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COMMENTARY
Take these predictions on '08 Reds to the bank
Sunday, March 30, 2008
One of Cincinnati Reds General Manager Wayne Krivsky's favorite sayings when asked about a time frame for injuries is: "I don't have a crystal ball."
Well I don't either and, in fact, I don't even have a cut-glass ball or a jelly jar in which to peer. That, though, doesn't prevent me from forecasting some events for the 2008 Cincinnati Reds.
Extras
Why not go on record with some predictions so readers can come back after the season and say, "You just proved you're an idiot, as if there was any doubt."
• The Reds will finish above .500, something they haven't done in seven years. It may only be 82-80, but that could be good enough for the National League Central title. The Cubs won it last year with 85 and the division is still as weak as a little girl's imaginary tea.
• Ken Griffey Jr. hits seven home runs in April and reaches 600 before May. He hits 35 for the season, drives in 105, but the Reds don't pick up his $16.5 million option for 2009 and he signs with Seattle to become the Mariners' designated hitter.
Eventually he retires as a Mariner and goes into the Baseball Hall of Fame wearing a Seattle cap, sailing off into the sunset on his boat to the Bahamas.
• Adam Dunn hits 40 home runs, drives in 100, scores 100 and walks 100 times. (That's not a prediction, that's a regular event, like the buzzards returning every March to Hinckley, Ohio.) The prediction is that the Reds sign him to a three-year, $45 million deal and he buys the Houston Texans and installs himself as quarterback (just kidding about the quarterback part).
• Dusty Baker is named National League Manager of the Year, gets a call from the president of the United States and calls him, "That president dude." Even if the Reds don't win the division, if Baker can turn in a winning season after seven years of bad luck (OK, who broke the mirror in 2000?), he'll qualify.
• Corey Patterson starts the season in center field, but bats only .250 in April, so the Reds call up this kid who is tearing it up in Louisville, a kid named Jay Bruce, and he hits .318 the rest of the year. But he loses the Rookie of the Year vote to somebody with inferior numbers in New York or Philadelphia.
• Aaron Harang is 12-3 at the All-Star break, but doesn't make the All-Star team. When National League manager Clint Hurdle is asked why Aaron didn't make it, he says, "Aaron Cook did make it, what're ya' talkin' about?"
• Josh Hamilton is hitting .325 with 20 home runs and 47 RBIs at the All-Star break for Texas and Reds fans continue asking, "Why did we trade this guy?" Meanwhile, Edinson Volquez is 9-4 with a 3.50 earned-run average and the same fans ask, "How'd we get this guy?"
Yeah, I know. Pretty far-fetched. But was it Yogi Berra or Joe Garagiola or Rodney Dangerfield who said, "Baseball is a funny game, but it will break your heart until the Fat Lady sings."
Contact this reporter at hmccoy@DaytonDailyNews.com.
