The “Vendetta” Series
TOWER GROVE — What with two dugout-clearing donnybrooks this weekend and the ever-agitating Chicago Cubs coming to town this weekend with first place possibly up for grabs, this little island of three games against Cincinnati seemed so quaint, so tranquil.
Then Walt Jocketty used a most curious word.
Vendetta.
“Trust me,” he said at the press conference announcing his hiring as general manager of the Reds. “Me and (manager Dusty Baker) are very motivated. We’re both guys who have a vendetta, a little chip on our shoulders.”
He may not have meant it this way (doubtful), but “vendetta” is a charged word. It’s not one thrown around lightly except in blockbuster movies and comic books. A “vendetta” is something the Green Goblin swears against Spider-Man, what Two-Face has for Batman, what that dude in the Guy Fawkes mask has for Big Brother Britain. It’s something out of “Sopranos”. Heck, in a trailer for The Godfather video game the voiceover talks about how “the vendetta level is going to rise and keep rising” (warning: animated violence) and the game scores “vendetta levels” I guess like Super Mario counts power coins.
I can see it now, as Jocketty negotiates his first trade for the Reds:
“Leave the Dunn, take the cannolis.”
Hall of Fame writers Hal McCoy outlined some of Jocketty’s other comments — and perhaps builds the back story for the pointed word choice — in this blog entry at the Dayton Daily News. Our own Hall of Fame ballwriter Rick Hummel asked Jocketty to elaborate on the revenge-esque word and Jocketty, who will speak to the local media tonight before the series opener, said any time you’re in the division as your former employer, then there’s added motivation. Sure. Competition breeds motivation. Chips abound.
But here is the definition of vendetta:
ven-det-ta
1. A feud between two families or clans that arises out of a slaying and is perpetuated by retaliatory acts of revenge; a blood feud.
2. A bitter, destructive feud.
Yikes.
So, which would it be — blood? or destructive? However, it’s a fascinating choice of words that even if thrown in for dramatic effect — to raise the metabolism of a franchise obviously weary of losing — speaks to some hard feelings. And no wonder, several people around the Cardinals said. Most when asked about the word choice understood the purposeful tone.
“I know he was unhappy when he was fired,” manager Tony La Russa said. “I don’t think it made any difference to me the words he chooses. That wasn’t good news. I don’t think any of us are so pure that somebody breaks your heart and you say, ‘Oh, OK, what’s the big deal?’”
In a larger context, however, it speaks to a changing climate in the NL Central. You want parity? You get animosity. Bridges aren’t so much being torched as napalmed. Actions speak louder than words, and consider some of the recent actions that have escalated the Cardinals’ gentlemanly rivalries with division foes to weekly boiling points:
- Twice this weekend the dugouts cleared in games against Houston. The Astros believe Adam Wainwright threw behind Brad Ausmus with intent — perhaps a retaliation for hitting Jason LaRue with a pitch or something much deeper. On Sunday, Brandon Backe threw up and in on Yadier Molina and that caused a fracas. Already this season, Backe and Albert Pujols have had words. Ausmus and La Russa have jawed at each other. Things are hardly settled.
- In Milwaukee, Prince Fielder still seethes over what he believes was clearly an intentional hit-by-pitch last season. The Brewers got into a beanball exchange with the Cardinals late last season that probably detonated their postseason chances and shredded the mutual respect society that was Ned Yost and La Russa’s relationship. The two dugouts were seen yelling at each other across the diamond last year. Yost and La Russa sat next to each other at the winter meetings and Yost insists he said nothing more than, “Hello.” And, this season he’s gone out of his way to assure people know that he is not batting the pitching No. 8 because of anything related to La Russa’s reasoning for doing the same, and doing it first.
- The Cubs are the Cubs.
- And now Cincinnati. The fact that the Reds new CEO came from the Cardinals’ ownership group and that the Cardinals’ chairman lives in Cincinnati gave the series added appeal, but it was hardly the stuff of anything more than a khaki rivalry. Now Baker is in the mix, and Jocketty is clearly fired up. How that translates to the field is what we’ll see for the first time tonight.
Good thing for the courteous Pirates.
Oh wait, even Ian Snell plunked Pujols with a pitch.
Can’t we all get along?
Jocketty has likened Cincinnati to the Cardinals many times, telling MLB.com recently that he views the Reds as further along now than when he took over the Cardinals in 1994. In McCoy’s article, Jocketty talks about how both teams are “storied franchises” with “tradition.” He then was asked what his cardinal philosophy is when it comes to building a team.
Jocketty’s answer: “Win.”
The Cardinals know him well enough that he means what he says, and he probably will.
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Derrick Goold said he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was really drawn to MU sitting between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball in between. 
“The Cubs are the Cubs. ” — hilariously well put.
“They are who we thought they were!”
Too bad Lloyd McClendon isn’t still coaching the Pirates. Forget baseball! Set up the ring and get a tag-team wrestling match going with McClendon, Piniella, Baker and TLR! No holds barred!
Derrick,
Nice work! This should be an interesting week in the division, with the Reds-Cardinals, Brewers-Cubs, Brewers-Astros, and Cubs-Cardinals matchups.
Yeah. Tony needs a reason to get “motivated”…..
Julie,
Are you proposing the four of them enter the realm of a “Bra and Panties Match”???????? : )
Ford —
It’s bad enough seeing (over)grown men stuffed into baseball uniforms. (BTW, why is it that baseball coaches are the only pro coaches that continue to wear the uni? It’s time to let it go. The glory days are gone.)
No, I am most certainly not suggesting a “bra and panties” match. Although it would bring new meaning to the term “Comedy Central”.
LOL Julie, just having fun with you!! You are right though, some of those guys havent seen their kneecaps in 20 years, but yet they shoehorn themselves into a skin-like shrinkwrap of a uni. Those should definately go to the wayside.
On a lighter note though, picture Lou Pinella and Charlie Manuel rolling around in the Squared Circle in thongs and demis…….ROTFLMAO!!!!!
BTW I know that Charlie Manuel is not in the Central Division, but it sure paints an interesting picture!! LOL
It’s hilarious to see some of those guys decked out right down to the cleats! Like we might run out of roster players and Dave Duncan or TLR might actually have to play an inning or two. (Actually, I don’t mind seeing Oquendo dressed out. He might come in handy in a pinch…)
They dont call him the Secret Weapon for nothing!! : D
How about Don Zimmer and Tommy Lasorda? An East meets West throwdown of enormous proportions… in more ways than one!
Success breeds contempt. It’s a good place to be. Ask the Yankees.
This is great. The centeral has been a very average division for the last few years. Maybe this will spark some interests.
I’m ready for Cubs-Cards……This Reds series though should be real awesome.
Julie: Back in the day, managers were actually also players, so they wore the uniform. Some didn’t (Connie Mack of the Philadelphia Athletics is one who didn’t, there was a Dodger manager in the ’40s who wore a shirt and tie with a team jacket). Just a tradition, like the seventh inning stretch - no rule, just tradition.
I’m happy for it. Watch basketball and see the coaches in their Armani suits! Or remember Bum Phillips and his cowboy hat? It’s like in school - uniforms keep it simple. Even the ballboys wear ‘em!
Actually, Robert, I think there is some rule about skippers wearing uniforms. I’m too lazy to look it up, but at the beginning of last year I remember some minor friction between some managers and MLB b/c they were wearing their team pullovers too often or zipping them up too much or something. MLB issued a memo and the whole thing fizzled away if memory serves correctly. Terry Francona (Boston) and Torre (then with the Yanks) were two guys I remember getting warned about their uniform violations.
Re: Managers wearing uniforms.
I believe the reason for the rule, and why baseball is different from other sports, is because baseball managers are the only guys who actually go onto the field of play during the game. Football and basketball coaches all stay on the sidelines.
At least, that’s the way it was explained to me when I was about 10 years old. At this point, it probably has just as much to do with tradition as anything else.
“the cubs are the cubs”
that’s right, they’re the division winners…about to do it again, too.
nice roster, losers.
but back to the series v cinci. why does TLR insist on playing the cesar “i bat my weight” izturis over brendan ryan? i think ryan is the obvious choice especially after his play over the weekend.
DG,
I keep hearing how Jocketty is going to make a winner out of the Reds, but I’m sitting here wondering why this is a given? Is Reds ownership going to give Jocketty money to spend and let him trade prospects? As we all know, baseball has changed dramatically since Jocketty did his best wheeling and dealing, so unless the Reds are going to give him money to buy free agents–and that’s assuming there are any decent free agents to sign, esp. pitchers–or ownership is going to let him trade off all of their prospects like he did here in STL for so long, I don’t see how he is going to do any better in Cinci than he did here the last couple of offseasons. Would appreciate your thoughts. Thanks!
A Cub fan calls us losers? Nice roster? Hey, nice payroll! Nice history, too! And your ballpark is a dump that should be bulldozed for tavern parking on Addison. Drink four more Old Styles and throw some more trash on the field.
How can there be a Cubs-Cardinals rivalry when there’s been no competition for the last 100 years?
Never mind 10 World Series titles to two overall (0 since 1908, of course). The Cardinals have two 100-win seasons in THIS CENTURY and eight such seasons in the last 100 years. The Cubs have had three 100-win seasons since 1908 (the last in 1935) but also two 100-loss seasons. The Cardinals’ last 100-loss season was … 1908.
But the Cubs have a great heritage. Perhaps your great-great-great grandfather can tell you about it.
I am fascinated by how writing “the Cubs are the Cubs” is taken as a shot. It’s a nod to the history the team’s have, how their rivalry does not to be recounted here because it’s so natural and inherent that children on both sides are born with innate knowledge of it. Try to give somebody a compliment …
There’s no winning with some fans.
dg
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Leave the shots to the rest of us, Derrick!
There’s no winning with some TEAMS, especially the Cubs. Think of it from the point of view of a Cubs fan. No matter how long they live, even if they see a World Series championship in their lifetimes, NONE of them will ever live to see the Cubs catch up to the Cardinals’ 10 World Championships. Their grandchildren’s grandchildren are unlikely to ever see that happen. As long as people play a game that somehow resembles baseball, in a future when pitchers are caught cheating with anti-gravity devices and teams are holding tryouts for Martian colonists, the Cubs will never catch up to the Cardinals. Sucks to be them.
Sure, we’ve got the hardware. But they’ve got Old Style beer and the urinals at Wrigley Field … which drain right back to the Old Style taps.