By Bill Evans - NJ.com Staff
Ken Griffey Jr. forced a trade from the Seattle Mariners to Cincinnati -- his hometown team -- before the 2000 season.
The Reds failed to reach the postseason in 1999, winning 96 games but losing a play-in game against the New York Mets. Griffey's addition was expected to springboard the Reds into a perennial playoff team.
But Cincinnati went just 85-77 in 2000 and hasn't posted a winning record since. Griffey, meanwhile, has suffered a series of crippling injuries and played more than 111 games just once since his first season as a Red.
Finally though, the reason Griffey came back to Cincinnati -- the chance to help lead the Reds in a pennant race and perhaps beyond -- is finally here. Cincinnati (59-56) led the wild card race heading into a weekend series against the Phillies and trailed St. Louis by just 3 1/2 games in the National League Central.
"This year has definitely been a blessing," said Griffey, who is hitting just .244 but has 23 home runs. "Everybody counted us out from spring training. Sometimes you try to prove people wrong, and so far we've been able to hang in there. Hopefully, we'll be able to play in October."
The Reds have been an offensive juggernaut in recent years, but pitching has often been the problem. The addition of Bronson Arroyo -- who made the All-Star team but is winless in his last 10 starts -- in a trade from the Red Sox and the improvement of Eric Milton, who was dreadful after signing as a free agent last year, aided the 2006 rotation.
There are 11 players overall on the roster who weren't with the team at the beginning of the season -- nine of which weren't even in the organization.
"That's part of baseball, as long as it helps the team, I don't care how many we add," said reliever David Weathers, one of the holdovers. "In some ways we're better (than before the flurry of moves). Obviously, the bullpen has been better the last month. It doesn't matter who or how many we add, we just have to play well."
The Reds, whose biggest offseason additions were Arroyo and first baseman Scott Hatteberg, jumped out to a 36-24 start as the surprise team in the National League. They've been slowly sliding back to the pack ever since but remain confident of finishing the job.
Cincinnati just came off splitting a big four-game series with the Cardinals and travel to St. Louis for three games next week.
"We've just played better this year," said Weathers. "We've had better starting pitching and more timely hitting. It's been a number of things, but we just have more confidence in ourselves out there.
"We've had some tough times and we keep bouncing back. That's been the trademark of this team. When it gets tough, we seem to get better. Nobody in this room feels we can't make it to the playoffs. That's our goal coming out, and we'll all be disappointed if we don't get there."
The newfound confidence is obvious from the opposing dugout.
"From an offensive and defensive standpoint, they have a good chance to win a ballgame, and I think they've definitely improved their bullpen," said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel. "Offensively, (second baseman) Brandon Phillips is coming into his own, some other players are having good seasons. They feel they can win. I think not only do they feel they can win the wild card, they feel they can win the division."
Krivsky's aggressive nature at the trading deadline is a pleasant change from past seasons, where the Reds haven't been in a position to make a run. There is excitement in the Queen City -- over 39,000 attended each of the last three games of the Cardinals' series.
Perhaps no one is more excited than Griffey, who may finally have that chance to make a difference in the pennant race.
"We haven't been in situations when we had to force ownership to go get people before," said Griffey. "We've always been on the tail end of it trying to get rid of people. This year's a little different. Now, it's just a matter of us playing (well) these next 50 games."
