The thing that Braves outfielder Jonny Gomes remembers most about playing in Cincinnati was how different it was going to a town with such a long and storied baseball history, and how the city responded when the Reds got good again in 2010.
Before Gomes signed with the Reds as a free agent in January 2009, the only organization he’d played for was Tampa Bay, spending parts of six seasons in the majors with the Rays. Gomes played 2 ½ seasons with the Reds and had career-highs of 86 RBIs, 146 games played and 571 plate appearances for the 2010 team that won 91 games and the National League Central title.
“Lot of the same faces,” Gomes said before Monday’s Braves-Reds series opener, his first game back in Cincinnati since Aug. 2011, when he played a series six weeks after being traded to Washington. “This city … I came from the youngest organization in baseball in Tampa, to the oldest organization (here). This place really took off.
“The history of the game — in Tampa there really wasn’t much. Coming (to Cincinnati) and learning about the Big Red Machine in the ‘70s, the wire-to-wire team in the ‘90s, and so many of the greats, the alum of the Reds, are still around. (Back then) I’m seeing Johnny Bench and Barry Larkin and Eric Davis, and Billy Hatcher’s on the staff. Seeing them all the time. Pete Rose is in and out. So that really kicked off my passion for the history of the game.”
The Reds had gone 14 years without a first-place finish before the 2010 team ended the drought. They lost to the Phillies in a division series.
“The fan base was there,” Gomes said. “We brought them out in 2010, the place was rocking. You’re talking about the oldest organization right here in Cincy. It’s not like the Braves, who moved around a little bit (from Boston to Milwaukee to Atlanta). They just moved stadiums right here in Cincy. First night game (was played in 1935 at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field). All the old posters.
“Pretty cool place to play.”
Gomes hit .254 with 49 homers and 168 RBIs in 323 games for the Reds, and entered Monday’s series opener with a .252 average and 29 homers, 91 RBIs and a .482 slugging percentage in exactly 500 career at-bats (166 games) at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park.
He’s a part-time player now, starting in left field against all left-handers and some right-handers, and serving as the Braves’ top right-handed pinch-hitter. He wasn’t in the lineup Friday against Reds right-hander Mike Leake, with Kelly Johnson getting the start in left field. Johnson came in 5-for-16 with a homer against Leake.
