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Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy is in his 36th year of covering the Cincinnati Reds, the longest tenure for any active writer covering one team. Counting spring training and postseason games, McCoy has covered more than 7,000 major-league baseball games, written close to 18,000 baseball stories and eaten enough hot dogs to give Babe Ruth indigestion.Home > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2009 > January > 25 > Entry
Chris Dickerson: ‘I’m your man’
Left field is a major hole in the Cincinnati Reds lineup - some call it a mine shaft - but Chris Dickerson doesn’t want left out in the cold.
“Manager Dusty Baker told me if I don’t make the team he is going to kick my butt,” said Dickerson.
Dickerson, 27, isn’t intent on making the team, he is intent on being the team’s left fielder on Opening Day.
Lack of confidence by fans struck him deeply last week during the team’s annual caravan and he related it with a smile Sunday during the team’s stop at the Air Force museum.
“It was in an Evansville (Ind.) car dealership and two guys back-to-back asked Dusty - and I was sitting right next to him at the podium, ‘Who is going to play left field this year?’ Then the next question was, ‘When Yonder Alonso moves up, will Joey Votto play left field?”
Those are questions Reds fans constantly ask, but they sting Dickerson, who hit .304 with six homers in 31 games after his August call-up last season, his first major-league experience.
“I thought to myself, ‘So, hey, where am I getting moved to?’ I bit my tongue not to say it out loud. I’m a mild-mannered person, but that was such a slap in the face,” he said.
“I could take it two ways. I could get upset or I could say, ‘OK, you two guys, I’ll be back in the gym (today) hitting and those comments will be the only things in my head.’ I’ll prove ‘em wrong.”
While Baker isn’t handing Dickerson the job - he probably has to be out Jerry Hairston Jr. and/or Jonny Gomes, Baker did tell Dickerson, “Don’t let everybody take away your potential for the job with words.”
Other than a propensity for injuries, a minor-league career full of them and a left ankle stress fracture that required surgery last September, Baker likes what he saw of Dickerson.
“I never heard of the guy when spring trainng began because he was barely on the radar screen,” said Baker. “If we started right now, it probably would be a platoon situation with him and a righthanded bat, either Hairston or Gomes.
“I told Chris to fight for the job because it has been a long hard road for him to get to the big leagues,” Baker added. “I told him I wasn’t here to give away his job, but I’m not here to give him the job, either. I’ll give him the opportunity to win the job, which is what he did last year.”
Baker knows some players develop later than others, “In sports not everybody figures it out at the same time.”
Dickerson agrees and cites the late arrivals of Travis Hafner and Chris Denorfia.
“Some guys spend a long time in the minors, then just get it, like Denorfia,” he said. “They were ready to give up on Hafner, then totally revamped him and he got it.
“I got it later and most of the time I worried about being the player other people wanted me to be,” he said. “I hit .303 in (Class A) Dayton in 2004 and they wanted me to hit for more power. I tried that the next year and hit .236. So much pressure to please everybody.”
Dickerson was hitting .136 on April 24 at (Class AAA) Louisville, “And it clicked in for me. Just clicked and locked in,” he said. Before arriving in Cincinnati in August, he had built his average to .287.
“When it clicks, it clicks in a big way - all the hard work I put in last winter with batting coach Brook Jacoby. I was able to take the rest of the season,” he added.
Now he hopes to take it through all of 2009, as the left fielder who’ll always remember the comments of a couple of guys in a car dealership in Evansville.
Bakers loves Dickerson’s bat - both for power and average - loves his speed and loves his defense. Health is the big issue, “But that’s a big issue for the entire team. We have to stay healthy.”
And how about shortstop Alex Gonzalez. One week the Reds say he won’t be ready for spring training and the next week, after an examination by team physician Tim Kremchek, Gonzalez is declared 100 per cent healthy.
I want some of that water from Kremchek’s office.
“Before Alex got hurt, he was one of the premier shortstops in baseball,” said Baker. “I’ve prayed a lot for Alex. Now it looks as if he’ll be OK. That’s so great.”
Baker knows what CEO/owenr Bob Castellini said about the bulging budget and there will be no more expensive additions. That, of course, doesn’t preclude a trade that doesn’t add significant payroll, if that can be done.
“We’re trying,” Baker said. “We’re really, really trying hard.” And about Castellini’s comment, Baker smiled and said, “I know you’ve ready about the payroll, but I’m still trying to push the envelope. I hope the fans understand what we’re trying to do and they’ll be happy when it all comes to fruition. Faith is what you can’t see. Sometimes you are forced to go in another direction. The direction we were taking before wasn’t working.
Baker said he senses the younger players get it more than some of the players who began with the team last season and there were three things he noticed last season that has to change:
ONE - “We had excessive strikeouts.” TWO - “We played poor defense.” THREE - “When we lost, some guys left the clubhouse like it was no big deal. It is a big deal to me. I don’t like to lose. My daddy used to tell people around me after I was part of a loss, ‘Stay away from him for about a week.’”
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Comments
By Michael
February 4, 2009 8:54 AM | Link to this
The same applies to Griffey Jr….they didn’t win with him and they need that money to move ahead. Ok…he took a pay cut to play here. Poor guy only made 8-12 Million for missing a lot of games and not hustling, and we still owe him a lot of $$! Don’t lay it all on Dunn and his 40/100/100 efforts. Did I mention that Dunn played almost everyday?By Mutaman
February 3, 2009 4:30 PM | Link to this
“and by the way - the Reds have NO ONE even close to replacing Dunn’s numbers.” The only numbers that count is that for 8 years with Dunn in left the Reds never finished over .500. The Reds can do the same thing in 2009 with my cat in left field.By Mutaman
February 3, 2009 4:30 PM | Link to this
“and by the way - the Reds have NO ONE even close to replacing Dunn’s numbers.” The only numbers that count is that for 8 years with Dunn in left the Reds never finished over .500. The Reds can do the same thing in 2009 with my cat in left field.By Monroe
January 27, 2009 2:14 PM | Link to this
Reading Dusty Baker talk about baseball is like hearing Paris Hilton talk about rocket science. The difference, of course, is that Paris doesn’t work for NASA, but sadly for Cincinnati, Dusty Baker “manages” the Reds … ugh. Two more years of this to go …By Mike-Dayton
January 27, 2009 1:29 PM | Link to this
Guys, at the end of the season in 07,06,05,04 Dunn was in the 40/100/100/100 range which is very, very good. He made around 350 outs each year of which many were strikeouts … so what!! … you guys assume if Dunn would not strike out so much, he would maintain the 40/100/100/100 which is not true. To not strikeout so much would compromise the HR and Walks (assuming he took a lot of 3rd strikes) … sure we would love for Dunn to go 40/100/100/100 and strikeout 80 times rather than 180 but that is not who Dunn is … in other words, would you rather have a player that goes 24/74/76/81 and strikeouts 80 times or Dunn’s numbers? I take Dunn everyday and move on knowing I have his run production every year is over 160 (rbi+runs scored - hr) … how he makes his 350 outs does not matter as long as he goes 40/100/100/100 … and by the way - the Reds have NO ONE even close to replacing Dunn’s numbers.By RonnieO
January 27, 2009 1:06 PM | Link to this
Rick, by definition you are describing a situation where Dunn was up, a runner was in scoring position, and there was one out. If nobody’s on and nobody’s out, who how Dunn makes and out. Who cares if Dunn strikes out, flies out, grounds out, or (as Senor Baker likes to have his team do every so often just to keep it interesting)gets called out for batting out of order. In that case, I’d rather he stikes out than “just makes contact” and rolls into a double play. In the 50 total plate appearances he had with runners in scoring position and TWO out, he worked 13 walks. In the remaining 37 AB, he HIT 6 homers, 1 single, two doubles for a .244 BA, which was higher than his season BA. The real issue is why did Dunn only come up 50 times with runners on in scoring position? That’s not a “Dunn strikes out a lot problem”, that’s a “Dusty keeps writing guys in the lineup who can’t get on base ahead of our RBI guys” problem. This “excessive strikeouts” problem is BS. I need better ideas than this gold plated turd from my $3.5mm manager. You know who struck out more than the Reds as a team last year? The Cubs. You know who else struck out more than the Reds last year? The Brewers. You know who struck out less than the Reds? The Pirates. This “we strike out too much” is as big a load of crap as writers giving the team “bad juju” or “mojo”, or whatever.By Rick
January 27, 2009 11:50 AM | Link to this
Dusty is right about two things. Defense and Strikeouts. How many times did Dunn strikeout when we needed him to make contact. Sometimes you don’t need a home run just put the ball in play. I like where the team is going, but with all the talk for a righthanded bat I don’t see any lefthanded power coming off the bench.By Mike-Dayton
January 27, 2009 10:57 AM | Link to this
Aaron F’ing B isn’t it? The Reds’ baffle all of us from hiring Dusty, signing Patterson (and then playing him), signing Fogg, signing Rhoades, letting Affeldt go, the list goes on and on …By Aaron B.
January 27, 2009 10:44 AM | Link to this
2 comments: 1) Alex Gonzalez at his best was never a premier shortstop in this league. Defensively he was very good, offensively he was sub-par. 2) Rhodes has thrown 36 innings in 2 years. Last year he was hurt. He was atrocious in 2006. He is not an upgrade over Affeldt because Affeldt delivered 78 quality innings last season. Rhodes will give you maybe half that and like the other guy said he is now 40 years old. Nothing to get excited about, and in fact why the Reds signed him so early in free agency for 2 years is baffling.By michael
January 27, 2009 10:18 AM | Link to this
Well James, I do realize that Rhodes is a good pitcher but all we here about is building for the future. If you knew anything about Baseball, you would know that an almost 40 Pitcher is not part of the future and may very well be done. Aren’t computer great? You can sit there and call someone anything you want and not get your A$$ kicked!By michael
January 27, 2009 10:18 AM | Link to this
Well James, I do realize that Rhodes is a good pitcher but all we here about is building for the future. If you knew anything about Baseball, you would know that an almost 40 Pitcher is not part of the future and may very well be done. Aren’t computer great? You can sit there and call someone anything you want and not get your A$$ kicked!By James A
January 27, 2009 8:47 AM | Link to this
michael, since when did age have anything to do with someone being an upgrade. Funny thats the only thing you could come up with was an age. Moron. Check the stats of last season before you throw an age out there as it being a reason for a player not being an upgrade. get the stats moron. You are on a computer right? Use it.By RonnieO
January 26, 2009 9:56 PM | Link to this
Here goes the broken record. What is the Dusty obsession with strikeouts? His problem last year wasn’t excessive strikeouts - it was poor hitting. The Reds were dead last in NL BA in 2008. Poor defense, sure - where are we better this year than last? He either doesn’t understand or just plain forgot the gawd awful pitching. The 2009 Reds so far have dismantled the only thing that was keeping them in ballgames. What is the basis for supposing the pitching is going to be great this year?By Mike-Dayton
January 26, 2009 9:47 PM | Link to this
Tink - you get it … Dusty is a bad manager for this team, he needs a team of older players who can police themselves since he won’t do it. He is player’s manager who likes to throw the same guys out there, do as little managing as possible and stay with the starter as long as possible. Bad ideas for any team and really bad for this young team. Why they hired him is a mystery. Can you imagine Jim Leyland or Lou Pinella allowing that kind of attitude of “losing no big deal” on their teams. Not a chance. I met Dusty and he is a nice man but he took this job to get the Cubs’ taste out of his mouth. Why we paid him so much and gave him a three year deal when he no one else wanted him is also mystery. The players this year are not better than last year and we still have Dusty - we have no chance of catching the Cubs (who have Pinella by the way)By Pujols
January 26, 2009 4:47 PM | Link to this
Dickerson is a AAA player..you guys will battle for 5th place..get your tickets when the Pirates come to town because thats all that franchise has to look forward to every year…trying to stay out of the basementBy Tink
January 26, 2009 3:40 PM | Link to this
Isn’t that Dusty’s job as manager? If guys are acting like “no big deal” after a loss - don’t play them and get rid of them ASAP. He mentions these problems like he has no control over them? I don’t get it.By Lefty
January 26, 2009 2:31 PM | Link to this
Hal, I am thinking our five outfielders will easily steal well over 100 bases. Any idea what the team record for OF-SBs in a single season? Where is Marty’s statistician when we need him.By Lefty
January 26, 2009 2:31 PM | Link to this
Hal, I am thinking our five outfielders will easily steal well over 100 bases. Any idea what the team record for OF-SBs in a single season? Where is Marty’s statistician when we need him.By Ken
January 26, 2009 1:20 PM | Link to this
Hal, It was uplifting to see Chris Dickerson visiting Children’s Hospital over the weekend, that being said, only 1 player managed to make that trip? Sad.By michael
January 26, 2009 11:07 AM | Link to this
Rhodes is a huge upgrade over Affeldt? Affelt was pretty good….and not 39 Years old. Do agree that the Staff is still good.By James A
January 26, 2009 11:01 AM | Link to this
Mike-Cinci that was also Volquez’s second season and Cuetos’s first. They should have a better feel for things now. I also remember a fella named Josh fogg, wow. Micah Owings is a huge upgrade over hime and Rhodes is a huge upgrade over Affeldt. FACT the staff is better.By vanexel
January 26, 2009 10:59 AM | Link to this
Hal, I’m heading to Sarasota for a couple games in March. Can you recommend a good hotel down there, that doesn’t break the bank? Do you know where the players stay? Thanks!By James A
January 26, 2009 10:54 AM | Link to this
The Reds should play Dikerson In left until proven other wise. He’s an upgrade over any left fielder we put out there last season defensevly. He has alot of potential at the plate as well. he is still young and “could” break out anytime. The tools are there. As for the season I think the Reds have a winner. Our Staff is better than alot of people think and I see the Cubs only having a better one in the division. The defense is much improved with Ken “no legs” Griffey out of right and Dunn out of left. Gonzo is also back at short. This team isnt built like past seasons teams and maybe thats a good thing after all how many wins did all the big flies generate? We can play small ball now. Lets not get this twisted tho the Reds stilk have 4 guys who will put up 25 plus homers. Dikerson in left adn all in all a trip to the post-season.By Mike-Cinci
January 26, 2009 10:44 AM | Link to this
I keep thinking the Reds pitching is better too but the facts are different. The Reds were 13th in the NL in pitching in 2008. Ony Washington, Colorado, and Pittsburgh were worse. The Reds ERA was 4.55 and they gave up a league leading 201 HR’s. Pitching and defense win. Reds pitching has to get a lot better for them to contend.By michael
January 26, 2009 10:39 AM | Link to this
Tavares? We already have Hopper and Dickerson and I don’t think Tavares is any better than either of those. Wasted money. Should picked up an RBI guy for LF.By Steven Ross
January 26, 2009 10:34 AM | Link to this
If…big if…Dickerson stays healthy, he’ll be fine. Lots of speed with Taveras too so we’ll be sitting on Grande’s “get ‘um on, get ‘um over, get ‘um in. Please foregive me for mentioning Grande, Daddy Wags and the Buccos. Baker worries me though. His lineup cards are mind-benders.By toondaddy
January 26, 2009 8:28 AM | Link to this
Dickerson is currently the best option, but we need someone to drive in runs. Sick of hearing about Gonzo. Just as Griffey Jr, we Pay the guy to not play? Even though the Reds try to market him as such, he isn’t the answer. Tavares…punch and judy. We have no 2 hitter and no real cleanup hitter so Votto will have a lot on his shoulders. This team is nothing to get excited about, except that I think we have one of the best Pitching staffs around. Hopefully they will keep us in the games and we acn tweak out some 1 run victories. The great thing about Baseball is that there is always next year.By grcnky
January 26, 2009 7:44 AM | Link to this
I am actually pretty excited about this team. I think their starting pitching is potentially as good as I’ve seen it over the past 30-40 years. Alsom Walt seems to be trying to build a “baseball team” as opposed to a Homerun derby team. He’s improved the defense, found a lead-off hitter, and has added a little threat off the bench. The farm system looks better and I’m excited about going to Sarasota in a few weeks to find this year’s Cueto and Volquez.By AP-FLORIDA
January 26, 2009 5:57 AM | Link to this
Well that is it for DICKERSON. He just got the i like from rusty. Didn’t rusty like CP, bako, griffey, dunn etc? And I am really rooting for Dickerson and Hopper!! Hopefully next year we won’t have to listen to who Rusty likes except on ESPN..Go REDS=WIN Go rusty-far awayBy Emil Brown
January 25, 2009 9:56 PM | Link to this
In 2005 with Kansas City I hit 17 HRS 86 RBIS and 31 Doubles. In 2006 I hit 15 HRS with 81 RBIS and 41 Doubles. I became a part-time player for KC in 2007 and still managed 6 HRS and 62 RBIS. I was traded to Oakland in 2008 and in 400 ABS had 13 HRS and 59 RBIS. I’m a free agent LF looking for work… Can the Reds use a right-handed power bat??? Sincerely Emil BrownBy Bill, Cincy
January 25, 2009 7:44 PM | Link to this
I think Chris Dickerson could be a real surprise if he can stay healthy. He eas the tools. Don’t try and do to much and have fun. Stay within yourself and let your natural talent pour out.By ryan kahn-madison, indiana
January 25, 2009 6:52 PM | Link to this
Mr. McCoy I hope you saw my apology about the hot dog comment the other day. I was out of line and you dont deserve that. You are great for baseball and i dont want you to choke on a hot dog. It just breaks my heart to think of the reds having another losing season. If your not supporting of them, who will be? Once again i am sorry for my rude comments and i hope you realize I am a true Reds fan who only wants them to win. I am 30 years old and have been watching the Reds since i can remember so I dont have to tell you how long it’s been since we’ve put a winner on the field. I only want them to win. I want them to win so bad it hurts. I watch all sports and have my favorite teams but none compare to the Redlegs. Mr. McCoy you are great for baseball and i have nothing but respect for you. Just take it easy on our boys….lol. Dickerson deserves a chance to earn the spot in left. In what little time he played he looked pretty good.By Mike-Dayton
January 25, 2009 6:50 PM | Link to this
Wow .. Dickerson and Taveres in the lineup with Dusty “someone hit me a three run home run or at least swing at the first pitch in every at bat” managing. They might have a chance in 2010 if they fire Dusty this year before he has Cuerto and Volquez each pitch 250 innings … this team has no chance of catching the Cubs and no chance of a Wild Card spot - success for them is .500 … whoooopeeeee!!!!!