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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 > 2008 > April > 23 > Entry
Starting over…again
The first thing that came to mind when Bob Castellini spoke was former Russian premier Nikita Khrushchev pounding his shoe on a podium at the United Nations and saying, “We will bury you.”
Castellini, his face a solid concrete etched in solemn passion, looked down when asked, “Why now? Why fire general manager Wayne Krivsky now?”
Then his head shot up and he said, “We’ve come to the point where we just aren’t going to lose anymore.”
You could almost see Krivsky’s successor, Walt Jocketty, cringe at those words, although he later said, “I’m not worried about it, I do it because I want to do it, not that I need to do it.”
Castellini said the reason for Krivsky’s dismissal can mostly be found in the won-lost column. Is that fair? 9-12? Twenty-one games. Even Tony Perez lasted longer than that into a season, 44 games as manager before Jim Bowden fired him.
“Nobody in the organization is happy with our 9-12 won-loss record,” Castellini said. “We’ve had two losing seasons under our new ownership and we’ve started out this season poorly, on a won-loss basis, and that’s the primary reason we made the change.”
Castellini was testy when asked about continuity - five managers and six general managers (two were co-GMs on an interim basis in the last six seasons.
“We haven’t had six, we’ve had two,” he said, using semantics. The organization has had six GMs since 2002 - Jim Bowden, co-interims Brad Kullman and Leland Maddox, Dan O’Brien, Krivsky and Jocketty. “The franchise has…yes.”
So is he concerned about continuity? “Absolutely I am. Absolutely. I respect the question, but this has been a very tough decision. Krivsky did a whale of a job in some areas.”
Jocketty jumped to Castellini’s rescue.
“I believe in continuity,” he said. “Very much so. But sometime it takes a little time to get thins the way you want. There are a lot of quality people and quite a few quality players here and now we have to find a way to make it work.”
Jocketty says he is impressed with the staff, on the field and in the front office, and doesn’t anticipate any changes.
Manager Dusty Baker, the fifth manager in six years (Bob Boone, Dave Miley, Jerry Narron, interim Pete Mackanin, Baker) addressed the continuity issue, too. Asked about the importance of continuity, he said, “I think it is very important. Wayne did some great things here. He built our farm system. It is very important to keep some consistency, which is one reason I kept the coaching staff.
“I mean, you listen to quarterbacks complain about four offensive co-ordinators in four years. Doesn’t work. Good organizations keep a lot of the same people for a long period of time,” Baker added.
Krivsky appeared in the back of the press box after the Jocketty press conference and said his removal was a shot out of the dark. He said Castellini asked him Tuesday night to meet with him Wednesday morning at 8:30 and Krivsky didn’t see the axe above the door.
“It came out of the blue, it really did,” said Krivsky. “Completely shocked. I didn’t see this coming at all. What hurts so much is not to be able to see the job through. I had visions of being in the clubhouse with people pouring champagne over everybody. I’m hugely disappointed I’m not able to finish the job.
“I fought for an hour to keep my job,” he said. “I fought hard for my job. I love it here. I loved my job. And I had laughs. You have to have laughs in this job and I did in two years. I only wish it was 22. It wasn’t my call. But I disagree strongly with the decision. I still think I’m the right guy for this job. But Bob will admit he is an impatient man. I’ll sleep good tonight…well, maybe not tonight.
“Look at an unbiased source like Baseball America, who had the Reds farm system rated 27th to 30th when I got here, now they rank us in the top three or four,” said Krivsky. “In two years? Dam right I’m proud of that. I’m damned proud of that. We’re one of the most respected organizations in baseball and I’m damn proud of that.”
Jocketty is confident he can do in Cincinnati what he did in St. Louis, turning a similar market from moribund into a winner, seven playoffs in 13 years.
“This franchise is very similar to what we had in St. Louis, a winning tradition, great fans, great community, but they hadn’t won in a long time in St. Louis, either,” said Jocketty. “There are a lot of similarities between St. Louis and Cincinnati. This is a storied franchise with tradition. Dusty Baker and I are very motivated, guys with a vendetta and a little chip on our shoulder.”
That’s because Jocketty was fired in St. Louis after last season and Baker was fired in Chicago after 2006.
Asked about his basic philosophy, Jocketty said, “Win.”
That’s what they all say.
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Comments
By Mike
April 24, 2008 3:28 PM | Link to this
Long story short: an impatient owner made a good GM a scapegoat 21 games into the season. Say what you want, but you cannot hold a GM accountable, firing him out of the blue, when it isn’t even May yet. The management carousel goes on, but Krivsky has made sure that all the pieces for a winning team are here. We’ve got a rotation that could be in the top 5 of the NL at the end of the year and will only get better with experience. Whether it be this year or next, we’re about to see dividends for the work done to improve the minor league system. Let it be known that Wayne sowed the seed, now it’s up to Walt to reap the rewards.By Jack
April 24, 2008 10:21 AM | Link to this
Immediate issues for Jocketty: Arroyo -disabled list with the same fake injury as Weathers. Bring up Baily or Lehr for a few starts and see how they do. Belisle -not good enough. If the Reds want to “win today,” then he will not be able to help the cause. Bruce. It amazes me that the minor league player of the year is still in the minors. Has anyone won this award twice? Cant blame everything on Krivsky, but Patterson and Fogg probably make too much money to eat, but they are taking playing time away from other deserving players. Hopper (yes, on DL), but perhaps someone should have told Dusty to actually watch a game or two from last year, maybe he would have seen Hopper bunt the ball all over the place and get on base. As someone else stated, if you are going to lose, would much rather lose with youth.By bill
April 24, 2008 8:39 AM | Link to this
Krivsky was given credit for bringing in Arroyo and Brandon Phillips. The last time that I looked Phillips was hitting .250 and Arroyo is one of the worst starters in the league.By Jeff
April 24, 2008 8:22 AM | Link to this
It doesnt matter who’s call it was to sign patterson the point is that it didnt need to be for 3.5 million. They could have gotten him for about 500-750k. Thats wasting your bosses moneyBy Bob
April 24, 2008 7:52 AM | Link to this
I didn’t like some of Krisvky’s moves, but I question who is calling the shots on signing Patterson who has no track record that would justify it. As I’ve repeatedly said for 7 yrs., while you’re losing, do it with youth. Votto is the only one of the great young, potential stars who has gotten a chance. The one who is denying the opportunities is the one I’m after. Maybe that was Krisky, I don’t know.By TJ
April 24, 2008 4:56 AM | Link to this
Castellini wasn’t wrong in firing Wayne Krivsky, but he should have done it in October last year or October this year. His approach of dumping the guy who is directly responsible for the 25 men on the field every day after 21 games is dumbfounding. At least give Krivsky enough respect to can him once Walt Jocketty was brought in as a “special advisor.” Doing the dirty work now only adds more instability to a team that can’t seem to make up it’s mind. This team has a TON of potential and Bob Castellini has been, at the very least, an owner committed to winning. But winning isn’t easy and all the “potential” in the world isn’t worth a damn until this front office can decide on a direction to make winning in Cincinnati a reality.By Gary
April 23, 2008 11:01 PM | Link to this
The first thing Jocketty should do is get rid of Arroyo. How much longer are the Reds going to go with this guy?By ohdave
April 23, 2008 8:35 PM | Link to this
I thought Krivsky made some great moves—Brandon Phillips comes to mind. But to brag about the farm system? When your team is a seller at the trade deadline year after year I would certainly hope that you’d have something in your farm system. The Yankees and Red Sox are trading away prospects every year to get a veteran player to help them in the playoffs.By Larry
April 23, 2008 6:57 PM | Link to this
I disagree. In what sense did Bob give Wayne “chance after chance?” By giving him a small market payroll w/the demand to “win now” but without touching the farm system? Who could do that? Castellini asked for something no one could give him, and I totally agree with Kriv’s assessment: put the acquisitions in one column and what the Reds gave up in the other, and there’s no conclusion but that this is an excellent GM and talent evaluator. He may not be the best guy interpersonally—though he never seemed to lie to anyone or BS anyone, unlike Leatherpants—but he was a good GM. This is a mistake.By Dave Collins
April 23, 2008 6:23 PM | Link to this
That’s absolutely hilarious: Krivsky looking for sympathy from the same media guys and fans he alienated with his needlessly private and insultingly condescending attitude about potential deals and moves. But when HE gets moved, suddenly he’s all talk with the press. Guys like him, who change and become arrogant, snobby jerks after they get ‘Big Jobs’, have psychological issues. If Wayne had seen a shrink instead of delusionally hoping for Coffey, Belisle, Salmon, Coutlangus, Stanton et al to ever be reliable and efficient, he might still have his job. Castellini gave him chance after chance to evolve into a wiser GM in several ways, but he blew every chance he got. Krivsky deserves to sell hot dogs now, and from the latest reports, that’s what he’ll be doing.