Road trip - Sunday's game

Sunday was Slider's birthday at The Jake. They gave away Slider hats to kids 14 and under. I tried to get the guy at the gate to give me one, but he just laughed. Everyone was really nice. The guys at the merchandise stand where I went to buy an interleague ball (I collect balls from various stadium and events I attend) remembered me on Sunday when I couldn't resist buying a pack of 2008 Topps cards. Even though I no longer collect baseball cards like I once did, I still pick up a pack every now and then. As I stood at the cash register, I remembered why I stopped buying them. For ten cards, I had to pay $4. No wonder kids don't collect baseball cards anymore. I got Alex Rodriguez and Andruw Jones and Tony LaMafia and Jermaine Dye, Jason Isringhausen, some dumb league leaders card, some dumb this guy did something on this date card, and I can't remember the other three. They never put any Reds into the packs do they? Last year I bought a pack and got Jerry Narron. I thought about sticking voodoo pins in it, or at least taping a picture of a brain onto it. But we got Pete Mackanin and all was pretty good for awhile. Those pics of him sitting watching the Reds as a scout last week sent a little flutter through my heart. I couldn't help thinking what if he were the manager this year?

Sunday's game was pretty fun, though the weather was weird. At one point the rain came down and drenched everything in site for about a minute and that was it. There wasn't really any time to think about putting the tarp on the field. We were lucky because we were sitting under the restaurant and didn't have to move, but the scene of everyone rushing to leave was pretty funny, especially since by the time they got to shelter, they were soaked and the rain had stopped.

Bronson still didn't have his best stuff but the Indians were missing everything so it was A-OK. I really hope the Reds don't trade him. He'll be a great number five pitcher when Thompson and Cueto get their youthful jitters out and Harang rights the ship. He has personality, you know? He gives a face to the team. It's dangerous when you become attached to individual players in this day and age, because you'll just have your heart broken when they leave, but I can't help it.

I love Edwin Encarnacion, too. I was pumped to see him hit one out.

I just loved the photo of the kids in the hats, and I love that a kid is wearing a Dunn jersey in it. Smart kid. Sign Dunn to a longterm contract!
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Road trip - Saturday's game

There I was at The Jake seeing the Reds in their familiar gray uniforms. Over the last several years, I've seen them play on the road more than I have at home, so it looked pretty natural to me. It was upsetting to see Corey Patterson instead of Norris Hopper in the lineup, but at least Toothpick isn't batting him lead off anymore. Now that we have Hairston back, is there any reason Patterson should still be on this team? We don't need six people who can play outfield. It'll be hard enough to get Hairston in there with Edwin back, though in my opinion, it should be Dunn-Hairston-Bruce in the outfield since Griffey isn't hitting. But protocol dictates you don't bench a future Hall of Famer who is going to be starting the All-Star game, even if he is hitting .230 something.

I'm looking for a nice ten game win streak. Cueto started it all with a well-pitched game. He got into trouble a couple of times but wiggled out of it - seems to me that he's getting used to the big leagues. He had that one period of time where he struggled, but most of his last seven or eight starts were pretty good for a young pitcher. Better than Harang, right? I see Harang having a good second half. He has to, right? Right?

The Jake reminds me a lot of Camden Yards. Maybe it's the green seats and the trees in centerfield. Maybe it's just the American League park. Maybe it was the Oriole mascot tromping around the park on Sunday. (It was Slider's birthday, and some of his friends helped to celebrate.)

It's always nice to see a full stadium. These games weren't quite sellouts, but they were close. There were a lot of Reds fans there, too, so it didn't feel exactly like an away game.

It's nice to have a lot of offense, especially since the pen wasn't exactly stellar. Dunner's homer was a line drive - the only question was would it be high enough to clear the fence. When the Reds took a 4-0 lead, there was a noticeable difference in crowd noise.

Us Reds fans were happy though.


What a beautiful night it was.
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I tell you what - Cordero is having a heck of a year. I hope it isn't wasted. Remember, he signed a four year contract - we were supposed to compete this year. We can expect him to decline a little by the end of the contract, but we can hope he doesn't. Even though it wasn't a save situation, I was glad to see him in there. I caught this picture from my seat below the restaurant.

Victory!

Road trip

Over the rivers and through the woods to Jacob's Field we go.
The car knows the way to carry us through the rain and lightening oh.
Across the fields and through the plains the city stands on high.
The mistake by the lake was such a dump its river caught on fire!

I attended the Reds' two victories that secured a winning road trip and brought them to 9-6 on the season in interleague play. We're one of only three or four NL teams that have a .500 record in interleague play. Can you believe that? And to think we did it while having to play the Bankee$ and the Green $ox. Not bad at all. We seem to do better against the good teams. I hope that's not the case this week playing the Pirates and the Nationals. It would take a miracle to get back into the race, but hey, even though my head tells me we're through, there's still a part of me that believes a good July could put us five or six games back, which is not an insurmountable deficit. But a single winning road trip can do that for you, make you forget that terrible homestand you just had. Yet I know Harang can't pitch so poorly for the rest of the season, and Cueto seems to be getting used to the big leagues. Ach, stupid irrationality!

I love these series with Cleveland. There's such a huge area of mixed loyalties in the state of Ohio that us fans are all kind of used to each other, which makes for a great road trip. Contrary to what people who did not grow up Reds or Indians fans think, the revival of the Ohio Cup is fun. I remember that last Spring Training game back before interleague play when the two teams used to meet up in Cooper Stadium in Columbus. I suppose people from Ohio are a bit strange in their state loyalty, but as I've traveled and moved around enough, I've often found that people from Ohio who leave the state still tend to find each other. I'm sure if E$PN had played the bit where everyone in the stadium was singing O-H-I-O during Hang on Sloopy, they'd make fun of us for it. I don't think all Reds fans get the whole Ohio thing since many of them hail from Kentucky, Indiana, and West Virginia.

I know there are a lot of mixed emotions about interleague play, and this year is evidence of its detriment, as the Reds have played ONE series against a team in their division in the entire month of June, and only TWO series against NL Central teams in May. How the heck were they supposed to make up any ground by never playing within the division? Yet I love these Cleveland series and attended three of the six games (all wins!) I could go for cutting it down to one series against Cleveland a year and then two other series against AL teams. We'd only play teams like the Bankee$ and the Green $ox once in a blue moon, but isn't that better? While it generates beaucoup de bucks, it also isn't fair when a team plays the likes of the Royals or the Pirates or some perpetually losing team (like the Reds?)

The weather was strange all weekend. On Saturday it stopped raining a little before the gates opened and ended up being a pretty nice night. We stopped at the Thirsty Parrot before the game began and had a celebrity sighting. I still didn't drink the High Life, though I must admit, I like those commercials, especially the one where he goes into the luxury box and no one is paying attention to the game. That's exactly how I feel about people who use those boxes. And to think us common folk have to suffer torn down stadiums and higher ticket prices so those people can go to baseball games and not watch them.

The Indians weekend uniforms are nice. I'm a sucker for throwbacks and these are simply classic. Here, Grady models them for me. It took me awhile to get an answer about why they were wearing those uniforms. I thought perhaps they were just having a throwback night, but it turns out they wear them on weekends. They look even better with the high socks.

Seriously, Jimmy Haynes? Seriously? You can tell a lot about a person by the jersey he wears. This one screams "I think I'm cool! But I'm really a dork who tries too hard!" The guy thinks he's proving himself to be a "true fan" by wearing a semi-obscure jersey. To us diehards, though, that name reeks of a decimated farm system with zero pitching under old Leatherpants. Not something I want to remember. Jimmy Haynes? Seriously?

I was given applause by Indians fans when I pulled off all the Progressive stickers on the cupholders around me. There were many, many comments regarding the name change over the course of the weekend. Seems as if everyone calls it The Jake. I am taken back to Riverfront Stadium, which will always be Riverfront Stadium to most of us. Reds fans never really started to call it Cinergy. I just don't get it. These corporations are spending millions of dollars to have their name on a field, but that's not going to get anyone to buy their product. Who among us sees Progressive Field and thinks "I'm gonna have to check out their insurance?"

Check back for more photos and some commentary about the games later.
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