It's too late, and you wish it weren't so. You think about the giddy kids who once bounced off the walls of the Cincinnati clubhouse last year, the rabid overachievers who hustled their way to the brink of the playoffs in 1999. Last year's gone,'' Casey said. Somebody just asked me a question about comebacks. We had 13 last year and this might be three or four.
Last year's over with.
This is September. This is Sept. 10 or 6 or whatever it is. Barry Larkin is dressed in street clothes, awaiting knee surgery in the company of a giant Doberman. Eddie Taubensee is in front of his locker, discussing the surgery he will have Friday to repair a ruptured disk in his back. Denny Neagle is in New York.