Narron on Casey: "He's one of the better hitters in baseball"

[CincyRedsFan30]

Reds awaken in 6th inning
Valentin leads charge with first grand slam

By John Erardi

Enquirer staff writer

Rockies' starter Jamey Wright was shutting out the Reds on one hit with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Rockies were up by a run on a hot, sticky Sunday afternoon at Great American Ball Park.

The Reds were so asleep that some of the 20,736 fans were actually nodding off. The whole scene resembled one of those languid, front-porch dozes in which the only thing happening are the flies.

And that's when the hound dogs started yelping and all heck broke loose.

Sean Casey hit his first home run at Great American this season, Ken Griffey hit the next pitch for his 521st career home run to tie Ted Williams and Willie McCovey on the all-time list, and Joe Randa one-hopped the right-field wall for a double. Two batters later, Reds catcher Javier Valentin crushed a grand slam to give the Reds a five-run lead.

"We woke everybody up," Valentin said. "Six runs in one inning. That's the kind of power we have."

Two innings later, Valentin hit a three-run homer, and the Reds rode the six-run outburst and Valentin's seven RBI to a 9-4 victory and a three-game series sweep of Colorado.

Valentin is right about the Reds' power. Home-run hitting isn't the problem. It's all the other stuff.

Valentin's homer in the eighth made him the first Reds switch-hitter since Pete Rose on Aug. 2, 1967, to hit home runs from each side of the plate in a game.

Valentin got standing ovations and curtain calls both times. On the first one, he didn't get fully into it, barely sticking his head out of the dugout, and Casey got on his case: "He said, 'Hey, go upstairs!' " Valentin said. "I did it better the second time. My parents are in town. It was great to (have a big day) in front of them."

Reds starter Ramon Ortiz (5-6) got the victory. After the Reds' six-run inning, he gave up three runs on two homers and a double in the top of the seventh that cut the Reds' lead to 6-4.

Power shows like Sunday's entertain the fans, and no doubt the Reds' front office is mindful of it. Building a winner is more important, but in pro sports, putting people in the seats has to go hand-in-hand with it. The talk lately has been about trading some veterans, and it was the veterans who were right in the middle of that sixth-inning uprising: Casey, Griffey and Randa.

The Reds had fun with Casey's home run - only his fourth of the season - and gave him the cold shoulder when he got back to the dugout.

"That must have been Dunner's (Adam Dunn's) doing," Casey said. "There was nobody to slap. I was giving myself high-fives."

Griffey didn't get in on the fun - he was at home plate when Casey got back to the dugout - "but if they'd told me about it, I'd have given him the old okey-doke," Griffey said.

When Griffey got back to the dugout after hitting his home run, Casey kidded him, "We were bound to go back-to-back this season at some point."

Griffey got in his playful dig after the game when he noted, correctly, that Casey's "got to start it" if the pair is going to hit consecutive homers. Casey hits third, Griffey fourth.

In the fourth inning, Casey had driven a ball to the warning track in front of the Reds bullpen in left center, and said to himself, "C'mon, can I get at least one out of here? Am I gonna go the whole season without getting a home run at Great American Ball Park?"

Casey had an active fifth inning defensively to set the stage for his sixth-inning home run. Broadcasting great Mel Allen was fond of pointing out how good defensive plays are often followed by that same player getting a big hit the next inning.

Casey had dug a Randa throw out of the dirt to nail cleanup man Eric Byrnes, plucked a foul ball at near full gallop next to the tarpaulin roll to get Garrett Atkins and then went into foul territory again to catch a throw from Reds catcher Valentin after J.D. Closser had struck out and the ball got by Valentin.

"I liked the over-the-shoulder one by the tarp the best," Casey said. "I was like, 'Hey, where is everybody?' You don't always get the chance to make that play - you've got three guys converging, and it gives you the willies a little bit - but I didn't hear anybody call it and I figured, 'I've got to try to catch this thing.' "

Reds manager Jerry Narron predicted that Casey will wind up reaching the 15 home runs that are on the low end of his major-league profile.

"I really believe that over 162 games players seek their levels," Narron said. "Sean is going to hit between 15 and 20 home runs every year for us. He's having a year where he isn't hitting a lot of balls out of the ballpark, but his numbers will be close to that. He's one of the better hitters in baseball. We're very fortunate to have him here."

[CincyRedsFan30]

It looks like Narron isn't going to be moving Casey out of the three-hole anytime soon, despite the dip in his production.

[redsrbetter]

I seems to me that Narron may have just given Casey his farewell speech. Like the usual kiss butt "great player" speech everyone gets once they are traded.

[QuietAcre]

Casey is a quality "#6 Hitter" at best. Little power, no speed, declining ability to get the ball to the gaps (more so when there is a runner on first). Oh, and he's a fraternizer, which IMO is the biggest "team spirit" killer in existance. I say good riddance to Casey and this "The Mayor" image he managed to create of himself in order to secure his job. What the Reds need is a "The Boss" type of player at firstbase.