Cincinnati’s Derek Dietrich is having a blast
Dietrich does anything he can to bring fun back
From fake mustaches to makeshift beekeeper costumes, utilityman is making baseball fun again.
Reds utility player Derek Dietrich should have enough time in Milwaukee to find a pair of bell-bottoms, purchase a psychedelic tie-dye shirt and crash the Senior Stroll at Miller Park on Wednesday.
Or he could wait until the weekend, sneak into the Wrigley Field bleachers in Chicago for the Cubs’ cap giveaway, unless he prefers a rooftop seat where he pops open a cold one, resurrecting memories of former Cincinnati pitcher Tom Browning’s antics in 1993.
Dietrich appreciates the suggestions, but sorry, he’s more imaginative. Besides, he says, the whole key in creativity is spontaneity. You simply can’t plan these things; they have to come to you.
It’s not as if he invited the swarm of bees to invade Great American Ballpark two weeks ago in Cincinnati, prompting him to borrow rookie teammate
“The beekeeper and electrician outfits were very funny, but when he bust out the eye-black mustache, he took it to a different level.” Curt Casali Reds’ catcher on teammate Derek Dietrich
Nick Senzel’s white, long-sleeved shirt, grab a pesticide canister, and run to home plate wearing a makeshift beekeeper outfit that surely had the bees giggling to themselves.
“At first we’re saying, ‘Who is that?’ ” Reds reliever Jared Hughes said. “Then we realized this guy is way too jacked to be a beekeeper. No way that’s a beekeeper. Sure enough, it’s Derek.”
You really think a night later it’s his idea to turn off the left-field bank of lights at Oakland Coliseum, leaving him time to rummage through the visiting clubhouse to find a homemade electrician’s belt, as if he’s going to shine light on the bleak situation?
“There was some grumbling that the lights were out and someone needed to fix them,’’ Dietrich says. “So I needed to put together a tool belt. Initially we looked to find an actual tool belt with a hard hat, but we couldn’t find anything. We rummaged through stuff in the back of the clubhouse, put stuff together, and I came out onto the field.”
The game was delayed by 98 minutes and didn’t end until 3:10 a.m. ET.
“We never should have played that game,” Dietrich says. “And the next thing we know, we’re getting no-hit (by Athletics pitcher Mike Fiers), and everybody is blaming me.”
Oh, and it wasn’t his fault this month that the Reds decided to wear 1911 throwback uniforms, with Dietrich trying to get into the act, and having teammate Jesse Winker draw a handlebar mustache on his face out of eye black.
He not only homered in his first atbat wearing the mustache but kept it on for the entire game.
“The beekeeper and electrician outfits were very funny,” catcher Curt Casali says, “but when he bust out the eyeblack mustache, he took it to a different level. That’s something I never thought I’d see in a major league game. The guy has got zero fear. We need another natural disaster or something of that nature to warrant something else from him.”
‘There’s no harm in having fun’
If Dietrich were playing in another era, with patriarch Gus Bell as his manager or son Buddy Bell, instead of grandson David Bell, the beekeeper costume might have been the last uniform he ever wore.
“If he’s not hurting anybody, and guys are enjoying it and having fun, and it helps entertain,” David Bell says, “what’s the harm? Just because I wasn’t like that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. There’s no harm in having fun. I think I’ve been guilty of that in the past, taking things too seriously. I don’t know how guys do that, but I’m impressed. He’s really brought this team together. ... He sure makes it a lot more enjoyable around here.”
Certainly, Dietrich has been entertaining, even by the critics who originally had no interest in front-row seats to see the show.
“When I used to face him,” Reds veteran starter Tanner Roark said, “I did not like him. I would always hit him. It was never on purpose, but I did hit him.” Seven times. In 31 plate appearances. He has been hit 99 times, but no one else has hit him more than twice.
“Now that we’re on the same team,” Roark says, “I realize he’s a great dude. ... The baseball world is always finding something new for him to do, and he comes up with something clever.”
Well, not quite everyone has bought into his humor. When Dietrich slammed a homer April 7 off Pirates starter Chris Archer, not landing until it reached the Allegheny River, Dietrich dropped his bat, stood for more than five seconds and admired it.
Archer let him know how he felt about it the next time Dietrich walked to the plate. He threw behind Dietrich’s back, trying to hit him, igniting a benchclearing incident that left Reds outfielder Yasiel Puig trying to take on the entire Pirates team.
“That wasn’t planned, it just happened in the moment,” Dietrich insists. “I just looked at the ball. I didn’t bat flip. I don’t do that stuff. I just wanted to see how far it went.”
Would he dare do it again and admire it even longer if he hits another homer off Archer?
“Nothing is premeditated,” he said, “so I can’t tell you if I’m going to do it again or not. I guess we’ll have to wait until I hit the next one.”
Please, don’t stop now, Dietrich’s peers plead.
“I really appreciate the guys like him that aren’t scared to go outside the box,” says Diamondbacks reliever Archie Bradley, the king of self-deprecating humor (even if it means tattling on yourself for accidentally pooping your pants in a game). “Baseball is so mentally and physically grinding that sometimes you need to do something to break up the monotony. It puts a little focus on something fun and something not so serious.”
‘We play the best game in the world’
Life is too short, Dietrich says, not to have some hijinks now and then. Come on, it’s not his fault the Marlins dumped him after he hit .265 with 16 homers and 45 RBI last season. Then again, he should feel honored, considering they didn’t keep 2018 MVP Christian Yelich, 2017 MVP Giancarlo Stanton or AllStars Marcell Ozuna, J.T. Realmuto and Dee Gordon either.
He has no bitterness or resentment against the Marlins or anyone else, Dietrich insists, only a love for the game that he inherited from grandfather Steve Demeter.
“Everyone should just be yourself,” Dietrich says. “We play the best game in the world, we have the best job in the world, so why wouldn’t we have fun and enjoy every moment we can? It’s important we play the game to win, of course, but now with the coverage and the media access to players, it’s important to connect with people. They should see how real and genuine guys are.”
Anyone have a problem with a beekeeper-fake mustache wearing-electrician who happens to admire his home runs? Anyone?
“Look, people pimp homers all of the time now, it blows up on Twitter, and our own club will post it,” Casali says. “That’s what people want. If the pitchers don’t appreciate it, they should start screaming at us when they strike us out. The only trouble now is that he’s set the bar pretty high for himself now. So he better not stop now. Really, I hope he’s just starting.”