Ludwick clarifies comments about fans

CINCINNATI -- Reds left fielder Ryan Ludwick on Friday clarified comments he made to a pair of local columnists after Wednesday's game that appeared to call out fans for not showing up more at Great American Ball Park during a pennant race.

Ludwick insisted he had nothing bad to say about Reds fans, but has still gotten a lot of negative pushback from some fans and talk radio.

"They don't understand where I'm coming from," Ludwick said. "I have four grandparents that are in the ground 40 miles from this stadium that grew up in Georgetown, Ohio. My mom and dad were born there. My Dad went to school in Columbus. I grew up a Reds fan. I grew up an Ickey Woods-Boomer Esiason [Bengals]fan. I had better deals to go elsewhere the first and second time. The reason I signed here, the reason I came here, is because this is a place that's dear to my heart."

Ludwick noted the first big league game he attended was between the Reds and Dodgers at Riverfront Stadium in 1989. He closely followed the club during the 1990 World Series run and proceeded to list most of the players on the club, including personal favorite Eric Davis.

"I've heard things where they're saying, 'He's blaming the fans for losses,' which isn't what I was doing," Ludwick said. "That never came out of my mouth. I'm just looking for intensity.

"I was a fan before I was a player here. I was a fan from when I was at a young age. I was merely trying to get everybody on board and rally just like I would when I come in here and yell and try to fire up a player. I know they're not players. You're dealing with peoples' emotions, and people can get sensitive. I apologize to those that possibly took it the wrong way. I want a World Series from a fan's standpoint and a player's standpoint for Cincinnati."