Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Womack wants shot at 2B

Tony Womack admits he's not good with words. In fact, he was among my least favorite players to interview when he was with the Cardinals.

But, Womack, who was acquired by the Reds from the Yankees last week in exchange for two minor-leaguers, said a lot when he addressed the media for the first time at Great American Ball Park.

"My mindset is to win a job at second base," he said. "Every year I'm out to prove myself. I want to earn it."

He'll compete with Ryan Freel who is a few million dollars richer after avoiding arbitration by signing a two-year deal.

Womack still has a chip on his shoulder after losing his starting job to rookie Robinson Cano mid-season.

After batting a career-high .307 for the 2004 NL Champion Cardinals, Womack saw his average dip to .249 while making only 80 starts for the Yanks.

"I'm going to put a question mark next to last season's numbers on my baseball card," said Womack. "They took the whole season from me."

Very eloquently put, my man.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Perry feeling the pain

Bengals running back Chris Perry wouldn't say much about the injury he suffered during Sunday's victory over the Browns at Paul Brown Stadium. He didn't have to.

Perry's eyes were glassy and his expression glum as he stood on crutches in the Bengals locker room afterwards.

"It's injured, that's all I can say," Perry said. "The foot got caught up under me. That's the way it looked on the replay. It's frustrating."

Perry suffered what Marvin Lewis called a sprained left ankle. He is out for Sunday's game in Detroit. His future status is uncertain.

Perry, who is under tight orders to not discuss injury specifics, referred all questions to Bengals trainer Paul Sparling who is not permitted to talk to the media.

Detroit Lions fans are orange with anger

There will be a ton of fans wearing orange at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, and that's not just because of the multitude of Bengals fans making the trip up I-75.

Detroit fans are disgusted with the team's ownership (sound familiar?) and are staging a protest. Here's an excerpt from a press release issued last week by the folks at lionsfanatics.com:

Detroit, mi, December 9, 2005: The Lions Fanatics have officially announced an “Orange-Out” as a means of protest of the Detroit Lions December 18, 2005 football game against the Cincinnati Bengals. This protest is in direct response to the refusal of Team Owner and Chairman William Clay Ford to fire Team President and CEO Matt Millen.

The Detroit Lions under President and CEO Matt Millen have failed to live up to the standards of a professional football team and have the worst record of any team in the National Football League since his hire on January 9, 2001.

Lions Fanatics are asking fans to wear the color orange to the December 18, 2005 Detroit Lions’ home game. Wearing the color orange serves two purposes. First, the color is highly distinct and will not be confused with the Detroit Lions’ team color in an effort to maximize visibility. Second, the color orange is one of the team colors of the Detroit Lions’ December 18th opponent, the Cincinnati Bengals.

Friday, December 09, 2005

Gall extends his 15 minutes of fame

Greg Gall, who interrupted play during the Bengals/Green Bay game on October 30 at Paul Brown Stadium, will appear on "Inside Edition" at 1 a.m. Saturday.

Gall, you'll remember, is the guy who ran on the field and took the ball from Packers quarterback Brett Favre.

The folks at "Inside Edition" have essentially rewarded Gall for trespassing.

What would he have gotten if he assaulted a player on the field? His own show?

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

'The Mayor' moves on

Sean Casey is going home. The popular Reds first baseman, and Pittsburgh native, has been traded to the Pirates in exchange for left-handed pitcher Dave Williams.

The trade will be announced officially today pending results of physicals for both players.

The 26-year old Williams, who Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa called "the best left-hander in the league", went 10-11 with a 4.41 ERA in 25 starts for the Bucs last season.

It's a homecoming for Casey and his wife Mandi, who recently gave birth to the couple's fourth child, and first girl, Carli Renee.

Reached by phone Tuesday evening, Casey could only say that his "head was swimming" and he couldn't comment further until the trade is made official.

The deal is a money-saver for the Reds who will pick up only a portion of Casey's $8.5 million contract as part of the trade. Adam Dunn will likely be repositioned to first base.

Williams makes far less than Casey and should move into the No. 4 spot in the Reds starting rotation.

Reds GM Dan O'Brien has indicated the Reds aren't done dealing. Trades involving Austin Kearns and/or Wily Mo Pena have been discussed along with possible interest in Cardinals hurlers Matt Morris and Jason Marquis.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Bengals on verge

As astounding as this scenario might sound to long-time Bengals fans, there could be some champagne corks popping in the home locker room at Paul Brown Stadium on Sunday.

A Bengals win against the Browns coupled with a Steelers loss to the first-place Chicago Bears would clinch the AFC North Division championship for Cincinnati.

The Bengals, who beat the Steelers 38-31 on Sunday, are prohibitive favorites to defeat the Browns.

Although it is rather unlikely that Pittsburgh would lose a fourth consecutive game, especially at home in Heinz Field, a victory by the Bengals would reduce the "magic number" to one in pursuit of their first division crown in 18 years.

It was announced yesterday that ticket orders for a potential Bengals home playoff game at PBS are now being placed. Remarkable.