The Mayor Has Hung It Up

by joshuar9476 on Jan 25, 2009 12:01 PM EST Comment 33 comments

Per MLBTradeRumors.com, Sean Casey has called it quis ....

Rob Bradford of WEEI.com has reported that Sean Casey has signed on with the MLB Network, making his retirement official.

Casey, 34, hit .322/.381/.392 in 218 plate appearances for the Red Sox in 2008. Casey finishes his career with a .302 lifetime batting average.

While it was depressing to see him go to first the pirates, then the tigers, then the red sox, at least he got some playoff fun. the bonus is that now i get to see him on the MLB Network.

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He is only 34?

I figured he would be 36-38. He was still a productive player, but he didn’t hit for enough power for 1B. I guess the shoulder injuries really held him back.

I am getting old. Casey is among the first generation of players who I have watched their entire big league career.

"Oedipus ruined a great sex life by asking too many questions!"- Dr. Stephen T. Colbert DFA.

by justin007000 on Jan 25, 2009 12:45 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

You're not getting old.

I remember this guy winning the ROY in ‘75. He’s been retired since 1990 – I’m old!

Yeah the shoulder injuries turned Casey into a Punch & Judy in his last few years – great guy and a great Red though.

"I'm standing at the plate thinking, Where are my hands? Where's this, where's that? Before I know it, the pitch is there and I'm completely out of rhythm." -
-- Adam Dunn

by Joe Nolan's Glasses on Jan 25, 2009 1:33 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Congrats on a fine career, Sean.

We’re looking forward to you on MLB Network.

by Brian B on Jan 25, 2009 2:04 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

well done Sean

Can’t wait to see you join the Reds Hall of Fame

90 wins in 09!!

by Caleb on Jan 25, 2009 3:07 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

It sucks he signed with the MLB network...

I was hoping for him to be Brantley’s replacement

Made from 100% recycled awesome,

by chandrathan on Jan 25, 2009 7:25 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

seconded

by Charlie Scrabbles on Jan 25, 2009 7:52 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

thirded

Blessed be baseball.

by Daedalus on Jan 26, 2009 11:39 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Anyone know when Brantley's contract is up?

"I like to think more in terms of him his in-scoring position percentage." - Dusty Baker (2009) regarding Corey Patterson's relationship with his daughter

by BK on Jan 25, 2009 9:12 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

not soon enough

by Charlie Scrabbles on Jan 25, 2009 9:19 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

You know his contract will be renewed

Just another consistently bad decision.

by Brian B on Jan 25, 2009 10:06 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

the reds are

flat out consistent.

"Oedipus ruined a great sex life by asking too many questions!"- Dr. Stephen T. Colbert DFA.

by justin007000 on Jan 25, 2009 10:08 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

i think i heard 2010 was the last year

Made from 100% recycled awesome,

by chandrathan on Jan 25, 2009 10:50 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

thirded

by D-Rock on Jan 25, 2009 7:57 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

This was supposed to be a reply to the Brantley comment, right?

by Brian B on Jan 25, 2009 10:08 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

no

he is Gale Sayers.

"Oedipus ruined a great sex life by asking too many questions!"- Dr. Stephen T. Colbert DFA.

by justin007000 on Jan 25, 2009 10:24 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I loves Brian Piccolo

by Pops Daniels on Jan 26, 2009 2:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

(sniff)

I’m sorry. (SOB!)
I said I wouldn’t do this again. (BOOHOOHOOHOO!)

Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you.

by "Red" Moskau on Jan 26, 2009 3:52 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Some interesting recent sassiness from Hal

Check it out:

Castellini, who said the day he took over the club that he is an impatient man and wants to win NOW, now says the club is building for the future via the farm system.

That’s great. But he fired Dan O’Brien then quickly fired Wayne Krivsky, two GMs known for building farm systems. The young players in the system now were put there by O’Brien and Krivsky, other than Yonder Alonso.

Castellini gave the job to Walt Jocketty, an immensely talented baseball guy, but in St. Louis he built the team by trading prospects to make the Cardinals good every year. He is not a farm system guy.

That’s some pretty solid moxie from Hal to rip Castellini and Jocko in the same blog entry. He continues:

…the Reds have a ton of young talent in the minors. But how will they keep them if they can’t pay them after three or four years with the Reds? They’ll go via free agency to the big money teams. That’s what I fear will happen to Joey Votto and Jay Bruce and Drew Stubbs and Johnny Cueto and Edinson Volquez and Yonder Alonso and others.

Dunn is a perfect example of what I’m saying about developing players and losing them. Dunn was drafted by the Reds, developed by the Reds, then traded by the Reds when they couldn’t afford him any longer.

And he rips the Reds progression plans:

There is no more money. The harsh economic times are smothering the Reds and there will be no more significant additions to the team this year.

Swell. Rush to purchase those tickets now. Send in those season ticket applications. Everybody wants to see a fifth-place team. Everybody wants to see a ninth straight losing season.

Castellini says the team hasn’t given up on this year, but they are building for the future. Same message, different voice. How long have Reds fans heard this? And how long is the future? 2015? 2020? 2035?

And he closes strong with an entry that goes into the “unintentional joke of the day” category:

All of you who can’t wait to get into Great American Ballpark this year raise your hands.

I can’t see you.

There are only two seasons - winter and Baseball. - Bill Veeck

by PeteyHendrix on Jan 26, 2009 12:12 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

The Reds had Dunn for 7 1/2 seasons—his prime seasons. That’s a long enough window to win. And it’s not that they can’t afford him now. It’s that they don’t value him and/or suspect his next contract will see him eat his way out of baseball.

by Red Menace on Jan 26, 2009 12:48 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed.

There are only two seasons - winter and Baseball. - Bill Veeck

by PeteyHendrix on Jan 26, 2009 1:26 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

brandon phillips was on the radio yesterday

and said flat out dunn doesn’t want to come back to cincy because of “managerial problems.” apparently the bs about dustbag pulling dunn every game got to him. so who knows if jocketty tried to get him back? i don’t blame dunn one bit.

Blessed be baseball.

by Daedalus on Jan 26, 2009 11:43 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Interesting

I wonder if the Reds’ plans changed, simply because the economy changed.

The NY Daily News had an article about how the bad economy is affecting baseball. It says that former treasury secretary Paul Volcker painted a “gloomy economic picture” for the owners at their meeting in November. “Between that and Bud Selig’s even more dire follow-up speech, the owners were left pale-faced.”

“I always felt the top 5-6 guys would get their money and the Yankees pretty much took care of that,” said one baseball executive. “But I can tell you, teams are scared to death about how the economy is going to affect all their in-ballpark revenues, above and beyond just ticket sales. Things like advertising, corporate sponsorship and merchandising.”

All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?

by BubbaFan on Jan 26, 2009 6:20 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Wow.

Pretty much seems like he took a post from just about any one of us here (probably not Madville, because it does not mention bowling or drunkenness or bowling while drunk).

And I agree with Menace’s comment re Dunn. They did keep him here for a bunch of seasons, and he performed pretty much as we came to expect. I don’t think he will get much better than he is currently.

That being said, I would love for him to be on the team this year at the right price. They missed out on Pat Burrell (who at $8 mm a year for two years was the best move they could have made). I think the team needs someone like him, or they will wind up struggling to score 700 runs this year.

No, I'm not Reynard's Ass either.

by Paul Householder on Jan 26, 2009 9:37 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

that's funny

my mother handed me the dayton daily news with hal’s column and asked me if i wrote his article. apparently i’ve bitched about the reds so much that even she is down about them.

Blessed be baseball.

by Daedalus on Jan 26, 2009 11:46 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

What's also funny

is that last season, I asked Hal on his blog (paraphrasing) why no one would question Dusty about playing Patterson and batting Junyah third every game. His terse reply was along the lines of (paraphrasing again) it’s not his job to do that kind of questioning and how dare I question his reporting abilities. Guess this kind of thing is OK though. He’s entering sMarty territory.

by Pops Daniels on Jan 26, 2009 2:20 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

To be fair

he may not know that he’s entering sMarty territory until he crashes into the side of the porch

"I like to think more in terms of him his in-scoring position percentage." - Dusty Baker (2009) regarding Corey Patterson's relationship with his daughter

by BK on Jan 26, 2009 4:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs