What will it take for Reds fans to forgive the Castellini family?
Seems like an easy answer: Field a winning team again and all will be forgiven for owner Bob Castellini gutting the Reds’ payroll, his son Phil Castellini making the cringeworthy “where you gonna go” comment and the club losing 100 games last year.
No?
Prediction: It’ll take more than a winning season for the fans to fully forgive the Castellinis. It’ll take the Reds winning a playoff series, something they haven’t done since 1995. Or some fans might be willing to forgive if the rebuilding Reds make the playoffs ahead of schedule and show promise of a return to the postseason.
Am I completely misreading it? Will it take more than that?
It took a Super Bowl appearance last year for Bengals fans to forgive owner Mike Brown.
Maybe it’s not fair to compare the Reds and Bengals owners in this context. Brown was working against three decades of pent-up fan apathy. Only a Super Bowl could've revoked Brown's membership in the Worst Team Owners club.
Bob Castellini isn’t in the club. His troubles didn’t really start until about a year ago, when the Reds let go of Jesse Winker, Eugenio Suárez, Sonny Gray, Amir Garrett, Tucker Barnhart and Wade Miley. It snowballed from there.
Anger has given way to apathy. The Reds are on the right track. Unlike the NFL, however, baseball isn't setup for quick turnarounds. The Reds likely won't be ready to compete for at least two more seasons.
Let me know in the comments below or on email what you think it’ll take to forgive the Castellinis. And by the way, if a sale is what you’re waiting on to forgive, you might be waiting a while. Bob Castellini has no plans to sell the Reds.
I share my viewpoint. It’s only fair I let you share yours. In this space, I’ll respond to some of your emails.
Readers flooded the inbox after last week’s column about Thom Brennaman, in which I wrote it’s time some team or college athletic department give him a second chance at broadcasting. Surprisingly, most readers agreed. Here’s a sampling of what landed in my inbox:
Reply With Quote