It is fair to say that team owner Bob Castellini, attends more games in a week when the Reds play at Great American Ballpark, than his predecessor, Carl H. Lindner Jr., attended in a month of homestands.
In fairness to Mr. Lindner, he was quite a bit older than Mr. Castellini is when he owned the club. But the current club owner is and always will be young at heart when it comes to baseball and especially the Reds.
Mr. Lindner attended on big occasions, or if a group he sponsored or was associated with was being honored. In short, he had to have a reason to attend. For Bob Castellini, 9 innings of baseball is compelling enough. Even if the quality of play isn't.
He is a diehard. There he was Monday night, watching the second game of a day night double header, against the Pirates, a team the Reds are trying to inexorably relegate to last place in their stead. And his rapt attention could have been right out of April. He loves baseball. He loves the Reds. He hates to lose.
He is agonizing over what happened to a once promising season. And it is costing him more than sleep. He has a lot of money tied up in this team and to his credit, he has not thrown anyone under the bus for failing. Publicly at least. And from what I've been able to ascertain, he's reluctant to do so in private as well.
He expresses disappointment sure but none of it is personalized. He ascribes it to bad luck, specifically a bad run of injuries, not bad managing or bad scouting or bad personnel moves.
His restraint is admirable. No one enjoyed Monday's double header sweep than 'The Big Guy'. That said, there will be more losses over the final month of this lost season and I hope he has an outlet for his angst.
Otherwise it could have a deleterious effect on his health. And nothing related to a game is worth that.
