Seth's 50 Centers

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It didn’t have much affect on the sports world when the news came across the board Sunday, but I sat up and took notice.

Sean Casey, a Cincinnati Red for eight years, retired over the weekend at just 33-years of age. Casey hit .322 in limited duty for the Boston Red Sox last season, proving, in my opinion, that he would’ve been better served playing every day for a Kansas City or Toronto.

Casey is known throughout baseball as “The Mayor” and it’s not an act. Sometimes when folks refer to Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel as “Senator Tressel” I wonder how sincere they’re being, but anybody who even got to watch Casey interact with others on the field knew “The Mayor” was apt.

Sean Casey

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to be around Casey a few times during his time with the Reds.

In the late summer of 1998, the season he was traded to Cincinnati from Cleveland, my grandparents and I traveled to Chicago to attend a game at Wrigley Field. Casey and other young Reds like Aaron Boone took some time to talk to a few fans gathered near the dugout, and Casey signed a baseball and chatted me up for a few minutes.

That Christmas, my grandpa presented me with a great gift, a blown up version of a picture he took of Casey as he stood near the dugout railing talking to me. The shot was framed and you could see the backdrop of Wrigley beyond the young Casey.

That was my sophomore year of college at Ohio State, and when the Reds Caravan came through town, I had an opportunity to meet up with my new favorite player again — as mentioned, Casey came from the Indians, but he’d only played in 10 big league games in ‘97. He suffered an injury to his eye early in the season when a thrown ball during batting practice struck him in the face, but Reds fans quickly gravitated to him.

The Reds were guests at a luncheon at the Columbus Rotary Club, and it was announced in the paper and on the internet where they’d be, but it turned out the event was for members and “guests” only. A kind member quickly sponsored me and there I was, in a room of dignitaries looking up to a dais that featured a few other players, announcer Marty Brennaman and Casey.

Casey talked about his first season with the team and how he looked forward to being the everyday first sacker in the future. Afterward I showed him the picture, removed it from the frame and he graciously signed it. He was genuinely impressed with the shot, knowing immediately it wasn’t just some cheap picture you could find in a card shop. Other guests at the luncheon inquired as to whether I was selling copies of the picture, which no doubt impressed my grandpa when I told him about it later.

What was most memorable, though, wasn’t the fact he signed the picture, but that he took a genuine interest in me. He asked about college — he played for the University of Richmond — and about the football team, girls, etc. He even imparted a story about his laundry piling up at school while he waited on his mom to be around to help him out.

He walked with me out of the building and toward the tour bus, but didn’t at all seem like he was in a hurry to get going. In fact, Brennaman had to hurry him along from the step of the bus.

I interviewed him a few years later as a member of the media, and while I’m sure he didn’t remember me from that day, he treated me like he did everyone else, with class and as if he had known me for years.

He didn’t turn into the batting champ former Reds manager Jack McKeon predicted he’d be, and he never hit for the power a lot of people in Cincinnati would’ve liked a first baseman to hit, but he was consistent and if you needed any kind of hit, he could get it for you.

His best year had to be ‘99, when he and the Reds took us fans on a magic ride that included everything but the exclamation point. That season he hit .332, with 25 home runs, 99 RBI and 100 runs. He clubbed 197 hits, the most any Reds player has in years.

A close second had to be 2004, when he hit .324, with 24 home runs and 99 RBI. In an era when hitters strike out all the time, he only went down swinging 36 times in ‘04, and had an on base average of .381.

Casey played in a World Series for Detroit in ‘06, but the Tigers fell to St. Louis.

As mentioned, that ‘99 season was amazing all the way around, and he was the centerpiece of the younger faction of that team.

Barry Larkin was the captain, and Greg Vaughn was a huge clubhouse leader, but Casey, Pokey Reese, Aaron Boone, Dmitri Young, Mike Cameron, Danny Graves and Scott Williamson made up a nucleus of young talent that was really ahead of schedule.

Despite loving very minute of the ‘90 World Series team, I was only 11-years old that year, and I followed the ‘95 squad every day, but going to games wasn’t as big an option as I was still in high school.

The ‘99 season included a lot of shared experiences with a lot of people, including my Grandpa, but also my roommate Randy, who also loved the team, and eventually, the CPA, whom I started dating just as the pennant race heated up.

We attended a game in late September that was pivotal in the race with the Astros for the division, one which the Reds won over the Cardinals in 11 innings on a Reese home run. I twirled the CPA around and we were dancing in the aisles!

That season ended in a one-game playoff against the Mets, and as history says, the Reds couldn’t harness the magic of that year, when they won 96 games and didn’t make the playoffs — the ‘90 team won only 91 — in the coming seasons.

Casey will be seen on the newly formed MLB Network, alongside Larkin, this season, but I’m hoping he’ll eventually become a fixture in the Reds front office.

The Super Bowl

Conference Championship Results

Seth 2-0
Kara 2-0
Crazed Wolverine 2-0
The CPA 1-1
JMB 1-1
Big Game 1-1
Grandpa 1-1
Brian 1-1
Adman 1-1

Overall Playoff Standings

Crazed Wolverine 5-5
Adman 5-5
JMB 5-5
Kara 4-6
Brian 3-3
Big Game 3-3
Seth 3-7
The CPA 3-7
Grandpa 3-7
Jeremiah 2-6
Randy 1-3

Super Bowl

Make your pick, with the overall points and we’ll determine a winner. Looks like only a handful of people are capable of getting it done.

For parity-sake please don’t let Adman win!

Arizona vs. Pittsburgh Pts.______

Make your picks by using the “Comments” section under the headline.