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| Sean Casey 2005 |
The Mayor gave a speech to an assemble group of minor leaguers about hustle and pride in wearing a uniform.
"I want to see you sprint to firstbase every time," Casey said with his rapid chatterlike delivery. "It doesn't take any talent to hustle."
It made a jaded old guy like me want to grab the flag and lead the parade.
The Reds bring former players in, who have been there. Barry Larkin was present. These are the guys that minor league age kids grew up watching on TV or whose cartoon likenesses were on their video games.
Their fathers may remember, Dusty Baker from his playing days but the minor leaguers more closely identify with Casey and Larkin. Sure Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench, Jack Billingham, Jim Maloney and even Eric Davis are here but the 19 year olds in Reds uniform, identify more with Casey and Larkin. They can be told 100 times to hustle by their authority figures, the coaches but Casey had their attention. The Reds hope his version sticks.
I hear people complain about how much money a professional athlete is paid. What they fail to realize is the filtering process which is at times brutal and cruel. Of the 120 or so minor leaguers in Goodyear maybe two or three will ever play in a major league game. That is not counting the Triple A roster. The Reds have a prospect at every position. That is rare.
"We have a good thing built and we're still building," said Dusty Baker in the morning press conference that included three national writers. "Our young kids are impressive. They're not intimidated. They feel comfortable. Our guys make them feel comfortable. We have a good group of guys here."
Baker was asked his biggest concern by a national writer. Baker said, "I don't have any."
The follow up question, "So every thing is clear?"
"No," Baker said. "Things are unclear but not a concern. The only concern is who you're going to keep and what to tell the guys, you don't keep."
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