How after stinking it up in Toronto, Frank Thomas (another guy who JP probably thought didn’t like baseball much) is hitting .319/.417/.516 over 29 games after going back to Oakland.

Then again, the Reds are in no position to make fun of the management of any other organization, what with the Toothpick in there as manager.

Seems like everytime something concerning the players occurs, Walt refers to the fact that he and Dusty haven’t gotten around to knowing much about the guys on the roster yet.

Via C. Trent:

I don’t know the clown. I don’t know, and you can use the word ‘clown’ if you like.
I’ve seen it, I haven’t heard it. I really don’t care what one guy thinks, to be honest with you. If I’m a G.M., I don’t know that I’d go out of my way to discredit a player—if I’m a player. He’s obviously won more than me, I guess. Or hasn’t. I know nothing about him.

The players didn’t say anything, it’s just some clown sitting in a front office pushing paper. I don’t play for any other reason than the guys here. I’ve said it all along, it doesn’t bother me what people say or think, especially someone outside of the organization who has no idea of anything that goes on here. He’s not even in our country. This guy’s in another country talking *.

He felt like he needed to say it for some reason, I have no idea why and I don’t care. He could be in this clubhouse right now, I wouldn’t know. I couldn’t tell you his name, what he looks like – he’s got a big mouth, that’s all I know about him.

I read it, I just read it. I don’t care. He doesn’t have to use my name, use someone else’s name. I’m not taking up for him, because I don’t care about him. I don’t know who he is. I’m not going to sit here and defend someone who’s going to sit there and say I don’t care about baseball. It pisses me off, to be honest with you. He doesn’t even know me. If he knew me, fine. Say what you want. But this guy doesn’t know anything about me other than what he sees on whatever SportsCenter they have on up there. That’s it.

It pisses me off. It does. I just told you it pisses me off when people who have no idea what the * goes on around here and then say – I don’t give a ** what people say in this clubhouse, I don’t care, besides what’s said in here. I don’t care about the perception people have of me, if anything happens, it looks like I ain’t going to Toronto. I can eliminate one team.

I’m not converting my dollars into looneys and twoneys just yet. They’re really good, actually.

The last line is awesome. The one thing that jumped out at me is that he really didn’t deny what Ricciardi said, he just said that Ricciardi didn’t know what he was talking about.

What a jerk! I hope Dunn hits a home run that smashes his car’s windshield in the parking lot.

That’s all I can say… It’s no wonder he never wins.

That’s kinda harsh.

Why would he say something like that? Even if it’s true, why say it?

Definitely worth a read.

""Do you know the guy doesn’t really like baseball that much?" Ricciardi told the cllaer, according to the National Post. "Do you know the guy doesn’t have a passion to play the game that much? How much do you know about the player?"

How much, indeed? Did he cry during the let’s-have-a-catch scene at the end of "Field of Dreams." Does he know all the words or only most of them to the second verse of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame?" Does he appreciate cool trivia questions like: "How many times was Roger Maris intentionally walked the year he hit 61 homers?"*Does he have a baseball card in the spokes of his bicycle? And, if so, then what card? Because it has to be someone like Sixto Lezcano or Paul Assenmacher or else it feels kind of phony. Does he occasionally put on the ol’ pajamas, go to the parents basement and blog about baseball just for fun? Can he not only name the entire lineup of the ‘75 Reds but also the starting pitchers? No, I suspect not. This Dunn is most definitely not a Blue Jays man. Not a Blue Jays man at all.

JP apologizes:

He is a man with bigger issues on his plate, but J.P. Ricciardi took time yesterday to telephone his counterpart with the Cincinnati Reds, Walt Jocketty, yesterday to apologize for statements he made critical of Reds outfielder Adam Dunn.

“It’s my fault, I take full responsibility for it,” Ricciardi, the Toronto Blue Jays’ general manager, said last night. “I tried to get Adam’s phone number from the Reds … and if he wants to talk to me, I’ll talk to him and apologize personally. But I apologize to him and the Reds. I need to be better than that. I let my guard down.”

I still can’t believe a GM would publicly disparage another player like that, but at least he recognizes his mistake. None of this changes the fact that he’s an awful GM.

Dusty B hates baseball…

Toronto just fired their manager (just in time for Cinci’s trip to the Great White North!) and rehired Cito Gaston.

Is Gaston down with sabermetrics?