Reds fans are simply the best, and they proved it this week

Plus: Reds fans sing "These Are the Good Times!"

There was nothing else I could have written about in my weekly column over at the Mother Ship this week. It was Joey Votto, Joey Votto, Joey Votto. Joey’s return to the lineup forced a bunch of writers to spew out a bunch of words about a magical night at Great American Ball Park. I didn’t mind that; I tried to read all of them.

But one aspect of Monday night’s win over Colorado was a little under-reported, I think. Sure, the Reds won their ninth game in a row.* Astoundingly, they moved into first place. Votto was amazing in his season debut, and his post game interviews — with Jim Day and with ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt — were alternately entertaining, thoughtful, and heartelt. It was vintage Joey.

*Last night, they won their tenth in a row. It’s official now. The 2023 Reds are superior to any of the Big Red Machine teams, right? Right?

To me, however, the most interesting thing that happened that night was during Votto’s third at-bat. As he approached the plate, one inning after he hit his first home run of the season, Votto was greeted by a chant ricocheting around the stadium.

“Joey, Joey, Joey.”

I was dumbfounded. I mean, if I had been in the stadium, I would have been chanting along with the rest of the 20,000+ plus in attendance. But I couldn’t remember ever hearing that particular chant. As I noted in my column:

Votto has been a Red since 2007, and I can’t remember the last time I heard that particular chant at GABP. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard it. If I’m being honest, I was proud of Reds fans at that moment. After the internet nonsense of the previous few days, this crowd fully appreciated what Votto has meant to this club and what he still represents.

I won’t get too deep into the internet nonsense mentioned above, because I wrote about it at length at the Magazine. But I feel like I’ve spent 15-plus years defending Votto from detractors. Remember the He walks too much! silliness? Well, Votto has led the league in on-base percentage seven times. Precisely four players in baseball history have led the league more times than Votto. Those players are named Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, and Rogers Hornsby. Oh, and Ty Cobb is tied with Votto. We’re talking inner-circle Hall of Famers here.

There I go again! My default response is to defend Votto, because it feels like he’s been unfairly maligned by Reds fans over the years. It’s almost certain that much of that can be blamed on things that have been said night after night by Reds broadcasters over the years. I’ve heard the same lame analysis from mouth-breathing talk radio callers that we heard from the broadcast booth: He doesn’t get enough RBIs! He’s not paid to walk!

And I’ve heard it on Twitter, too. In the days leading up to Votto’s return, my mentions were filled with people* saying Votto needed to retire, or that the team was already good and they didn’t need Votto messing up the “vibe.” And I wasn’t alone:

Radio broadcaster Lance McAlister reluctantly deleted a Facebook post about Votto, saying he “wasn’t comfortable with the reaction in the comment section. Some of the things being said about him were embarrassing. Not just mean, but personal. I’m not sure what has happened with some fans and Votto.” Soon thereafter, his colleague Mo Egger responded to the “vibes” complaint by asking: “In 15 years of watching Joey Votto, what has led anyone to believe he would ‘disrupt the vibe?’ ”

*Or Russian bots. I choose to believe they aren’t actually Reds fans, but just bots.

But when Votto stepped foot back onto the grass of GABP for the first time this season, the fans showed him love from the start. They begged for a curtain call after the homer, and chanted his name just before he delivered a 2-run single that gave the Reds a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

I’m so proud of Reds fans! Perhaps it’s the Good Vibes Only attitude that surrounds this club at the moment, but there was genuine joy in the stadium all night long. I just didn’t see that coming. I should have trusted you guys more than I did.

Let this be yet another reminder that Twitter isn’t real life. And it’s also a reminder that, despite everything I’ve written over the years about the lost generation of Reds fans, I still think there’s an opportunity for the Reds to build something special here. If they put a good product on the field and actually win games, the fans will return. Maybe not as many fans as there could have been if they hadn’t been horrifically bad for the last decade, but Cincinnati fans are desperate for a winner. And they’ll support a winner, as we’ve seen with the Bengals and FC Cincinnati.

At its heart, however, Cincinnati is a baseball town. They showed that on Monday night. Kudos, Reds fans. I’m proud to be among your number.

(And plans are in the works for me to (temporarily) end my boycott later this year. Gotta see Votto and Elly De La Cruz on the same field. Details forthcoming. I hope many of you will join me.)

Photo by Seth Reese on Unsplash

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No commentary. I just want you to enjoy these images.

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This week at Cincinnati Magazine: Reds fans sing "These Are the Good Times!"

Imagine for a moment that Cincinnati had a young, fun baseball team. Now imagine further that they were on, let’s say, an eight-game winning streak. I know I’m stretching the bounds of credulity here, but stick with me: What if that winning streak came on the road, finishing with a sweep of the defending World Series champs on their home turf in Houston?

Let’s take it a step further. What if that fun, young team added a future Hall of Famer who, just 18 months ago (the last time he was fully healthy), was one of the best hitters in the league? That sounds like a fun story to me!

About a month ago, this would have been just silly talk, after the Reds lost 100 games last year and with management declining to improve the big league club in the off-season. But thanks largely to the earlier-than expected arrival of some exciting kids (specifically Matt McLain, Andrew Abbott, and Elly De La Cruz) Cincinnati came into Monday night’s tilt with the Rockies at Great American Ball Park in second place in the NL Central, two games over .500 and just a half-game out of first place. Read the rest of this week’s Reds column over at Cincinnati Magazine.

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What’s Chad Watching?

My daughter rolls her eyes at the fact that I watch movies from the 40s and 50s. Sorry, it’s what I do.

We’re still in the middle of moving homes — we should be settled by this time next week — but I did find time to watch a couple of films. The first was “Don’t Bother to Knock,” which I watched only because it was one of the few Marilyn Monroe movies I hadn’t seen.

Here’s a little insight into me and my love for movies. In college, I took a film class and discovered that our library had a ton of movies available on LaserDisc. Yes, I know that dates me. But I went on a kick of watching movies at the library between classes as often as I could. What was my other option, interacting with other young humans? No way! I worked my way through as much of the Marilyn Monroe filmography as I could instead.

Anyway, I wasn’t familiar with “Don’t Bother to Knock” but it popped up on the Criterion Channel recently. It also stars Richard Widmark as Jed, an airline pilot, who is licking his wounds in his hotel room after being rejected by Anne Bancroft’s character, Lyn Lesley. He happens to notice Monroe’s Nell through the window. She’s babysitting for a wealthy couple. But she’s not all she appears to be. It’s an unexpectedly interesting movie, and I definitely recommend it.

“Our Vines Have Tender Grapes” is a TMC special. It just happened to be on when I was relaxing on the sofa, waiting for the US Open golf broadcast to begin. It centered on a story of Norwegian farmers in Wisconsin. And yet, surprisingly, it wasn’t bad! I recommend it, as well.

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