For this winter day, I present you: Hot Red Hot

This made me LOL. Oh, how terrible it was, but I'd put up with another equally as bad recording if we could have another trophy.

Here's my update for Reds Rap 2010. Can you picture Harang and Bruce trying to rap?

Ooh ooh ooh
Ooh ooh ooh
Let me tell you a story about a baseball team
On top of the game and it's not a dream
From fourth to first the pennant we can win
Now I present THE CHAMPIONS!

Hot, red hot
Hot, red hot

Harangutan here with the rest of my crew
BP, C-Dick, and Voltron, too
Coming to you live just to bust the groove
With some help from my homeboys to make you move
This is the time of year to take the pennant
Ain't no half steppin', so let's win it!
Listen up, listen to the story,
This is the year, the moment of GLORY!

I'm from the streets, the streets of CA
I chose ball, and I'm really good, eh?
I've seen people playing hockey acting like they're cool
If they were smart, a bat would be their hitting tool.
Enough of that, I wanna beat that Cardinal Poo.
Just listen up, that's what I want to talk aboot.
Back to this rap, and this is what I got to say
In twenty-ten we're gonna take it all the way.

We're the Reds, red hot
We're the Reds, red hot

Strike three, he's out, you'll always hear
With Johnny Quest you'll have no fear
All year long I'll be the best
So all you critics forget the rest.
This is my time to shine, that's why I'm bustin' this rhyme.
The pitch I'm throwing today - aye carumba! muy caliente!

When duty calls Jay will deliver
With crushing blows that'll make you shiver

Stubbs in the outfield running down shots
Fly balls, line drives, they gotta be caught

It's been a long time, I've taken some heat
Because of my managing we're gettin' beat
I send C-Pat and Willy to the dish
And the pitcher says, You can't touch this

Yo, take it to the seventh inning stretch!

Go Bronson! Go Bronson! Go, go, go Bronson!

Uncut, no work, I have no pain
Me and my guitar we're together again
Another homer, look out, who can it be?
Oh, we're in Toronto for season three!

There's more to life than O.B.P.
You can make it to the big leagues like Willy T.
Striking out, grounding out is what I do
They pay me millions, yes it's true.

This is the roster, it's really not full
Leftfield has a great big hole
Shortstop Soft-J comes with no bat
How long til Alonso wears a C hat?

We're the Reds, red hot?
We're the Reds, not hot?

Here's a special message for Walt:

Say no to Carroll, no to bad contracts
Just get us someone to hit the ball with the bat
And you can win the World Series all right
Not by making bad trades but doing what is right.

Say no to Willy, yes to Gomes
Just get us someone who can get on and cross home
And we can win the World Series for once
It's been twenty years since we were champions!

We're the Reds, red hot
We're the Reds, red hot

Hey there we're doing this for you...

We're the Reds, red hot
We're the Reds, red hot

Everybody clap your hands...

Hmm...that turned out a little more bitter than I had hoped.

And then there was this:



It's hard to think Cincinnati sports teams used to be good. I'm still not certain the Bengals are really in first place. If only the Reds would follow suit...

“They had the California look, and frankly, we didn’t like it” - Rob Dibble

Allen at Over the Monster has a bit on Billy Hatcher, including this great memory:

The story of the 1990 WS is that the Reds swept the Oakland A's. They were the benfactors of a dominant pitching performance by Jose Rijo: 2-0, 0.59 ERA, 15.1 IP, 5 K. They were also the benefactors of a great hitting performance from Billy Hatcher: 12 ABs, 9 H, 6 R, 4 2B, 1 3B. .750/.800/1.250, for a 4 game OPS of 2.050. This was important for Hatcher, who could feel some sense of redemption after the corked bat incident in 1987.

While I don't remember the corked bat incident, I most certainly remember Hatcher's stellar performance during the greatest Reds period of my life. I can remember thinking he would never make an out when he had the 7 consecutive hits, and well, he only made three outs the whole series.

We were in first place during the entire year, the first team to ever go wire to wire. We were led by pitching rather than the big bats - the Nasty Boys, Jose Rijo, Tom Browning, and Jack Armstrong. (What I did not remember is that Charlton started 16 games.) The Reds played small ball with pitching and speed, having 6 players reaching double digits in stolen bases, and two of them, Eric Davis and Billy Hatcher, reaching 30. There were no superstars, only a young Barry Larkin, Chris Sabo, ED, and Paul O'Neill who played as a team.

The excitement of the year still lingers in the hearts of every Reds fan (much as I imagine it does for those who remember the grand years of the Big Red Machine.) After four straight years of coming in second place, it was our time, a time when the magic of baseball filled our spirits and brought plenty of goosebumps and tears of pure joy. The incandescent nights of October belonged to Cincinnati, the birthplace of professional baseball and a city where winning was a tradition.

The signing of Aaron Harang may signal a return to small ball after years of leading the world in offense. But you know, although the offense is fun to watch, winning is much more precious, as those of us who remember 1990 know. We've got one of the top 1-2 punches in baseball, and 3-4 could be worse. We have a strong infield and a Hall of Famer roaming the outfield next to a guy who has absorbed some of the spirit of Charlie Hustle and a guy who hits baseballs to the moon. We have some depth in the pen, some depth on the bench, and a guy named Homer waiting in the wings. I think if the baseball gods look down on the Reds and give Griffey one last hurrah of a season, give Alex Gonzalez 15-20 hits above his average year, and help Bill Bray realize his potential, we have a really good 2007 coming to us.

Let's pray we don't have to have one of those "20 year reunions" that teams have when they haven't won a World Series in a pair of decades.
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