After a miserable May in which the hometown team went a franchise worst 6-22 for the month, the once first-place Reds are now an afterthought for many in the race for the NL Central crown.  But what exactly happened?  Of course it seems everyone has the answer.  Many people blame the fact that the team has been plagued with injuries since the start of the season.  While this is certainly a factor, it cannot be the root of the problem.  Some people blame the manager Bob Boone, who has made some very questionable moves in quite a few games this season.  Some people, like our poor misguided friend in the picture above, blame General Manager Jim Bowden.  Some are even blaming Deion Sanders.

But like any well run company (or poorly run one for that matter) it all begins at the top.  We are talking about Cincinnati's own Banana Man Number One, Carl Lindner.  When King Carl took over the reigns of ownership from Marge Schott, fans everywhere felt that it was a chance for a new beginning.  No more big, smelly dogs crapping all over the field, no more embarrassing comments about nazis, homosexuals, or black people, and maybe most importantly no more of the spendthrift policies that were decimating our farm system and ruining our chances of signing and retaining the kind of top-level talent needed to compete in Major League Baseball.  With the signing of Ken Griffey Junior and the contract extension given to Barry Larkin, these did not seem to be unreasonable expectations.

But then something completely astonishing happened.  During the off season, GM Jim Bowden was actually ordered to reduce payroll.  After the second largest seasonal attendance in team history, there just wasn't enough cash to go around.  Now I will be the first to admit that players salaries have gotten way out of control.  But in 1999, a man by the name of Larry Dolan wanted to buy this team, and King Carl and his friends wouldn't allow it.  You see, Mr. Dolan was from Cleveland, and while the idea of someone from Cleveland owning the Reds is pretty sickening, at least Mr. Dolan realized that you must spend money to become a winner and he was prepared to do just that.  Alas, he never got the chance, at least not here.  After being shunned in Cincy he wound up buying the Cleveland Indians, who are currently locked in a battle for first place with those small-market marvels, the Minnesota Twins.

Being a extremely successful businessman himself, Mr. Lindner should know this best: "It takes money to make money."  And putting a winning baseball team will bring the fans to the park and make him (and the rest of the owners) lots of money.  In order to win, however, you need good bench players who can fill in when starters go down, not just AAA and even AA players who are in reality not even close to being ready for the big leagues.  You need a good manager, not just the guy who will accept the lowest paycheck.   (Sorry Bob, but anyone who puts Jason LaRue in to pinch run and Deion Sanders in to pinch hit on consecutive plays is not a very good manager.) You need reliable veteran pitching, not a bunch of guys whose best days are still a few years away.  You also need to be able to give the most talented GM in baseball what he needs to work his magic.

It is not too late to salvage this season.  (I mean at this point we're not going to win the pennant or anything, but this year can still be productive.)  A few things that might help would be to sign a veteran free-agent starting pitcher (although it may be too late for that) and to get our current stars signed to long term deals, especially Sean Casey, Danny Graves and Dmitri Young.  But for Jim Bowden to pull that off, Lindner and the other owners need to take the financial reigns off, or at least loosen them just a bit.  Let's get contract talks off of these players minds so that when guys like Griffey, Larkin, Pete Harnisch and Aaron Boone get off the disabled list, we can make one last run before we have to say "Just wait 'til next year!"

Dont believe us?!?  Then see what Tim Sullivan and Paul Daugherty of The Cincinnati Enquirer have to say about the subject.

DAUGHERTY - Reds are paying for sideshows, not good players.

SULLIVAN - Lindner-Larkin deal all-time Reds blunder

And by the way....if you diagnose an injury to be on a certain part of the hamstring which requires minimal time on the DL, do not do an MRI to make certain, and then find out weeks later that the injury is on a different part of the hamstring which requires a much longer stint on the DL, I think it is safe to say you originally MISDIAGNOSED the injury.  Sorry Dr. Tim (I mean we don't want to hurt your feelings or anything), but it's not that complicated!

Other Reds Sites

· www.cincinnatireds.com
· The Sporting News
· Cincinnati Enquirer
· Cincinnati Post
· majorleaguebaseball.com
· ESPN.com
· Fastball
· USA Today
· Minor league affiliates