The Cincinnati Reds were 20-24 when Tony Perez was fired and Davey Johnson was hired to replace him. That was May 24.
When they beat the Cubs Thursday, it was their 11th victory in 15 games and it moved them a game better than .500 for the first time since May 18. The only other time they were above was April 5, when they were 1-0.
The transition wasn’t an easy one. The Perez firing angered Reds players and they said so.
“I think it’s pretty well over,” Johnson said of the sniping. “I think it’s been pretty well over for three weeks.
“I respect all their opinions. Any guys who stuck up for me after I got my butt fired (by the Mets in 1990) I appreciated. And I told them, `Don’t hide your feelings. Get them out, but let’s not harbor them. Say your piece, and let’s turn the page. I’m going to be here, hopefully more than a couple of months.’ “
After starting slowly under Johnson, the Reds came into the weekend 24-19 since the switch. There have been changes. Foremost: pitching.
“The way it was set up was poorly conceived,” he said. “I didn’t have any spot starters. I had spot starters (in New York) when I had five guys capable of winning the Cy Young.”
He has spot starters now. He has a 12-man staff.
“The big key is having our guys get consistent now,” he said. “And I think we’re getting there.”
Marching backward: On May 24, the Reds were in fifth place, 9 1/2 games behind the Giants.
On July 9, the Reds were in fifth place, 13 1/2 games behind the Giants.
Looking backward: Tigers manager Sparky Anderson on Reds General Manager Jim Bowden firing Perez:
“The guy who did it has to be the stupidest person in the world. If he’s so smart now that he can fire him after just 44 games, he had to be dumb to hire him.”
Falling back: The Phillies blew a two-run lead to the Dodgers in the ninth inning Wednesday night, setting up what turned into a 20-inning marathon. This came after that 12-hour nonsense four days earlier with the Padres that ended about 4:40 a.m.
Mitch Williams ended the first dance with an RBI single to win the double-header nightcap.
“I do some of my best work at 4:30 in the morning,” Williams quipped then.
Wednesday, he did some of his worst work. He began the ninth, gave up a single and three walks, was pulled by manager Jim Fregosi, then was ejected by plate umpire Jim Quick before an infield single off Larry Andersen lost the lead and sent the game into extra innings.
The Phils eventually won at 1:47 a.m. This time, postgame quips weren’t quite so joyous.
Said John Kruk: “I wanted to kill Mitch, but there’re laws against that.”
Falling backward: Maybe the essence of Don Drysdale, the pitcher, was this: Once, with first base open, he was told to walk Frank Robinson intentionally. He did. With four straight knockdown pitches.
The Redbirds are coming: The Cardinals’ sweep of the Braves put them at 16 games better than .500 for the first time this season and on the heels of first-place Philadelphia.
“This showed we can play with anybody,” said Gregg Jefferies, who raised his average from .261 on June 1 to .346 on July 8.
Manager Joe Torre was more cautious.
“We’re going to be as good as our pitching,” Torre said. “If we don’t pitch, we can look horrible, but if we pitch, we’re a very aggressive club.”
Happy times: Is Barry Bonds excited? Is “Jurassic Park” a hit?
“It’s the first time ever in my career that I’ve been appreciated so much,” Bonds said after leading National League vote-getters in the All-Star balloting. “It’s by the fans, media, neighbors, police, firemen, everyone.
“This is what baseball should be: everyone having their stardom, their moments of success.”
Stop this: John Smoltz’s contract carried a $50,000 incentive for making the All-Star team, which put his manager at Atlanta, Bobby Cox, on a spot. Cox, no idiot, chose to make his pitcher happy at the expense of logic and Randy Myers (two terms rarely seen in the same sentence).
It’s another reason why incentives never should be based so blatantly on a manager’s prerogative. And another reason why most managers tell you they don’t know, and don’t want to know, what incentives are in their players’ contracts.
Heavy stuff: Houston’s Greg Swindell, on the DL (shoulder) with a 6-8 record, 4.95 ERA record and $17 million in his pocket, is believed to be at least 15 pounds heavier than his listed 225, which has produced some heavy comments.
“(Swindell) probably needs to rededicate himself to his conditioning program,” team physician Bill Bryan said.
The left-hander’s response? None-“until I talk to Dr. Bryan, my `conditioning coach.’ “
GM Bill Wood defended Swindell.
“When they’re going good, they’re `large,’ ” Wood said. “And when they’re going bad, they’re `overweight.’ “
Around the league: In Greg Maddux’s first eight losses, the Braves have totaled nine runs. . . . When Turk Wendell wore No. 13 for the Cubs, it was reported by the club he was the third to wear it. Ed Hartig of Darien found a fourth: Hal Manders, who wore Claude Passeau’s shirt for two games in 1946. Bill Faul was the other. . . . Len Dykstra, after his double off Rod Nichols beat the Dodgers in the 20th Wednesday night: “I don’t even know who that guy is. He threw me a knuckleball. I can honestly say I wasn’t sitting on a knuckleball.” . . . Dykstra, at midweek, had scored 82 runs in 85 games, a record pace. . . . None of the pitchers in Colorado’s opening rotation remain in its rotation. The Marlins’ rotation had stayed intact after Opening Day before Luis Aquino went on the DL last weekend. Rockies rotation’s ERA when the Cubs left town: 5.63. . . . Through 81 games, Florida-36-45-was tied with the 1969 Seattle Pilots and 1961 Washington Senators for best halfway record for a first-year expansion team. Then the fish got swept by Colorado. . . . Where would they be if? The Braves entered their weekend series at Joe Robbie Stadium 12-4 against the expansion teams.
