run-in with "the red letters."

here is my recent correspondence with matt allen from ESPN and "the red letters." i wrote to him:

mr. allen,

i am a realist. but why must all of your opinions be so cynical? even when you are empirical, your writing still seems treacherous. i can understand that you may feel disgruntled by the reds organization, but no reds fan wants to hear only negative things about their team, and certainly a true reds fan would not write them.

this is not to say that you should not criticize the moves that the reds have made, some (or all) may turn out to be foolish, but you never talk about the upside.

my problem with you is that you assume the negative, and you think that those who assume the positive are buffoons. when in actuality, you have just as good a chance of being wrong as they do. why can't you find the middle ground and give a more balanced account?

i know you would be very happy (and very embarrassed) if all the new starters had career years (15+ wins each) and the relievers lived up to their potential. if griffey and kearns had healthy years and if dunn cut down on k's. BUT your writing would still be negative. for example, if the reds picked up (what you would consider) a middle of the road pitcher to bolster the staff at the trade deadline you would still rip the move. that is sad.

i pray, as i'm sure you do, that the reds win this year--that they make the postseason. but i do so as a life long reds fan, and you do it as a bitter commentator.

please recall the days when you actually liked the reds while you write your next entry, i'm sure at some point you really were a fan. however, it seems like all you care about now is making a buck off of biting commentary. give us a little hint of hope, that is all i ask. if i had your gift--if i were a clever writer--i would at least pay a little homage to my allegiances.

a true life-long reds fan (you could be too),

bobby o

cincinnati, oh (displaced in champaign, il)

matt responded:

Bobby O,

First off, let me apologize for getting back to you so long after you wrote. I’ve had major computer problems for the last few months but I’ve finally gotten them fixed. Now, I just have to get through my huge backlog of e-mails.

Secondly, no need to call me Mr. Allen. Matt’ll do (although if you have something particularly nasty in mind, I’d rather be called Mr. Allen).

To your e-mail. I appreciate that you stayed civil in your criticism of my writing, but I wonder just how long you’ve read my work at ESPN for the Reds. I think that you described it best in your first sentence—realism. I don’t think I portray an overly harsh view of the Reds, I just want my team to win and like any educated fan (like, I assume, yourself), we all think we have ideas that would help our team improve and fortunately for me, I have a platform (albeit a small one) for those opinions. I agree that my offseason assessment when compiled together may have seemed a little harsh, but I feel I have the opportunity to express my disappointment with the organization for what I feel was a subpar offseason. So, in that manner, I don’t take back any of the things I wrote, because I believe them. However, I certainly respect your opinion that maybe this offseason wasn’t as bad as it seemed to be and salute you for it.

The only thing I’ll take issue with you on is several assumptions that I feel you made in reading my writing. I’ve been a Reds fan for since 1986 when I watched Pete Rose hit 4,192 off Eric Show at Riverfront Stadium. I was there in 1990 when Todd Benzinger caught that foul pop up for the last out in Game 4 of the World Series and the Reds pulled possibly the greatest upset in the history of the game. I was there at the park when a great shortstop named Barry Larkin called it quits and thanked the Reds fans there from the upper deck over the public address system after coming out of the game early to receive one final standing O. To see you say that I “assume the negative” and I feel those who “assume the positive are buffoons” leaves me feeling that you’re making very brash generalizations. In addition, I realize that I all prognostications are just that—a “guess” at the future.
I’ve never claimed to be more right than anyone else. I feel I base my opinions on the evidence I have, and do the best I can, but I certainly don’t latch on the negative just for sport.

Also, to assume that my writing would be negative no matter what is a bit of an assumption of its own on your part. I’m also not sure that any prediction about how I would react to a mid-season move this season when it’s only March isn’t doing the very thing you’re accusing me of—claiming you’ll be right no matter what. If the Reds make a good move, I applaud it. Bad move? I remark in that fashion too, but I feel I stay pretty much to the facts.

To infer that I’m not a baseball fan, or a “true” baseball fan is a little misguided as well simply because I don’t see things the way you do. I love the Reds. Even more, I love baseball. I always will. But I have my opinion and you have yours. They’re each as valuable as the other (as long as we’re being honest or “true” and looking at all the facts). Having your allegiance blinded by team loyalty isn’t being any more true than someone who wants to see things the way they are and look for ways to
improve them.

Finally, just a note—I don’t get paid for this. I’m not “making a buck off of biting commentary”. I do this for free and will continue to because I love talking about baseball with people like yourself and being a part of the baseball community. I’m sorry if you don’t agree with my assessment of the Reds’ moves this offseason, but I feel I’ve stuck to the facts and they don’t look as good as I’d like them to as a Reds fan. I thank you for writing, though, and encourage you to visit http://theredletters.blogspot.com and see if you think that all my writing is negative or if maybe you may have judged me a little unfairly. Either way, it’s your opinion and I certainly respect that.

Let me again apologize for my delayed response, but I suppose we’ll have to agree to disagree as far as my analysis of the Reds offseason is concerned.

Good luck this year. Have a good one.

Matt

i'd like to thank matt allen for taking my letter and explaining his position. i urge people to check out his blog (http://theredletters.blogspot.com). it is a good source for insight on the cincinnati reds, but i must issue the disclaimer that much of the content on the blog is harsh criticism of our dear ballclub.