The Season

Say it ain't so, Joey

So today we find out that Joey Votto has been put on the DL for "stress-related issues." Apparently, ear infections are more serious than we could have imagined. Take a look at this wiki entry for Labyrinthitis. A snippit:

Chronic anxiety is a common side effect of labyrinthitis which can produce tremors, heart palpitations, panic attacks, derealization and depression. Often a panic attack is one of the first symptoms to occur as labyrinthitis begins. While dizziness can occur from extreme anxiety, labyrinthitis itself can precipitate a panic disorder.

But I like to think there is something else bothering our Joey, something that is easier to overcome. What could it be? Well, I was brainstorming and came up with several possibilities for what is stressing Mr. Votto. One of these has to be it:

• He still feels guilty for not signing my ball at the Bats game in Richmond I went to two years ago.
• He is upset by Canada's recent announcement that it will cut back on foreign aid.
• He is bothered by comments about his unibrow.
• Someone is blackmailing him for the porn film he made during the off season after A ball.
• Asian Pete Rose stole his Angel Bucks.
• He is jealous that Bronson has a bigger boat than he does.
• Someone laughed aboot his funny accent.
• He is gay and afraid to come out in conservative Cincinnati.
• He feels ripped off because Molson is expensive in the States.
• He is secretly drinking from plastic water bottles and is ashamed to confront Chris Dickerson.
• He is scared of being Pipped by Ramon.
• His illness made him realize he was mortal.
• He feels his offense is inadequate after his average dipped below .370.
• He can't bear to watch Jay Bruce strikeout to end any more games.
• He got a calling to the priesthood.
• The ghost of Ted Kluszewski haunts him at firstbase when he plays.
• He can't get over the fact that he couldn't play on his bobblehead day.
• He is upset that Jay has more homers than he does.
• Marty was mean to him.
• Jeff Brantley keeps trying to make him eat ribs though he's a vegetarian.
  

But all kidding aside, this is worrisome. He's going home to Toronto and they don't even know if he's going to come back after 15 days.

The Reds don’t know for certain when Votto will return.

“We’re hoping (it’s 15 days),” Baker said.

Look, Joey dude, I know you'll never read this, but we all support you 100%. Take the time you need to sort things out then come back and out-Pujols Pujols.

I'm at a place called Vertigo

Dozens of sunworshippers lay fallow on plastic alters while the greasy smell of sunscreen and dissonant sound of splashing rise beside the electric blue of a swimming pool. Skin, bare skin, bronzed with the jubilation of impending summer, glows with the fire of youth beneath the glory of a sunburst sky, a sky that makes blue what clouds cannot steal. Soon, the smell of charcoal and the taste of beer will accompany this summer concerto. I may be sitting here still, sitting and watching the boys of summer play their silly game.

What is this game, where a loss in late May can feel so devastating, where woe and worry besiege the heart of a fan even as reason dictates patience? Or does it? Is it unreasonable to feel this loss could ruin a season? Is it unreasonable to believe that it's too late in the season to play the way this game was played, with certain personnel failing to do fundamental tasks necessary to winning teams?

Is it unreasonable to believe this team even has a 2009 chance?

The non-plays of the game? GIFDP in the eighth. Dusty bunts in every other similar situation for the entire season and the one time he should have actually bunted, he didn't. Talk about rally killers. And then Brandon Phillips bunts in the ninth? FTH? OMG! LOL. BRB...

...How can your stud pitcher give up only three hits in a game and lose? How can you let that happen?...

This beautiful sunshine, this breeze, this summer-like Saturday, none of it is consolation for the desecration of the holy game that took place last night, that satanic display of offense, that blasphemy! Catastrophe! It's trash for me! A rash it be!

Ok, it's just one game. And despite the offensive desolation of game one, the Reds are still batting league average, which is really something considering they didn't get a shipment of bats until May.

But is it really just one game?

Well, is it? I suppose that depends on tonight. The baseball gods are a forgiving bunch. There is the possibility of resurrection and redemption. But the bats have to stop sinning so damn much!

There is some comfort in the Deadbirds loss. The Reds can't afford not to take the next two from the Sausages before moving onto Taint Louis, lest it be the end of the season as we know it, and I won't feel fine.

Fire up the grill! We're gonna devour those Sausages smothered with KKKKraut and lots of mustard on that Cueto fastball!

I woke up this morning with one thing on my mind. I would only need to get through 12 hours before I could watch the Reds take on the Sausages in the battle to climb to the top of the division.

We've been down this road before, I know. Going through the Church's archives, I came across all of those wonderous 2006 times when we were duking it out, including the one where I created this picture to commemorate our stomping of the Sausages.

But things are different this time. Only Arroyo, Harang, Encarnacion, Weathers, and Phillips are left from that team. (It's amazing turnover, isn't it? Only five players left from a team four years ago.) We have pitching. We have JOEY!!!!

So fire up the grill and enjoy this weekend. And Bill Hall, we hope you catch Joey's flu.

From the archives

Appropriate for Wednesday's game. Sure am glad we got rid of those uniforms.
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Edwin is our third baseman

I found this awesome comment by fandemad on Fay's blog and wanted to share it, because I agree that Edwin should be at third when he comes back.

the reds production from third base so far this year--

ranked in the nl--

third base--

14th in avg
13th in obp
14th in slug
14th in ops


last year EE's rank amongst qualified thirdbasemen:

8th in avg
6th in obp
6th in slug
6th in ops
5th in HRS


collectively--

the reds at third were:

(out of all 16 teams)

10th in avg
6th in obp
6th in slug
6th in ops
3rd in HRS


so last year with EE at third we got FAR BETTER production at third base than we are getting this year with 5 guys playing thirdbase

and specifically--

in his 19 games at third rosales is .258 .338 .403 .741

and last year edwin was .252 .341 .468 .810

as per HRs--

encarnacion avg a HR every 19 ABs

rosales avg a HR every 41 ABs

as per errors--

ee had 23 errors in 330 total chances -- one error in 14.3 chances

rosales has 2 errors in 32 total chances -- one error in 16 chances

ee had a 2.23 range factor

and rosales has a 1.77 range factor

so rosales fields ball slightly more cleanly (around 12% more), but edwin gets to far more balls (around 25%)


if EE can approach his last years numbers he's a far better choice at third

It was a beautiful day...

HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUge week this weekend and next week against the Sausages and the Deadbirds. The game tonight was so quick, I don't know what to do with myself.

I do know, though, that I do need to consider saving my vacation days for October...

Here we go...

Batting second...Jesus!

Your Sunday sermon: The Biblical Baseball Team

Funny stuff.

The Spark That Set The Flame

I went to the Nationals game yesterday, and while they wore bright red jerseys like the Reds day game jerseys, it was a poor substitute for the Reds game last night, the one that I missed because of my stadium engagement. Not that I didn't enjoy my time at Nationals Park, but I know I missed a good Reds game, especially with the Reds debut of Johnny Gomes being such a fine one.

I keep waiting for that spark. Will Gomes be it? Or will the Reds once again flicker and fade?

MTV Cribs: Sister Daedalus

Ok, so this is a first, sitting outside at a pool using the internet. I'm not even stealing someone else's internet - the signal is coming from my own apartment. It's not as nice as it sounds. In fact, I think I might hate it. Especially now that a group of unsupervised children have come in.

It started with the apartment people arranging the chairs on the deck at 6am. On a Saturday morning. Then there were all of the people trekking by my window at 11am to get to the pool, and when I say by my window, I mean the metal stairway that leads to the pool is attached to the building and they can see everything through the window. Then there's the other window that looks out at the pool - I am currently staring straight into my bedroom from a mere ten feet away. I moved in a month ago, and I still don't have furniture (it's not high on my list of priorities right now. I should probably make a trip to Ikea one of these days.) Two bookshelves were there when I moved in. I sleep on an air mattress covered with a fleece Reds blanket and a promotional Nats blanket. Other than that, I'm using a cardboard box for a desk and a blowup seat in the shape of a baseball glove. I covered the "desk" with a Cincinnati Reds blanket that my mother got for signing up for a credit card when we went to Johnny Cueto's MLB debut last freezing, drizzling April. The piles of clothes on the floor (it's laundry day and I'm sorting) are full of t-shirts and sweatshirts that say "Reds" or "Nationals" on them. You can see five baseball hats on a top shelf - one Reds, one Orioles, and three Nationals. Edwin hangs on my wall denoting the month of May, and a Reds jersey cooly stands on the windowsill. I feel like Jimmy Fallon's character in Fever Pitch.

Oh, and I realized my coffee mug I am now drinking from is a baseball one, and the keychain for my house keys is a red baseball glove.

What's funny about using a laptop at a pool is that you can watch people without looking at them because of the reflection in the screen. A farmer-tanned guy with a Red Sox cap sits immediately behind me. (Why would you lay out in the sun and wear a baseball cap that covers your forehead? Can we say awkward tan lines tomorrow?) There sure are a lot of glowing white people on deck for a sunburn.

I'm sure I'll enjoy the pool many times this summer. I'm just not sure what people will think when they stare into my shrine to the game, and I'm not willing to give up open windows and sunlight in the room for some privacy.

WELCOME JOHNNY GOMES!!!

WOO!!! WALT CALLED UP GOMES!!!!

Every time I feel like it's the same old, same old Reds mismanagement, Walt makes a good move. Sorry, Walt, but we've suffered so long that we can't give you the benefit of the doubt.

Oh, and the Carlos Fischer move? I'm ok with that!

A game for the world

I love this kind of stuff: Baseball pitches diplomats

Not many fans get to go on the field for batting practice the first time they attend a baseball game. Nor do they get to schmooze with players or take away autographed baseballs and other goodies.

But this wasn't your typical collection of first-time fans watching the Washington Nationals and the Pittsburgh Pirates Wednesday night. They were foreign diplomats on the receiving end of a straight pitch: Help bring baseball back to the Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee voted four years ago to drop baseball and softball from the Games starting in 2012. Baseball is among seven sports competing for two openings at the 2016 Games. The International Olympic Committee will decide in October.

Many of the diplomats in attendance Wednesday night had never been to a baseball game. Organizers from the State Department and the International Baseball Federation did their best to both explain and extol the sport.

I don't believe there's any competition here:

...baseball faces several obstacles in getting back on the program. It's got competition from six other sports — softball, golf, rugby sevens, roller speedskating, squash and karate — and some baggage because of doping scandals.

Seriously? Roller speedskating? I think the global (minus American) popularity of the World Baseball Classic proves that baseball belongs in the Olympics.

I like this line:

Several ambassadors said they were on board with making baseball an Olympic sport again.

Burger beer is back

I just think this is the coolest thing:

Mark your calendars for May 29, 2009, from 6-11 p.m. when Burger Beer is officially reintroduced at the Reds Hall of Fame's "Crosley Field Remembered" exhibit. Admission to this celebration of the return of the classic Cincinnati beer includes a commemorative T-shirt and unlimited admission to the Reds Hall of Fame through Dec. 31, 2009 for only $10. Burger Classic Beer, Burger Light Beer, ballpark hot dogs, and bratwurst will be available for sale throughout the evening. Also, be sure to catch your Reds as they take on the Milwaukee Brewers from Miller Park live in the Hall of Fame's Palace of the Fans Theater.

The Burger Beer event is the second event presented by the Christian Moerlein Brewing Company and the Reds Hall of Fame. On May 1, 2009, Christian Moerlein and the Hall of Fame partnered together to highlight Moerlein's Hudy Delight brand. A special Hudy Delight Salutes Crosley Field Remembered T-shirt was given to each person in attendance, and guests gathered throughout the Hall of Fame's newest exhibit to recall unique and memorable stories from the beloved park the Reds called home for 58 years.

Nice to be home

Let's hope Lidge continues to get lit up for the next three games! I am happy we are back to our regularly scheduled programming, that being Reds baseball games at 7pm. I'd rather end a game on the same day it started!

Reds news...Masset to DL blah blah blah...dizzy Votto blah blah blah...Reds now three games out blah blah blah...

Looking forward to the game tonight.

TOMORROW: COME WATCH THE REDS DEFEAT THE PHILLIES (HOPEFULLY) WITH FELLOW REDS FANS AT MOMO'S ON U STREET HERE IN DC. GAME TIME 7PM!

Get thee to the ballpark! (For $1, you can't go wrong.)

From 700WLW: "The economy is bad and The Big One wants to treat you to a Cincinnati Reds game at the Great American Ballpark. To help you out during these tough times, The Big One is offering 700 tickets for just $1 for selected Cincinnati Reds Games….and that dollar will go to a local charity! You can purchase up to 4 tickets at a special Crosley Terrace ticket window, located at the main entrance at Great American Ballpark with The Big One's code phrase of the game. The code phrase to get your $1 tickets for the next 700WLW $1 Game on May 19th against Philadelphia is "Willie says I'm a Great American!" The ticket window will open starting at 9:00am the day of the Game on Tuesday, May 19th when the $1 tickets will be on sale. Look for the window marked “700WLW” and give the “phrase of the game, "Willie says I'm a Great American."
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Phront runners

...and the rain came down. There was no more baseball. It came in the sixth inning and never stopped. Even iph it had shown signs oph letting up, baseball was over when the groundscrew phailed to put the tarp on the phield in a timely manner.

My, how the bandwagoners have come out in droves. Two years ago, a game versus the Philadelphia Phillies was like playing the Phish - no one cared. Now, however, everyone is a Phillies phan - and they all own Chase Utley shirts, although a phew are wearing Schmidt shirts. I saw one with a Rose shirt, and I phound that one particularly annoying. (I know Rose won a World Series with that team, but they shouldn't be allowed to claim him as one oph their own!)

The new annoyance started when I hopped the Metro to go to the game. The train was packed with these phrontrunner creatures in shiny new caps and jerseys they probably got phor Christmas last year. They were obnoxiously loud and oddly arrogant, like there hadn't been nearly three decades since their last World Series championship, like their team didn't have the most losses in Major League Baseball history. Then, when we got oph the train, they started chanting "Let's go Phils" that echoed down the rails oph the Green Line. One jerk even pointed to a guy in a Nats cap and said "Look, there's one!" as iph it was cool to be on the bandwagon and there was something wrong with someone who root, root, rooted phor the home team.

These new phans in their 2008 World Champions shirts don't care about the game. This much was evident in a new place called "The Bullpen," a phenced oph bit oph land that gives Nationals phans a place around the ballpark to drink bephore the games. It's smart land use - the ballpark is located in an undeveloped part oph town and they turned a vacant lot into a place to go without having to build anything - just poured a little blacktop and voila! A cool place to hang out. There's a beer and phood tent, a stage with live music, speed pitch, and sadly enough, cornhole. (When I was a kid, this was called beanbag toss and was played by children.)

"The Bullpen ophers interactive sports games phor children sponsored by Under Armour and Headphirst Camps, great local phood vendors including Rocklands and Surfside, a beer garden sponsored by Bud Light, and live music."

Because I was waiting phor a phriend with our tickets, I did not get into the park at the start oph the game, so I waited in the Bullpen with the new Phillies Phans. I watched the phirst two innings on the HD televisions they had in the beer garden while the new Phillies Phans played cornhole with no concern phor the game. Cheers did not erupt phrom the mouths oph phrat boys and sorority chicks when Ryan Howard hit a bomb into centerphield to give the Phillies an early 3-1 lead. No, they drank their Crud Light and played their cornhole in their Erik Estrada and Paris Hilton sunglasses.

Bephore I went to the Bullpen, I walked around the stadium a bit - I hadn't had a chance to do that yet, and I had plenty oph time to kill. I am not impressed one bit. The ballpark looks like an ophice building. Look at the picture - does it recite baseball's poetry to your soul? No. It screeches (pun intended) its corporatist ramblings and deaphens the heart. There is no character to the park, nothing that would signal something beautiphul is taking place within its walls.

It was the third inning when I decided to get a ticket phrom a scalper - there have been very phew times in my liphe that I've been late to a game. I phound one phor phive bucks and went into the ballpark. But I was disoriented. I was entering a ballpark with nearly three innings gone, so what I did was walk around the park snapping pictures phor a bit. And then I did something I've never done bephore - I bought a shirt with a player's name on it. Guess who? (Note to selph - beer and phull bank accounts don't mix.)

When you enter the park, you are greeted by three strange sculptures oph the only players in Washington's history that are worth mentioning, and they're good ones - Phrank Howard, Walter Johnson, and Josh Gibson. I'm not sure I like the sculptures, however. See that stuph hanging oph Howard? It's supposed to be his bat in motion. Johnson's arm is supposed to be in motion, and I guess Josh is phlying or something (see pics below.) So even a great idea they messed up in building this park. Still is really nice phor Josh to get a place next to Howard and Johnson (pun intended). Iph I could see any player in history, I wouldn't pick Babe Ruth, at least not the white version. I'd pick the "Black Babe Ruth," Josh Gibson. Iph this country hadn't institutionalized racism, Gibson would be at the top oph a heck oph a lot oph Major League Baseball records.

No, that is not a mistake. Dunner played rightphield last night.

My phriend showed up to the game in the phiphth inning with the tickets. I was pleasantly surprised to discover the seats were in the Diamond Club section. It was nice to have a waiter to bring stuph, and because I could, I ordered a buphalo dog though I wasn't hungry. A buphalo dog is a hot dog with buphalo sauce topped with cole slaw. The Diamond Club version also had a blue cheese dressing on it. I think blue cheese is disgusting, but this was just bearable enouph. I only ate halph oph it because it got soaked when the rains came. This is something I would get again. (I love hot sauce. I want to marry Phrank's Red Hot Sauce. I put Phrank's on everything - and a lot oph it, too!)

The air changed. The rain was just a matter oph time, and the change in the air was a rephlection oph that. And then it came. It started with a phew drops, tiny, barely discernible drops that sent wimps to seek shelter. Someone behind me yelled "Where's your heart?" at those scurrying away. Turns out, they were right. A phew pitches later, the sky broke open, letting loose all oph the day's stipling humidity that had made it rather uncomphortable in the earlier hours. There was no delay in the ump's decision to stop the game - I've never seen a whole team get oph the phield so quickly. The phans? Well, they weren't so phast. People couldn't phigure out how to quickly put one phoot in phront oph the other, so we all got soaked trying to phind shelter phrom the downpour. That's when my hot dog got wet.

But here's where the Diamond Club is worthy oph membership - my ticket gave me access to the phancy bar and restaurant, where I sat until they phinally kicked us out because the game had been called. Phinal score - Phillies 7, Nationals 5 in six innings. I had spent only two innings in these awesome seats. Bummer.

All oph the bandwagoner crap got me thinking about what will happen when the Reds start winning. Will this happen to us? I pheel like the Reds have a pretty solid and loyal phanbase - attendance hasn't dropped signiphicantly since this losing decade began. We also have one oph the most active online communities, which sprung up during the decade oph losing. Oph course there will be bandwagoners, but I don't think the ephect will be as great as the Phillies or Bread $ox.

The Phillies go phrom DC to Cincy, so I get more Philly. But Cincy isn't a two and a halph hour drive phrom Philly, and it isn't the weekend, so the Philly bandwagon won't be as phull as it was this weekend.

Here are some more photos phrom the evening:

Not For Sale

Former Red Jeremy Affeldt has pledged $100 per strikeout for the Not For Sale Campaign. Not For Sale is a non-profit organization dedicated to ending slavery in the world.

Yes, America, slavery is a rampant problem throughout the world. And it exists within America's borders. There are more than 27 million slaves today in the world. That is more than at the time when the United States had slavery as an institution.

I think we're beyond that, don't you?

If you have the means, jump over to Not For Sale and give a couple of dollars. It's up to us, the grassroots, to end slavery on this planet!
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Baseball in Europe info...

(LAUSANNE, Switzerland) – The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) today released a series of updates on the progress of baseball’s growth across Europe, and the efforts all partners are putting towards growing the game. All indicators, from professional players playing abroad to the increase in clinics and participation in Little League, show that the sport is growing at its fastest pace ever in Europe as the Baseball World Cup approaches in early September.

“The efforts that our federations are making to grow the sport at the grassroots level, as well as all the time our partners are putting in to help us tell our story, are being positively reflected in our growth globally,” said IBAF President Dr. Harvey Schiller. “We are especially pleased with the growth that we are seeing in Europe leading up to this September’s World Cup. It is a very exciting time to be involved in the sport.”

Some of the points that are reflective of the growth of baseball in Europe include:

• Over 40 players from no less than nine European countries (England, Portugal, Spain, the Czech Republic, Italy, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and France) are currently playing in the North American major and minor leagues - the highest number ever.
• Initial reports from Little League baseball, working with the European Baseball Confederation (CEB), are showing an increase in enrollment of over 10% for boys and girls playing Little League baseball across the continent.
• Major League Baseball recently completed its European Academy tryouts in six countries, and will be working with the CEB and IBAF to conduct coaching and player clinics in ten countries (Czech Republic, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) throughout the rest of the summer and early fall and into 2010.
• The not-for-profit group Pitch in for Baseball recently completed its first-ever equipment giveaway and clinic in Iraq, and plans extensive equipment programs throughout Europe into the fall.
• The IBAF unveiled the first two of a series of country-specific baseball websites, www.baseballgermany.com and www.baseball-france.com, geared to provide all information regarding baseball in the respective countries, with additional sites coming in the next few weeks.

With regard to the World Cup, tickets for the World Cup sites in the Czech Republic and Sweden will be on sale by May 20, with other sites to follow soon. Barcelona, the city where baseball debuted as an Olympic medal sport in 1992, will play host to games between Spain, South Africa, Puerto Rico, and Cuba during the first round from 10-12 September. Other first round games will be held in Regensberg, Germany; Moscow; Prague; and Sundyberg (Stockholm), Sweden from 9-12 September. The second round will be split between Italy and the Netherlands, while the final round will be in Italy on 27 September. In total, 22 nations will compete for the coveted world championship.

From the Bring Back Baseball in 2016 group.

Beautiful

Cincinnati	20	14	.588	-
Milwaukee	20	14	.588	-
St. Louis	20	14	.588	-
Chi Cubs	19	14	.576	0.5
Houston	15	18	.455	4.5
Pittsburgh	14	19	.424	5.5

Scoreboard watching...in May

Bucs up on the Deadbirds 5-1 in the bottom of the eighth...

:)

Dessert in the desert?

Interpret it how you will, but somehow I thought this image was appropriate for tonight's last game versus the Snakes. It could be a Red frying up a Snake. It could be a Snake in the lonely desert after getting swept. But if the Reds win tonight, that's not how I'm going to feel, especially if the Deadbirds lose and we...MOVE INTO FIRST PLACE (tie).

I tell you what, though, if I were a D'backs fan, this is exactly how I would feel.

Adam Rosales is annoying

Look, I don't know the guy, and maybe I'm more annoyed at the reaction in Redsland to him, but I have an unfavorable opinion of him after an initial high approval rating. The guy IS NOT the second coming of Pete Rose! Funny how people in Cincinnati pretty much ran a potential HOFer out of town because he "struck out too much" but they'll embrace a "scrappy" guy with a hot bat and dreadful defense based on the fact that he sprints to his position.

Frankly, I think his "hustle" is idiotic. There is a finite amount of energy in the human body, and he wastes his on those moronic sprints to first after a walk or the even more moronic sprint around the bases after a homer. Maybe he could reserve some of that energy for his crappy defense. He certainly isn't going to cut it as a zero-range bobble-handed third baseman. If I were a stathead, I'd look up his run differential or whatever you call it and probably discover that he's responsible for giving up as many runs as he's produced.

He's gonna be plunked if he keeps it up.

Not that I'm rooting against Rosales - I'm just annoyed by the Pete Rosales mentality.

I miss Edwin.

Anyone think the Reds would have the third best record in the NL at this point?

Well, they do.

Feels so good to take a series from the Deadbirds

Now...sweep!

There's something about this team...

The Reds have pig flu, and they still won

Nice win. A little sloppy, but hey, a win's a win. Especially when you have two of your starters out of the line up with "the flu."

Yeah, yeah, I, too, am on the start Nix everyday wagon. A lot of people are clamoring for a power bat, but I think we have one - he just hasn't been given a chance yet thanks to our brilliant manager, Toothpick. [UPDATE: Apparently, Nix is the guy for now.]

I'm really excited for this Deadbirds series. Although we are 3.5 games behind them, we sure could make up a lot of ground, especially with Cueto, Harang, and Voltron going this weekend.

Get out the pins! The Dark Prince of Missouri is coming to town.

One other thing - GET TO THE BALLPARK THIS WEEKEND!!!!!!!!

Get your tickets here.
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If you try this, let me know what it's like

Major League Baseball Insider's Club

No one ever talks about Homer Bailey being called up and moving Arroyo to the pen

Why not?

Four shutouts in six games

Could this be the best pitching staff the Reds have ever had?

The games yesterday and tonight were like night and day. Perhaps in September when we play the Fish again we'll look back to this brief series and say, this was it. This was the series when the team finally got it together. The defense was tremendous, Phillips hit a ton, and in general it was just a beautiful game.

But four shutouts in six games. Wow. I can't wait to play the Deadbirds this weekend. I'd like to slip into first place and won't even mind when I hear the national media drool over the "surprising Reds" who are "this year's Rays." I'm already loving the Votto-Pujols comparisons.

Scary stuff

I finally got a chance to see the Ankiel play from last night. That guy is lucky he didn't break his neck. It really freaked me out watching the video, but I watched it anyway knowing full well it would. Just makes you realize how dangerous those walls can be, and fortunately, he hit a padded wall rather than one of those electronic scoreboard walls like the Reds have this year.
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I think I'm supposed to work here

I was doing some program development work for my organization this morning and pulled out the last annual report for our sister organization Safadi Foundation in Lebanon. I'm developing an environmental entrepreneurship program and wanted to see what type of environmental programs they've done in the past. As I was looking at the pictures of the tree planting program they have for high school students in Lebanon, I noticed a familiar letter in the background of one of the photos, a letter I have on a few caps of my own. It was the curly W - a student is wearing a Nats cap. (You can see it more clearly in the print version of the report.)
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Facts are stupid things

You know, it's things like this garbage by Paul Daugherty that fuel the cult of personality we see in Redsland, where certain players are beloved and others are run out of town.

The offending comment:

"Of course, Brandon Phillips won’t hit .197, but Edwin Encarnacion might."

Based on what? Encarnacion has never hit below .251 in a full season. He has a career .261 average and is only 26 years old - he hasn't even hit his prime.

Guess what? That .261 career average is higher than Brandon Phillips' career average of .260.

But Daugherty never lets facts get in the way of his ranting against players he irrationally hates. He doesn't like Edwin, so in his mind, Edwin might hover around the Mendoza line. But Brandon Phillips? He's the cleanup hitter, so he's not gonna hit .197!

I'll leave you with a classic.
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The schedule for May is stupid

After an off day on the last day of April, the Reds played three in Pittsburgh. Then they fly to Miami for two days before coming home for a tiny five game homestand - two against the Sausages and a battle for first place with the Deadbirds. Then they play three in Thomland, have a day off, play three in San Diego, and have another day off before they play a nine game homestand. Then they have another day off.

In June, they play Monday, June 1 and don't play on another Monday for the entire month.
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.297/.458/.581

Know what I mean?

Yeah, I had great seats for Thursday night's game against the Deadbirds. Got up close with Prince Poopholes. But you know what? I like the Reds first baseman A-OK and think he's gonna be as good as the Dark Prince of Missouri. I just want the Nationals leftfielder back in Cincinnati.

Photos from the game: