Why Cincinnati Reds expectations are sky high despite Greene loss
"I haven't seen this since Dusty was here," said former Cincinnati Reds great Eric Davis.
When former Cincinnati Reds great Eric Davis stood up in front of that roomful of players last month and spoke from the heart about the Reds’ last championship, he might as well have been talking about Visigoths invading Rome or pyramids getting built in Egypt. It’s been so long since the Reds were in the World Series in 1990 that not one player in the room had been born yet. In fact, only six guys on the Reds’ Opening Day roster were around the last time the Reds won so much as a playoff series – a postseason home game even – in 1995.
That doesn’t mean they didn’t listen intently to Davis, whose unscripted speech was powerful enough to elicit multiple expletives of praise from manager Terry Francona. It just means the history they’re talking about making in Cincinnati this year is, according to modern baseball metrics, ancient. It’s also this: About to happen.
Just ask anyone about to take the field for this team when they face the Boston Red Sox in the opener. Or even those close to the team who know what a championship-caliber Reds team looks like. “I’ve seen everybody work with a purpose,” Davis said.
“I haven’t seen this since Dusty (Baker) was here. ” Baker was the last to manage the Reds to a championship of any kind, the 2012 National League Central title. This year?
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