FALTERING REDS LACK MENTAL TOUGHNESS

Quick, someone call a doctor!

The Reds are ill.

Now whether they need a general practitioner or a psychiatrist or perhaps even both remains to be seen.

But given the way Cincinnati has been stumbling around lately, they're either under the weather or have some serious problems in the head.

How else can their most recent run of futility be explained?

Yet, until a definite diagnosis is made, one can only speculate as to the fundamental causes of their current misery.

But one thing's for sure. The Reds are crumbling. They're falling apart. They're running down like the sands in a hour glass.

Akin to a struggling marathoner, Cincy has hit the wall and there doesn't appear to be much left in reserve.

In short, they're beginning to look spent.

And as a result, a once promising season is quickly disintegrating into another trip towards the abyss.

Suddenly and almost unthinkably, a sixth straight losing campaign is staring them square in the face.

So what' happened? How have things turned so rapidly from encouraging to depressing? What's triggered this sad turn of events that has everyone in the organization scratching their head in disbelief.

The clinical reasons for the Reds' collapse are both obvious and numerous.

The starting pitching is now springing some noticeable leaks. The bullpen has become the mother of all headaches. Finding a dependable fifth starter has become the impossible dream. A shaky defense has yet to stabilize. Hitting with runners on base has become a lost art. Jerry Narron is no Sparky Anderson when it comes to handling a pitching staff.

We could go on and explore even further but to what end? That would amount to nothing more than overkill.

Suffice to say, Cincy has plenty of deficiencies and based on what's happening now, those flaws won't be vanishing anytime soon.

The times they are a changin' and most likely not for the better.

Come to think of it, if anyone could assist the Reds in rescuing their year, not to mention their self respect, it probably would be a shrink.

For who but someone that makes a living crawling into people's heads could unravel Cincinnati's most destructive weakness.

To be blunt, the Reds aren't mentally tough. Too often they can be broken. They cave. Their collective will is suspect. Their ability to bear down and grind it out is basically non-existent. Facing pressure seems to unnerve them.

The Reds exhibit so many manifestations of a fragile mentality that it can no longer be ignored. Deep-seeded feelings of inferiority and inadequacy are probably lurking just beneath the conscious level.

How else do you explain why the Reds consistently do pratfalls in the areas where a strong mind-set would be of immeasurable benefit.

Consider the following and then ask yourself if the Reds don't own a frail psyche.

Doesn't it seem strange that every time Cincy closes in on the Cardinals, they immediately slump and allow the Redbirds to rebuild a cushion?

Their debatable talent notwithstanding, don't the relievers blow games with such laughable regularity that it goes way beyond mere coincidence?

Why has it become commonplace for the Reds to lose to such bottom-feeders like the Cubs, Pirates, Royals and Indians? It's almost as if they have a guilt complex about beating up on those less fortunate.

Can playing so pathetically at the Great American Ball Park and reducing your home-field advantage to nothing more than a mirage be indicative of anything other than a genuine mental block?

And what about the fact that just like Cincinnati teams of recent vintage, this one got off to a nice start but once they got into the meat of the schedule, the Reds melted like a popsicle in 90 degree heat.

They swooned in June and probably will die in July. Thinking beyond that is just too frightening.

Again, we could proceed even further. But you get the point. Where strong minds are needed, where tenacity and determination must reign, the Reds strikeout in almost every department.

Instead of facing up to challenges, they repeatedly shrink from them. Instead of hangin' tough and hangin' in, they usually exit, stage left.

As harsh as it may be to say, the Reds of today too often display minds of mush. An unshakable willpower seems foreign to them. They seem to know nothing about digging down deep and finding some inner strength that simply won't allow you to lose. In short, they just don't get it.

And until they do, excellence in any form will continue to elude them.