort factor," Kearns said, "is completely different."

    This is Kearns's first spring training as a National, and the first time he enters a season knowing he will be more than a four-hour drive from his home on the outskirts of Lexington, Ky. Coming up, the broad-shouldered right fielder was never out of range of his home base, whether it be Class A ball in Dayton, Ohio, the next step in Chattanooga, Tenn., or Class AAA down the road in Louisville. When he made it to Cincinnati as a major leaguer in 2002, his father, Dan, could drive up from Lexington and be at almost every game.

    "You get so spoiled playing close to home," Kearns said. "You can go home whenever you want to. You're around the people you know. Your family can come visit you.

    "But then you get further away, and you realize what most guys go through."

    That was Kearns last summer, the hometown hero who suddenly became most guys, just another commodity who could be shipped out. Last July 13, Kearns's wife, Abby, drove him from Lexington, where he had spent the all-star break, back to Cincinnati. Dan Kearns was going to drive up that night.

    "But before I got there, I got the call," Dan Kearns said this week. "He said, 'Don't bother coming.' "

    Trades like the eight-player deal that sent Kearns and infielder Felipe Lopez to Washington happen every year. But this one rattled Kearns, the seventh pick of the 1998 draft who has yet to fully realize the potential so many saw in him. Ask Bob Boone, the Nationals' director of player development who managed Kearns in Cincinnati, what he expected Kearns to be by now, at 26, and the answer is blunt: "A super-duper star," Boone said.

    Yet he isn't. And here's a small list of reasons: torn thumb ligament (2001); strained hamstring (2002); rotator cuff surgery (2003); broken left forearm and right thumb surgery (2004). It got to the point that Kearns, an affable guy, became wary of discussing his health.

    "It just started bugging the crap out of me, answering that question every spring," Kearns said. "I just told people, 'Look, I'm not talking about it. It's over with.' "

    There was, Kearns said, nothing worse than the summer of 2003. He was coming off a 107-game rookie year in which he hit .315. The first two months of '03, "he was just crushing the ball," said Boone, the Reds' manager at the time.

    On May 21, Kearns doubled in the seventh inning at home against the Atlanta Braves, and moved up to third. Reliever Ray King, now a National, was on the mound for the Braves, and he uncorked a ball that got by Javy Lopez, the Braves' catcher.

    "As old and slow as I am," said Dan Kearns, who was at the game, "I would have tried to score."

    So Austin took off for the plate. But Lopez pounced on the ball, and King covered home. King, who is listed at 240 pounds, collided with Kearns as he tagged him out. "It was ugly," Dan Kearns said, "and it was awkward."

    Austin Kearns returned to right for the top of the eighth. He finished with three RBI. The Reds won, and at game's end, Kearns was hitting .309, slugging .599. He had played in 45 games, had 44 RBI.

    The next day, he couldn't raise his arm above his head. He played anyway. He underwent daily rehabilitation. His shoulder got no better. He stopped hitting. He kept playing.

    "I'm stubborn," Kearns said. "I've always kind of thought if you can be out there, you should go out there. That's one of my biggest pet peeves. I hate it when a guy gets nicked up or something and goes down like he was shot, and all the trainers and everybody comes running out, and then he stays in the game. I've just never been like that.

    "But looking back, it probably wasn't the smart thing to do."

    Over the next 37 games, Kearns hit .208, slugged .277. In July, he went on the disabled list. Doctors found damage in his right shoulder. He had surgery.

    And watched from the dugout.

    "I was going nuts," he said.

    All that, he said, was the hardest. Harder than being sent to the minors in 2005. Harder, even, than the trade. Kearns met the Nationals in Pittsburgh for his first series with them. He had one hit in the series. At the end of a six-game road trip, Kearns was 4-for-22.

    "It was just the surprise factor," Dan Kearns said. "Usually, rumors are flying around, and people hear things and expect things. He didn't have a clue."

    Abby Kearns was pregnant with the couple's second son. He didn't know where they would live. He didn't know who he would get along with.

    And then he arrived in Washington. The team was in last place, where it spent almost all of 2006. But the sale to the family of Theodore Lerner was complete. The new owners held a ceremonial "grand reopening" of RFK Stadium. Each game of the six-day homestand drew more than 29,000 people.

    "I'm telling you, those fans made a difference for him," Dan Kearns said. "They talk about Cincinnati being a great baseball town, but they look for you to strike out so they can boo. Here they were, Washington, in last place, and they cheered everything."

    Kearns finished out the year with the Nationals, hitting just .250 for his new club. But general manager Jim Bowden, who drafted Kearns when he was with Cincinnati, saw what Kearns could do, not what he had done. As Boone said, "The sky's still the limit."

    So in January, Kearns signed his three-year deal, which guarantees him $17.5 million and, should the club pick up an option for a fourth season, would pay him $26.5 million.

    "I just got convinced that the team was going in the right direction," Kearns said.

    After one Grapefruit League victory, Kearns stood in the Nationals' clubhouse, his locker squarely in the middle of the other pieces of the team's future, Felipe Lopez, third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, catcher Brian Schneider and first baseman Nick Johnson. Zimmerman said goodbye as he ambled out, and Kearns pulled on that Kentucky basketball cap backward. He headed out himself, as comfortable as could be.
    Quote Originally Posted by Raisor View Post
    I was wrong
    Quote Originally Posted by Raisor View Post
    Chip is right

  13. #12
    Making sense of it all Matt700wlw's Avatar
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    Re: Kearns rips Cincinnati fans...

    You want harsh? Go to New York.

  14. #13
    You know his story Redsland's Avatar
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    Re: Kearns rips Cincinnati fans...

    Quote Originally Posted by Highlifeman21 View Post
    Imagine the defense in the OF with Denorfia and Kearns.
    If you want to watch Deno play, I can recommend some hotels in Louisville.
    Makes all the routine posts.

  15. #14
    breath westofyou's Avatar
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    Re: Kearns rips Cincinnati fans...

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...030401261.html

    For Kearns, It's Home and Away

    By Barry Svrluga
    Washington Post Staff Writer
    Monday, March 5, 2007; Page E01

    VIERA, Fla., March 4 -- There are still remnants of Austin Kearns's old life in his new one. Each day, when he leaves the Washington Nationals' clubhouse at Space Coast Stadium, he puts his blue Kentucky basketball hat backward on his head, a reminder of where he came from and where he still lives. But the stunned expression is gone. The handshakes and introductions were swapped for a constant stream of text messages with teammates. The uncertainty of last summer was exchanged for a three-year contract, for stability.

    "The comfort factor," Kearns said, "is completely different."

    This is Kearns's first spring training as a National, the first time he knows he will enter a season and be more than a four-hour drive from his home on the outskirts of Lexington, Ky. Coming up, the broad-shouldered right fielder was never out of range of his home base, whether it be Class A ball in Dayton, Ohio, the next step in Chattanooga or Class AAA down the road in Louisville. By the time he made it to Cincinnati as a major leaguer in 2002, his father, Dan, could drive up the road from Lexington and be at almost every game.

    "You get so spoiled playing close to home," Kearns said. "You can go home whenever you want to. You're around the people you know. Your family can come visit you.

    "But then you get further away, and you realize what most guys go through."

    That was Kearns last summer, the hometown hero who suddenly became most guys, just another commodity who could be shipped out. Last July 13, Kearns's wife, Abby, drove him from Lexington, where he had spent the all-star break, back to Cincinnati. Dan Kearns was going to drive up that night.

    "But before I got there, I got the call," Dan Kearns said Sunday. "He said, 'Don't bother coming.' "

    Trades like the eight-player deal that sent Kearns and infielder Felipe Lopez to Washington happen every year. But this one rattled Kearns, the seventh pick of the 1998 draft who has yet to fully realize the potential so many saw in him. Ask Bob Boone, the Nationals' director of player development who managed Kearns in Cincinnati, what he expected Kearns to be by now, at 26, and the answer is blunt: "A super-duper star," Boone said.

    Yet he isn't. And here's a small list of reasons: torn thumb ligament (2001); strained hamstring (2002); rotator cuff surgery (2003); broken left forearm and right thumb surgery (2004). It got to the point that Kearns, an affable guy, came to spring training in 2005 wary of discussing his health.

    "It just started bugging the crap out of me, answering that question every spring," Kearns said. "I just told people, 'Look, I'm not talking about it. It's over with.' "

    There was, Kearns said, nothing worse than the summer of 2003. He was coming off a 107-game debut as a rookie the year before in which he hit .315. The first two months of '03, "he was just crushing the ball," said Boone, the Reds' manager at the time.

    On May 21, Kearns doubled in the seventh inning of a home game against the Atlanta Braves. Dan Kearns was in the stands, and his son moved up to third. Reliever Ray King, now a National, was on the mound for the Braves, and he uncorked a ball that got by Javy Lopez, the Braves' catcher.

    "As old and slow as I am," Dan Kearns said, "I would have tried to score."

    So Austin took off for the plate. But Lopez pounced on the ball, and King covered home. King, who is listed at 240 pounds, collided with Kearns as he tagged him out. "It was ugly," Dan Kearns said, "and it was awkward."

    Austin Kearns returned to right for the top of the eighth. He finished with three RBI. The Reds won that night, and at game's end, Kearns was hitting .309, slugging .599. He had played in 45 games, had 44 RBI.

    The next day, he couldn't raise his arm above his head. He played anyway. He underwent daily rehabilitation. His shoulder got no better. He stopped hitting. He kept playing.

    "I'm stubborn," he said. "I've always kind of thought if you can be out there, you should go out there. That's one of my biggest pet peeves. I hate it when a guy gets nicked up or something and goes down like he was shot, and all the trainers and everybody comes running out, and then he stays in the game. I've just never been like that.

    "But looking back, it probably wasn't the smart thing to do."

    Over the next 37 games, Kearns hit .208, slugged .277. In July, he went on the disabled list. Doctors found damage in his right shoulder. He underwent the surgery.

    That September, the Chicago Cubs came to Cincinnati fighting for a playoff spot, creating a buzz. One night, Kearns watched the first few innings from the dugout. But he couldn't stand it.

    "I was going nuts," he said. He headed to the clubhouse. If he couldn't play, he wouldn't watch.

    All that, he said, was the hardest. Harder than being sent to the minors in 2005. Harder, even, than the trade. Kearns met the Nationals in Pittsburgh for his first series with his new club. He promptly had one hit in the series, prompting then-manager Frank Robinson gave him a day off. At the end of a six-game road trip, Kearns was 4 for 22 as a National.

    "It was just the surprise factor," Dan Kearns said. "Usually, rumors are flying around, and people hear things and expect things. He didn't have a clue."

    Abby Kearns was pregnant with the couple's second son. He didn't know where they would live. He didn't know who he would get along with.

    And then he arrived in Washington. The team was in last place, where it spent almost all of 2006. But the sale to the family of Theodore Lerner was complete. The new owners held a ceremonial "grand reopening" of RFK Stadium. Each game of the six-day homestand drew more than 29,000 people.

    "I'm telling you, those fans made a difference for him," Dan Kearns said. "They talk about Cincinnati being a great baseball town, but they look for you to strike out so they can boo. Here they were, Washington, in last place, and they cheered everything."

    Kearns finished out the year with the Nationals, hitting just .250 for his new club. But General Manager Jim Bowden, who drafted Kearns when he was with Cincinnati, still saw what Kearns could do, not what he had done. As Boone said, "The sky's still the limit."

    So in January, Kearns signed his three-year deal, which guarantees him $17.5 million and, should the club pick up an option for a fourth season, would pay him $26.5 million.

    "I just got convinced that the team was going in the right direction," he said.

    On Sunday afternoon, after he went hitless in three at-bats of a Grapefruit League victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kearns stood in the Nationals' clubhouse, his locker squarely in the middle of the other pieces of the team's future, Lopez, third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, catcher Brian Schneider and first baseman Nick Johnson. Zimmerman said goodbye as he ambled out, and Kearns pulled on that Kentucky basketball cap backward. He headed out himself, as comfortable as could be.

    "I feel like what I'm supposed to do," Kearns said, "has just been postponed."














  16. #15
    Let's ride BRM's Avatar
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    Re: Kearns rips Cincinnati fans...

    Quote Originally Posted by Redsland View Post
    If you want to watch Deno play, I can recommend some hotels in Louisville.
    A friend of mine has season tickets for the Bats. I'll ask him to give me updates on Deno once the season starts.


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