SARASOTA, Fla. - Reds CEO Bob Castellini made his first visit to camp Friday.
Castellini had made a side trip to the complex in January when he was in Sarasota for Vern Ruhle's funeral service.
During the January visit, Castellini got an idea why the Reds' front office was so happy to be able to select Josh Hamilton in the Rule 5 Draft and why he was worth the $50,000 investment.
"He was hitting the ball in the lake," Castellini said. "It was 60 mph off Johnny Narron, but ..."
The lake in question is behind the Reds' batting cage, which is behind the fence in right field on Field 4. It's a 500-foot poke - at least.
"Then he was throwing the ball from the 401-foot mark to home plate. The guy has unbelievable talent," Castellini said.
The question is how Hamilton will do against major-league pitching for really the first time and after basically a three-year layoff from baseball because of drug suspensions and injuries.
It should be noted that Hamilton hit one out to left-center off Brian Shackelford during live batting practice.
But, back to Castellini. He was upbeat as usual.
"You feel the confidence," he said. "The team chemistry is good. They discovered last year that they could contend. The team exudes the feeling that they can do it."