Reds Sold

For years in Cincinnati there's been one professional sports franchise worth following, and with the recent emergence of the Bengals under head coach Marvin Lewis - ironically there's still only one professional franchise, and it's went from being the Cincinnati Reds to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Majority Owner and CEO of the Reds Carl Lindner, or "Satan" as I've grown to refer to him as, has compiled about as worse a tenure in his 6 years of majority ownership as any owner in the history of baseball's first franchise. Cincinnati is amidst a stretch of 5 consecutive losing seasons since our near-playoff appearance on a 96-67 season in 1999, and despite heavy front office and player turnover, they haven't really come close to sniffing anything remotely close. Lindner's now-famous first words upon purchasing the Reds are coming back to haunt his legacy, as he initially stated that he didn't care if he made money on the team, rather he just wanted to break even. An admirable aspiration I suppose, but when you want to win in Major League Baseball you need to be aggressive - and despite pulling perennial all-world CF Ken Griffey Jr., Lindner hasn't done that.

The downfall of Lindner can be traced to his unwillingness to employ competent management. Notice our lone successful season in 1999 was at the hands of "Trader" Jack McKeon (291-259), a player's manager who's knowledge of the game goes without question. For whatever reason the Reds pissed away another good manager much in a similar fashion to Davey Johnson (204-172) and "Sweet" Lou Piniella (255-231 & a World Series title), and have since lacked competence throughout the front office. As much as I enjoyed Jim Bowden's savvy on bringing in sought-after players, he depleted our pitching staff in a fashion that still cripples us today. New GM Dan O'Brien is currently in his first position as a General Manager in the Major Leagues, and although all of his decisions are really too young to rule on - I think he's a fuckin' idiot. I truly believe he's on a 3-year plan to turn the Reds around, and after we suck again in '06 I think he's gone, thus paving the way for hopeful new majority owner (sale pending) Robert Castellini.

Yesterday, Lindner agreed to sell controlling interest to a group of area businessmen headed by Castellini, who is currently a part of an ownership group of the St. Louis Cardinals led by Bill DeWitt Jr., thus meaning they'd need to sell their remaining interests with that club. The sale came as no surprise following a season that was marred by boos when Lindner would attend the ballpark, when just a year earlier Lindner had considered selling the majority 51.5% of the team, but later stated that he wanted to keep control.

Lindner has long been a positive influence in the tri-state area, amassing over $14 billion in assets in everything from banking to bananas. But, I merely posted that previous statement in a futile attempt to show him in a good light - turns out I'm a rabid sports fan and as usual, I'm just pissed off. And for your information - Lindner didn't break even with the Reds...he made $55 million dollars.

So - what does this mean for the Reds fans? A few commonly asked questions:

Gallery: Bironm, will the sale of the Reds go through in the rumored 3-12 month pending period?
Bironm: I think so, as it's a wealthy ownership group who already has their feet wet in the baseball ownership market. Two members of the investment group are Thomas and William Williams Jr. (I know, 2 William's!), who are both descendants of James & William Williams who were part of the club's ownership group in the 1970's. However, my inkling is this: if Bud Selig can find a way to screw up a perfectly good thing, he will.

Gallery: Bironm, will I live to see another World Series come to Cincinnati?
Bironm: I'd like to say yes, but it all depends on how old you are. If you're 85 years old, there's a good chance you won't - and based on history it's almost likely. Now I'm not trying to base this on age alone, I mean, if you're 35 and have an addiction to say crack cocaine, then I'd venture to say you may not live long enough to see one either.

Gallery: Bironm, will I be able to bring in my own cooler chock full o' beer to ballgames under new ownership?
Bironm: That's a good question, I'd write a letter and ask. Asking never hurt anyone.

But, no more questions at this time...