Photo: Facebook.com/FlorenceYallsBaseball
The Florence Y'alls would like a word with the Cincinnati Reds' Phil Castellini.
The Castellini family has been stepping in it lately.
Cincinnati Reds owner Bob Castellini frequently is the subject of local baseball fans' ire, thanks to more "rebuilding years" than anyone can count. But it's his son Phil who raised a ruckus this week.
Just before the Reds' first home game of the season on April 12, Phil Castellini — the team's chief operating officer — snidely responded to questions from 700 AM WLW radio about fans' frustration and their calls for the Castellini family to sell the team to someone who will buck up to make Cincinnati a World Series contender. Castellini essentially told fans to kick rocks because there are no other options to enjoy professional baseball in the region, nor are there other local gajillionaires who would take the team.
"Where are you going to go? Let’s start there," Castellini said. "Sell the team to who? If you want to look at what would you do with this team to have it be more profitable, make more money and compete more in the current economic system that this game exists, it would be to pick it up and move it somewhere else. And, so, be careful what you ask for."
Castellini later sort-of, kind-of issued a PR-driven apology, but the damage was done. To cap things off, the Reds lost the home opener to the Cleveland Guardians that day.
But Castellini was wrong about something — Greater Cincinnati actually does have pro baseball beyond the Reds. And that team is out to to remind you about it.
After Castellini's comments, the Florence Y'alls took to social media to showcase what fun, competent baseball looks like.
"Where ya gonna go? We've got a place in mind," the Y'alls posted on April 13. The social text was accompanied by a video of the Y'alls' water-tower mascot and scenes of players, fans and entertainers at Thomas More Stadium in Florence, Kentucky, about 13 miles south of downtown Cincinnati.
The video's soundtrack of perfection? An increasingly sped-up soundbite of Castellini asking "Where are you going to go?"
The Florence Y'alls play professional baseball in the independent Frontier League. Originally going by the Florence Freedom after stints in other towns, the team was rebranded as the Y'alls during the 2020 season when a new ownership group took the reins. The Y'alls frequently feature themed promotional games like Star Wars night, Nickelodeon night, superhero night and pet days, and tickets start at an affordable $11.Where ya gonna go? 🧐
— Florence Y’alls (@florence_yalls) April 13, 2022
We’ve got a place in mind ❤️ 💙 pic.twitter.com/Mz262uhwQf
The Y'alls prove that Cincinnati-area baseball fans actually do have other options in the wake of both Castellinis' actions. With the Reds losing big contributors and Bob Castellini saying he wants to concentrate on younger players, fans — and players like first baseman Joey Votto — are anxious about 2022 being yet another "rebuilding season" rather than a legitimate push for playoff glory. During the COVID-shortened 2020 season, the Reds made it to the Wild Card playoffs but lost the first round to the Atlanta Braves without scoring at all; before that, Cincinnati hadn't been to the postseason since 2013. The Reds have had just five winning seasons out of the last 15.
As of April 15, the Reds are in last place in the National League Central Division with a 2-5 record. The team will kick off a visiting series with the Los Angeles Dodgers at 10:10 p.m. (Eastern) on April 15.
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