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Dunn jabs Miley on clubhouse makeover
By Hal McCoy
Dayton Daily News
CINCINNATI | Furniture movers swept the Cincinnati Reds clubhouse Tuesday, and the players are pretty sure it wasn't Bekins or Mayflower.
When Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey Jr. arrived, they discovered their massage recliner chairs were missing, removed by Manager Dave Miley.
"That's the surprise I got today when I got here," Dunn said. "So now we'll start winning. It was my chair's fault. My back hurts and I need it. It's therapeutic.
"I think my chair wants traded," he added. "It came to play every day, never complained. Hey, we won (Monday night). If we lost, my glove might be gone today. They did leave the tip jar that was next to the chair. I was surprised they didn't take the money."
Dunn paused with a broad smile on his face and said, "I'll probably get in trouble for this, but I had to have fun with it."
One thing that wasn't taken down was the red No. 32 practice jersey worn by Danny Graves, cut from the team Monday. Dunn has it hanging on a wall next to his locker and said, "That's not coming down. If that goes, I'm going."
Dunn said Miley said it was his decision, and Miley said, "The chairs have disappeared. We're changing things up and I'll leave it at that."
Graves' last words
Speaking of Graves, his last words as he left the Reds' clubhouse Monday were, "I was an All-Star last year, and less than a year later I don't have a job and I'm shown the door."
David Weathers, who stepped into Graves' closer role Monday and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth, said Graves never left his mind.
Like most players, he believes Graves was let go because of the intense booing from fans.
"If a player like Danny Graves can handle boos, front offices should be able to handle it and not panic," Weathers said. The Chicago Cubs and Florida Marlins already have expressed interest in Graves.
Cruz patiently waits
The Reds are 45 games into the season, and outfielder/first baseman Jacob Cruz has been neither an outfielder nor a first baseman. He has been a pinch-hitter ... period.
He is the only position player in the majors who was on an Opening Day roster but has not started a game.
"He told me the other day, 'Sometime soon, you'll start a game sometime soon,' " Cruz said, referring to Miley.
"It is really tough to pinch-hit once every four days," Cruz said. "The other day I decided to take a pitch or two, just so I'd see pitches. Usually, I swing at the first good one. Well, the only good pitch to hit I saw was the first one and I took it."
Minor tinkering
Catcher Jason LaRue was hitting .196 after the weekend, but he had three hits Monday, including a home run, shoving his average above the Mendoza Line to .217.
"I've worked a lot with (hitting coach) Chris Chambliss," he said. "It is a long year, and a season is a year of adjustments. Sometimes you get in a rut and need to adjust."
LaRue says it was nothing major, a minor tuneup, some air in his tires and a quart of oil.
"That's the mistake a lot of guys make when things aren't going right," he said. "They make big changes in their swings and stances. Mostly all you need is a small, minor change. It's see the ball, hit the ball, and if you can see it good you can hit it good."
Wilson still out
Pitcher Paul Wilson won't appear in the four-game Pittsburgh series that begins Thursday. The rotation is Elizardo Ramirez, Ramon Ortiz, Eric Milton and Brandon Claussen."
Although it will be nearly 15 days since Wilson last pitched by the end of the Pittsburgh series, Miley said the club has no thoughts of placing him on the disabled list.
"Nothing has changed. We're trying to give him a cooling off period," Miley said about Wilson's shoulder tendinitis.
Meanwhile, the team plays one man and one pitcher short.
Ortiz recovered
His left eye is bloodshot and he has a shiner under it, but Ramon Ortiz is ready for his start Friday. Ortiz was smashed under the left eye by a line drive hit by Cleveland's Ronnie Belliard on Sunday.
"I feel better, no pain," he said. "I like to pitch too much, and that little thing is not going to stop me."
Ortiz said he had never been hit in the head, but said Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki hit his right shoulder once, and the ball ricocheted off his right buttocks, "And that hurt both places."
When the consequences of a direct shot in the eye were mentioned, Ortiz said, "For me it would have been, 'See ya later.' "
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Originally Posted by Redleg44
