Valentin apologizes...

[coachw513]

I thought it at the time (that Valentin cost the Reds a double by coasting out of the box in the 3rd inning) but apparently Baker isn't going to watch these things without response...

From Fay's Blog:

Javy Valentin thought the ball he hit in the third might be out. He broke out of the box slowly. The ball hit the base of the fence in right. He ended up with 330-foot single.

Could it have been a double?

"Maybe," Valentin said. "If I run right away, I got an opportunity."

"It's been addressed," Dusty Baker said.

"I apologized," Valentin said. "It's not going to happen again."

Of course, it's REAL change when it either doesn't happen again from anyone or if Dusty will deal with Griffey, Dunn et al in a similar manner...

[Stormy]

Good for Dusty. I do expect that Dusty will have these guys intently focused and giving maximum effort before it's all said and done, and that hasn't always been the case in Redsland in recent years.

Too bad baseball doesn't have offensive and defensive coordinators, whose job is to put the best 9 on the field, and in the optimal positions to succeed, leaving Dusty relegated to the realms of oversight, leadership, motivation, preparation etc...

[Ltlabner]

Yea, I hate to pronounce that "all is well" based on one news blurb. That said, it is refreshing to hear something be adressed right away and directly to the player. I don't know why, but I like hearing that JV actually appoglized for screwing up. To me, when you respect your boss and care about your job you own up and admit your errors. This can include applogizing.

Does respect translate into wins? Remains to be seen, but as I said, very refreshing.

[jojo]

Few people seem to realize that Javy was running his hardest....

The real test will be whether Dusty puts the hammer down on the Jr's of the world....

[cincrazy]

Few people seem to realize that Javy was running his hardest....

The real test will be whether Dusty puts the hammer down on the Jr's of the world....

Jr. was busting it around the bases pretty well on the Phillips triple

[TOBTTReds]

I heard some boo's when Hatte pouted to the dugout after drop 3rd strike. It was far enough away from the catcher to run. I wonder if that was addressed too.

[wolfboy]

Put him in the bullpen or whatever

[Cyclone792]

I do have to admit I laughed quite a bit when Valentin pulled his "I'm gonna jog to first" stunt. New manager, new name manager making big bucks, fundamentals, new attitude, blah blah blah and the very first hit of the season for the team was a double-turned-into-a-single thanks to well ... you know ...

It's just so ironic that it's absolute poetry. Hilarious poetry at that.

Put him on the bench or whatever.

[Blimpie]

Jr. was busting it around the bases pretty well on the Phillips triple

I am sure that he was "busting it" to the best of his abilities. However, even my nine year old son commented that it appeared Junior was running with a piano strapped to his back.

[princeton]

Put him in the bullpen or whatever

[smith288]

Why does it take one time for it "never to happen again"?? Why can't these ball players just hustle like they are supposed to?? Man i long to play baseball like I did in high school and hustled whenever the bat hit the ball...

[bucksfan2]

Its the freakin first game of the season. I can live with mistakes if you are too jacked up. I can live with batters swinging a little too hard or getting thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double or Ryan Freel type mistakes on the first day of the season. What I can't live with is laziness. Hatty not running on a dropped thrid strike, there was another guy who did that as well, Valentine not running out of the box on the first game of the season just is as poor as it gets.

[princeton]

Why does it take one time for it "never to happen again"??

ten pounds of flesh

[Blitz Dorsey]

Valentin is just a bad all-around player. Terrible defensively and now he's posing on balls that short-hop the wall? But it's not his fault the front office was unable to find a real catcher this offseason. Ross won't be much better when he returns.

[buckeyenut]

Its the freakin first game of the season. I can live with mistakes if you are too jacked up. I can live with batters swinging a little too hard or getting thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double or Ryan Freel type mistakes on the first day of the season. What I can't live with is laziness. Hatty not running on a dropped thrid strike, there was another guy who did that as well, Valentine not running out of the box on the first game of the season just is as poor as it gets.

You can't seriously think that was laziness, can you? That wasn't laziness. That was showboating because he thought it was gone. It was standing there admiring his work and it was very disappointing. But it wasn't lazy.