It took a long time, but Cincinnati Reds president and chief operating officer Phil Castellini has finally issued an apology for his comments that were dismissive of the fans and their frustrations.
Castellini’s initial comments were bad and his follow-up might have been worse. His second comments weren’t quite as appalling as the first, but they came hours later. Given that — and that rather than apologize — Castellini essentially doubled down, his follow-up comments were taken just as bad by Reds fans — and justifiably so.
On Tuesday night, Castellini finally issued a true apology (per C. Trent Rosencrans — The Athletic).
#Reds president Phil Castellini issued the following statement: "I apologize to Reds fans and regret the comments that I made earlier today. We love this city, we love this team, and we love our fans. I understand how our fans feel and I am sorry."
— C. Trent Rosecrans (@ctrent) April 13, 2022
For many Reds fans, the apology rang hollow.
Too little, too late. You said what you mean. https://t.co/oW3h6VIWWK
— Scott Klever Sr. (@scottklev) April 13, 2022
Nope not good enough. I went today for me, my family and the love I have for baseball. If not for any of that I would have been home. I wont be back until I'm convinced ownership cares or if this team wins inspite of ownership https://t.co/qg1V6lMZ9O
— Mark Spurlock (@Spurlock27Mark) April 13, 2022
Bro thinks he can go back in time https://t.co/TiUc5LI2IT
— mason (@mryanUC) April 13, 2022
https://twitter.com/nicky_numbers/status/1514055075706122244
And there is the statement. That took waaaaay too long. https://t.co/VJVl9hHNqV
— David P. Samson (@DavidPSamson) April 13, 2022
Nope you doubled down. #selltheteam https://t.co/Bmn53zVqRB
— Coleton Hammond (@GoBlue1199_) April 13, 2022
The problem is he doubled down on it. He had the chance to clear the air in the second interview, and he didn’t. The fans deserve better than this. https://t.co/3ixdAw3y3v
— Votto’s Jockstrap (@HopefulRedsFan) April 13, 2022
https://twitter.com/nickmoscato/status/1514050064884371456
Just for some context, this statement was released around 9pm tonight almost 12 hours after the original comments and after he had doubled down on the comments TWO more times in different media interviews. Pardon me if I’m a little skeptical. https://t.co/RpakZpzHj3
— WhodeyPhil (@whodeyphil) April 13, 2022
Third time’s the charm…. https://t.co/yB2hxaBl0d
— Eric Fisher (@AEricFisher) April 13, 2022
The apology itself isn’t really the issue here. It maybe isn’t the greatest apology ever written. But in a vacuum, it would suffice. We all make mistakes, after all.
The problem is, this isn’t a vacuum. Castellini could have made this apology in his follow-up interview. He was given that opportunity on a silver platter and went the other way. He made the fan’s complaints a matter of supporting the players — which is off base. Fans don’t hate the individual players for not being good. They hate the front office for not investing in better players or even just keeping the good ones already on the roster.
When one of the highest-paid players on the team is a guy who’s been retired since 2010 and hasn’t played with the Reds since 2008, it’s hard to dispute that criticism. When former players say that the front office is cheap, again, it’s hard to dispute the criticism.
Castellini’s initial comments were bad. He then spit on the first (and obvious) chance to apologize to them. It wasn’t until hours later that anything resembling a real apology came.
So, what would have been good enough? To be fair, after Castellini put his foot in his mouth twice, there may not have been any apology that would have been good enough. We can’t blame Cincinnati’s fans for being cynical and hesitant to accept what was offered.
