From Fay: Votto talks about knee, playoffs, Rolen

[RedsManRick]

Good article/update on Votto.

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/reds/201...n-ended-rolen/

I found this bit particularly interesting:

Votto gave Rolen the ultimate compliment.

“I got everything I needed from him playing beside him. I learned a tremendous amount. You can always learn, but the two or three years I had with him were not wasted. I tell you what: He changed my path as a player. He was a shining example of the kind of player I want to be. Simply because of how quiet he was and how respected he was throughout baseball.”

That, more than anything else, is why Jocketty traded for Rolen.

[wally post]

Wonderful piece by Fay. Good for Joey. It looks like we have more joyful success waiting in the coming seasons

[RedsBaron]

Wow. Thanks for posting that. Terrific article. I am an even bigger Votto fan now.

[lollipopcurve]

Maybe some folks will start to see the value of Rolen now.

[edabbs44]

Originally Posted by lollipopcurve

Maybe some folks will start to see the value of Rolen now.

Yep. Rolen's value went well beyond the numbers.

[HeatherC1212]

Fantastic interview! I'm glad Joey's knee is improving more every day. I LOVE that he's angry about how last season ended because when Joey is angry, he tends to take it out on the opposing team's pitchers which is a lot of fun for us Reds fans!

[Caveat Emperor]

Originally Posted by lollipopcurve

Maybe some folks will start to see the value of Rolen now.

Acquiring Scott Rolen was a culture-change moment for the organization. It was Walt putting his stamp on the team and telling everyone "this is the guy I want you all to be like."

[lollipopcurve]

Acquiring Scott Rolen was a culture-change moment for the organization. It was Walt putting his stamp on the team and telling everyone "this is the guy I want you all to be like."

Yes, exactly. It was especially designed to give Votto and Bruce a guy to look up to and learn from. They were too young to understand/take on leadership at the time -- they needed to see it in action.

[chicoruiz]

Duun and Junior are by no means bad guys, but having them as role models was not ideal. This team started to turn around when the young players watched Rolen and bought into his approach to the game.

[Roy Tucker]

“I think the reason it bothered me so much is because it was the first time I ever saw the Cincinnati fans go out of their character. They were absolutely crazy in that last bit of (Game 5). It was the best version of them I’ve even seen. They were fantastic. They felt it was close. Not to get that — I was a fan in that moment — not to get to experience that elation . . .”

I was glad to see this.

For quite a while, I thought it was just me since I had been there. It was close to an out of body experience. I've been to a lot of Reds games, seen Reds playoff games, World Series games, All-Star games, big regular season games, etc etc. So that wasn't my first rodeo.

But that crowd in the last 4 innings was a different Cincinnati crowd. One that I haven't seen in a long time. Like Votto said, they (or we) were out of character. It's probably been since the 1995 playoffs against the Braves that I've seen a Cincinnati crowd act that way. It was like by a collective act of will, they could will the team to win.

It wasn't just a portion of the crowd, it wasn't the people that were down close to the field, or the people that like to stand up and waves their arms to get everyone else up and makes faces like they are some better kind of fan. It was *everyone*. It was everyone, all the time, and with intensity. A constant roar. Big roar. Intensity that I'd just seen flashes of in big games with the Cardinals in late innings. It was quite remarkable. You really had to be there.

So I'm glad to see that Votto saw it and maybe other players did too. And maybe Cincinnati fans learned that we can be a big-time crowd again. I know I've been way out of practice for too long. It felt good.

[mattfeet]

Originally Posted by Roy Tucker

I was glad to see this.

For quite a while, I thought it was just me since I had been there. It was close to an out of body experience. I've been to a lot of Reds games, seen Reds playoff games, World Series games, All-Star games, big regular season games, etc etc. So that wasn't my first rodeo.

But that crowd in the last 4 innings was a different Cincinnati crowd. One that I haven't seen in a long time. Like Votto said, they (or we) were out of character. It's probably been since the 1995 playoffs against the Braves that I've seen a Cincinnati crowd act that way. It was like by a collective act of will, they could will the team to win.

It wasn't just a portion of the crowd, it wasn't the people that were down close to the field, or the people that like to stand up and waves their arms to get everyone else up and makes faces like they are some better kind of fan. It was *everyone*. It was everyone, all the time, and with intensity. A constant roar. Big roar. Intensity that I'd just seen flashes of in big games with the Cardinals in late innings. It was quite remarkable. You really had to be there.

So I'm glad to see that Votto saw it and maybe other players did too. And maybe Cincinnati fans learned that we can be a big-time crowd again. I know I've been way out of practice for too long. It felt good.

I agree. I just KNEW Bruce would hit a HR and send us to the NLCS. I could feel it and so could everyone else in that stadium. It was really an awesome experience.

[wlf WV]

Originally Posted by lollipopcurve

Maybe some folks will start to see the value of Rolen now.

It would be worth hiring him as an instructor.He breaks fielding a ground ball and making plays at 3rd base so simple ,it's poetry in action.

In the pregame shows Chris Welsh featured him in his tech talks,which I imagine his been talked about before.Welsh said he was the best.

[RedsManRick]

Originally Posted by wlf WV

It would be worth hiring him as an instructor.He breaks fielding a ground ball and making plays at 3rd base so simple ,it's poetry in action.

In the pregame shows Chris Welsh featured him in his tech talks,which I imagine his been talked about before.Welsh said he was the best.

I could definitely see him coming to ST as an instructor and then spending some time off and on throughout the season helping guys out. It would let him enjoy retirement but still stay involved. And in the event he was feeling particularly healthy and the Reds needed a bat off the bench later in the season and for the playoffs...