The Cincinnati Reds are off to their worst start since 1993, one of the low points in franchise history. That’s the year that Tony Perez’s team stumbled to 9-15 and the rookie manager was fired after 44 games.
They have another rookie manager this year in Ray Knight, and his team is 9-15. The Reds have lost seven straight–their worst slump since late 1993, after Perez was gone.
“There’s reason to be concerned,” said shortstop Barry Larkin, the clubhouse leader. “We need to start playing well, and then we’ll start winning.
“Panicking? Anytime you lose seven or eight games in a row, you start to panic.”
The Reds are not likely to fire Knight. There’s one major difference between now and 1993: Perez had just a one-year contract, but Knight’s agreement is for two years so dumping him would be more expensive.
Ouch! The St. Louis Cardinals placed Gary Gaetti on the 15-day disabled list Monday with a broken little toe suffered in a household accident. That cleared the way for Ozzie Smith, at 41 the oldest shortstop in the major leagues, to return from a hamstring injury that has sidelined him for nearly three weeks.
Gaetti, 37, was hurt when he dropped a steel grate on his toe while working in his flooded basement. He was 10 for 25 in a seven-game hitting streak that raised his average to .280.
“The thing probably weighed a couple hundred pounds,” manager Tony La Russa said. “He came in today and it was really swollen and really sore.”
Little progress: Baseball players gave owners some informal ideas Monday for a labor contract, but they didn’t appear to be the basis for progress in the negotiations. The players did not make a formal response to the proposal the owners gave them March 21.
