THEY WEREN’T : No. 1 for Nothing : The 1990 Champion Reds Say No One Respects Them, but Rise in Opponents’ Payrolls Sends a Different Message

The Cincinnati Reds like to milk the Rodney Dangerfield routine, claiming they have received no respect from the Oakland Athletics after the World Series or from those who say they can’t repeat as champions of the National League West.

“Everyone thinks it was a fluke and probably will until we do it again, until we show it wasn’t,” relief pitcher Rob Dibble said of the Reds’ wire-to-wire victory in the West, their upset of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the playoffs and the stunning sweep of the A’s in the World Series.

Respect?

So maybe it’s not in the preseason predictions that have the Reds finishing from first to fourth. But the Reds know where they can find it.

Dollars and sense tells them it’s in the bulging payrolls and winter shopping sprees of their division rivals.

Didn’t the Dodgers feel compelled to spend $36 million on Darryl Strawberry, Brett Butler and Kevin Gross? Didn’t the San Francisco Giants pour $33 million into Willie McGee, Dave Righetti and Bud Black? Didn’t the Atlanta Braves throw $16 million at Terry Pendleton and Sid Bream?

“I think they felt they had to do something if they were going to beat us, and that’s respect,” acknowledged Lou Piniella, the Reds’ manager.

“I think the feeling in the division was that if everyone stayed the same, we’d have a much easier go of it,” he added.

Shaking the nightmare that was Pete Rose’s final season as manager in 1989, the Reds fulfilled the longstanding expectations in 1990 by becoming only the fourth team to go wire to wire in first place. They started 33-12, were 58-59 while weathering the ensuing charge of the Dodgers, then went 8-2 in the postseason.

They were first in the National League in batting and fielding, and second in earned-run average. And as the rest of the West rearmed, the Reds stayed comparatively pat.

They lost six-game winner Danny Jackson to the Chicago Cubs as a free agent, spent more than $19 million to re-sign free-agent pitcher Tom Browning and infielder Bill Doran and added free agent Ted Power as a middle reliever for $550,000.

They also weighed the likelihood of continued development by potential power hitters Paul O’Neill and Hal Morris, reflected on the in-season additions of Billy Hatcher, Glenn Braggs, Morris and Doran, considered the club’s overall youth--only Doran and Power are older than 30--and came to a conclusion.

“We have better quality here than if we had tried to trade for it or sign it through free agency,” Piniella said.

“Other clubs felt they did what they had to do, but there’s a potential for mistakes when you make knee-jerk changes just because someone else is.

“We’re still in position to trade if we have to, but I like our club and I like our chemistry. The talent has been here, but it needed to win. Now the confidence level is enormous. I mean, it’s a young club that’s going to get better. I definitely think it’s the team to beat.”

Eric Davis reflected on the changes in the division and said: “George Steinbrenner used to try and buy a pennant every year and finished fourth. Are the Dodgers with Strawberry better than the (New York) Mets with Strawberry? I mean, we beat the Mets when he was there and we can beat the Dodgers, too.

“A team makes changes because it’s missing things, but we’re not missing anything. We have power, speed, defense and pitching, and we’re still maturing. Where do we improve outside of staying hungry and focused?”

Said Dibble: “There’s a lot of offense in the division now, but I still think we have the edge in pitching. Neither the Dodgers nor Giants have the left- and right-handed closers we do, the pitching diversification.

“We won 95% of the games in which we scored four runs. The Dodgers and Giants basically tried to buy a pennant. I really didn’t think we needed anybody.”

Piniella is attempting to resolve only three issues:

--Will Scott Scudder, 7-1 at Nashville and 5-5 in 21 games with the Reds last year, or Chris Hammond, 15-1 at Nashville, replace Jackson in the rotation?

--Will a left-handed middle reliever emerge?

--Who will be the leadoff hitter now that Chris Sabo, who had 25 home runs, drove in 71 runs and went on to bat .563 in the World Series, is being moved to the middle of the batting order?

“Chris batted leadoff 70 times last year and still drove in 71 runs,” Piniella said. “If he has a similar season in the middle of the lineup, his run production should jump considerably. I also think we’ll continue to get improved production from O’Neill and Morris. Both are capable of big years.”

Morris will be at first base, Doran or Mariano Duncan at second, Barry Larkin at short, Sabo at third, Davis in left, Hatcher in center, O’Neill in right and Joe Oliver or Jeff Reed at catcher. Dibble and Randy Myers provide that right-left closing duo, the backbone of a staff that gave up the fewest hits in the league.

A rotation that should be one of the league’s strongest--assuming Jack Armstrong gets over his contract squabble and Scudder or Hammond is ready to replace Jackson--includes Browning, Norm Charlton and Jose Rijo.

Rijo came of age last season with a 17-8 record, including 1-0 in the playoffs and 2-0 as the most valuable player of the World Series, but he has since lost his mentor, Juan Marichal. Rijo was married to Marichal’s daughter, but they recently divorced, and Rijo and Marichal no longer talk.

“I always had the ability, but Juan made me a pitcher,” Rijo said the other day. “I had a hundred pitching coaches before, but none came close to being able to tell me how to concentrate. His influence on me was tremendous. It won’t be the same without him. I’ll miss his friendship, but other than that I’ll be the same type pitcher.”

The Reds have proved to themselves they can win, despite owner Marge Schott’s meddling and tendency to pinch pennies.

Since the end of the World Series, Schott has feuded with Davis over her initial refusal to pay for a charter flight from Oakland after he required hospitalization for an injury suffered in the World Series; upset Rijo with a low contract offer because she allegedly was angered that he was getting a divorce; undermined General Manager Bob Quinn by having her son, Stephen, the club’s executive vice president, handle contract talks with Rijo and Larkin, and personally jumped in to negotiate with agent Eric Goldschmidt and sign Dibble while Quinn was on the golf course.

And by waiting until last week to give Quinn a one-year extension through 1992, she left him in contract limbo despite his executive-of-the-year status won as a result of his acquisitions of Myers, Morris, Hatcher, Doran and Braggs.

In the wake of the World Series victory, Schott told Quinn, who formerly worked under George Steinbrenner with the New York Yankees: “You must feel as if you’ve died and gone to heaven.”

Responded Quinn: “If we’re in heaven, I think Myers, Morris, Hatcher, Doran and Braggs helped put us there.”

Piniella, too, gained a measure of vindication of his hirings and firings by Steinbrenner.

“I had a lot of things to prove to myself and to other people, so last year was a real confidence builder to the manager as well,” Piniella said. “I think we all proved we could handle the pressure and scrutiny of being in first place all year.”

Piniella was a player on the 1977-78 Yankee teams that were the last to win the World Series back to back. He said the key hurdle the Yankees had to overcome in the second year was a feeling they could turn it on and off whenever they liked.

Piniella said he thinks the Reds will avoid the pitfalls.

“We have a group of young players who are still establishing their careers and reputations, still looking to earn a lot more money,” he said of the need to stay hungry.

“They proved they were good last year, but they know they have to reach the postseason to prove they are better than good. I don’t think motivation will be a problem, but if it is, then it’s up to me to kick butt.”

In the World Series aftermath, Oakland’s Dave Stewart said the A’s were the better team, adding, “We’ll be back next year, but I don’t know if they (the Reds) will.”

Dibble laughed as he thought about that the other day and said: “Stew’s a friend. I don’t want to get personal. All I’ll say is that they’ll be giving us the rings on opening day and that will be very satisfying, though it would be more satisfying if we can do it again. Maybe the A’s can watch on TV.”