To watch O'Neill in action is to see a man tormented by his own imperfections. Every out he makes is an exercise in exasperation. Troubled by a painful hip pointer and a prolonged slump, O'Neill lately has carried himself like a condemned man, despite driving in 100 runs for the fourth straight year. You get caught up in the emotion of this game and you lose sight of what you have to do. Yet what Reds fans once regarded as petulance is now perceived as passion.
Nothing helps a player's reputation like improved individual numbers and team championships.
But Paul O'Neill has been a remarkable player for the five years I've been here. All managers do not prize the same players. Should the Reds hire Lou Piniella, for example, the likelihood of signing O'Neill would seem remote. The two men are so similar in temperament, and were so often at odds during their careers in Cincinnati, that reuniting them could be awkward. They did manage to co-exist in 1990.