I Wanna Be a "Blog of Note"

Whoa holiday! I'm back at the blog. Now that I'm here, though, I can't think of anything to say. Or rather, I can't narrow anything down to something say-able. Not posting for a couple months at a time creates this problem.
I'll start with this: I'm not sure why, but I've been feeling better about the second half of the season. I don't know if it's the new management or just the new half or what, but I feel better about it. I don't know that the Reds are doing any better, as we're still near the bottom of the division (though at least now the Pirates are under us where they rightfully belong). I think part of it is that I've been able to learn a bit more about the games on a more regular basis now that the newspaper hasn't been disappearing every day. Just knowing what's going on helps.
I think it must just be knowing that we're not in last place anymore. Not in last place and sweeping the Braves. Even losing to the Cubs by embarassingly large margins hasn't been able to break through the tiniest little glimmer of optimism I've let come back. You know, I'd love to think the Reds could still pull something amazing out of their asses. They've still got about a million games left against the Brewers. I suppose something could happen. It'd be nice if the rest of the division would keep sucking, too.
So there's what you get when I let my mind wander off and write whatever it thinks it wants to talk about. At least I stayed with baseball.
COMPLETELY RANDOM CHANGE OF SUBJECT
It doesn't appear likely that the mystery of the ballpark trashcans is going to be solved this season. Prospects for attending any games this season look dim. Tiny Casey and Tinier Dunn are getting bored of looking at the same trash cans over and over, but there's no more investigating to be done around here. All the research is complete.
I wonder how one becomes a Blog of Note.

I Swear I Still Heart Them

Hey! I'm online! I've been online for more than 5 minutes without getting kicked off! It's a miracle! Anyway, I just wanted to make sure everyone knows that I still heart the Reds. I can only see about 1 1/2 games a week, I can't manage to stay online long enough to get any information on the team and all I know about most games is whether they won or lost, but I still heart them as much as ever. The last nearly two months have not been pleasant. I hope they pull out of this crap, soon. At least they haven't been losing by quite so many runs lately. It looks a little less depressing. Also, I want to know what the hell is going on with Arroyo. Is this just how he pitches when he's not trying to prove he's too good for Cincinnati, or is something actually wrong? And one more little tidbit. I haven't been able to keep up on Freel's injury lately, but I hope all is going well for him, and Farney as well. His little world was probably rocked pretty good, too. Go Reds!

Not Like Last Year

So far the rest of the road trip hasn't gone so hot, huh? It seems these guys have an affinity for consistency, though. If you're going to lose, at least you can lose by the same score two days in a row. It confuses everyone who didn't actually see the game. After the first 4-1 loss to the Giants I just figured that the 4-1 I saw the next day was still the same game and they accidentally put it up twice. I had hope for a brief moment that they might have won.

The same thing happened today. Lost to the Dodgers 6-5 on Monday, and when I watched Sports Center or something this morning, I saw 6-5 again, and had another brief moment of optimism.

Anyway, if one wants to find a bright spot, there is always the fact that though the Reds have lost 5 games in a row, they didn't lose the Wild Card lead until last night, and they're only a half game back. At least everybody else has been sorta crappy, too. That's not really bright, but it's all I've got.

Harang gets to try to stop the skid tonight. Well, actually, the whole team gets to try that. Harang starts tonight while the whole team tries to stop the skid. That sounds more appropriate. 10:10 again, because we're still in California.

Loaded

I haven't been able to watch the game continuously, but every time I get a chance to check in they've got the bases loaded with 2 outs and somebody strikes out. That's getting old real quick.

Splits

This was supposed to be posted yesterday, but Blogger sucks, as usual. Anyway, on with the show.

It figures that that Cardinals would be in town when I have to be working my butt off every night/morning for the fake campaign in my poli-sci class. Instead of watching dramatic walk-off home runs, I am watching our Lone Shark ad over and over. Granted, it's hilarious, but there comes a point when you've seen it too many times. I'd much rather watch David Ross own the world. I did get to see Ryan Freel's AHHHmazing catch Tuesday before heading out for a rare night of drunken debauchery. Though I was not drunk, nor was there much debauchery, just painting. And, even though I didn't get to see much of it, it's good knowing that we made up a few games on the Cardinals. Monday is a day I'm going to try to forget. I do not recall ever losing to the Cardinals 13-1. Tuesday, however, thanks in very large part to Ryan Freel, the Reds took the Cards down, 10-3. Apparently they also punched the stupid birds in the gut with a dramatic 8-7 last minute win last night. I wish I'd seen it. I liked the picture in the paper today, though. Ryan Freel looks crazy. Bronson Arroyo failed to get his 10th win yet again today. I wonder if he's thinking too much about getting that 10th win. Maybe he needs to forget about the win all together and just play baseball. I would think that at this level he would know that, but I bet it's hard to do, after trying and failing so many times. He's up to what, ten attempts now? All together that adds up to a series split, but for the season as a whole, the Reds are up on the Cards 8-4. Take that Birds!

I think there are many new people in the Reds dugout/bullpen now that I haven't mentioned yet. One Mr. Rheal Cormier (pitcher type), has a spectacular name, but I'm not too sure on his skillz yet, as I haven't seen him very much. He came from Philly. Justin Germano went to Philly for him. That's kind of sad, as I rather liked Germano. Kyle Lohse (also a pitcher type) used to play for Minnesota, but now he plays for Cincinnati. Zach Ward (minor league pitcher type) went to Minnesota in his place. Ryan Franklin (another pitcher type) also came to Cincy via Philly. They get a PTBNL. And last but not least, Wednesday Todd Hollandsworth was snatched away from Cleveland and is now in Cincy, too. He's not a pitcher type, he's an outfield type. The Indians get a PTBNL too!

Oh, apparently Ryan Freel has a little dude in his head (mad props to RHM for the link).

The Blame Game

I don't really know who should be pinned with the blame for the tragedy playing out in Cincinnati right now. The Lizard would be a seemingly obvious choice, as he is the one that gave up the Cardinals' first 7 runs before the end of the 2nd. However, somebody on TV pointed out that perhaps Javy is to blame, for he is the one calling fastball after fastball that the Stupid Birds are apparently pretty good at hitting tonight. I'd also like to blame the Cardinals, because who doesn't? And while we're at it, I also blame George Steinbrenner, because he's evil, and I'm sure he had a hand in this somehow.

Not to say that I've entirely given up hope on this game, but I have chosen to write a paper comparing Kay Bailey Hutchison to John Cornyn rather than watch this game right now. Partly because I have to have the paper done by tomorrow, and also partly because I just don't think I can bear to witness this right now.

Poo-Holes smells funny.

Still Miss Kearnsy

I've missed the last week posting wise, but as it was all pretty much a bunch of the same old, same old, I don't think I'll waste your time with endless recaps. The Reds are currently riding a 4-game losing streak. Luckily the Cardinals are on a 6-game losing streak, so it's not as bad as it could be. In fact, the only teams in the NL Central who have played above .500 in their last 10 games are the Cubs and Pirates. Isn't that sad? Somehow, though, the Reds maintain the lead in the Wild Card, though they are currently tied with the Diamondbacks and Padres.

It helps to know that the Dodgers are at least kind of on fire at the moment. While Cincinnati is on their losing streak, Los Angelos is having a lovely 5-game winning streak, and only 2 of those have been against the Reds, so we're not the only one's getting their asses beat. If only the offense hadn't been broken. Dunn went on a tear for a bit, but he can't do it by himself. Now it looks like Griffey's starting to pick it up, but no one else is doing that with him, so it's still a one man show.

Our shiny new bullpen hasn't been looking so new lately. I've been seeing a lot of the old faces trotting (or sprinting) to the mound, which makes me even happier that we don't have Kearns and Lopez. It's nice that the guys have been doing a mostly decent job, but I want losing two good, every day players to be worth it. This blog started out with a Bring Back Kearns Campaign. Maybe we should bring it back. I've been trying to avoid complaining about him being gone too much, as there's very little to be done for it, but I miss him (and Lopez, too). He was my favorite. We'd have to make the campaign a bit fancier. There wasn't much to it last time (although it did succeed). It's a fruitless endeavor, though. I don't think we'll be getting him back. He's not in Louisville this time.

Off Day Madness

Madness only in that since I have neglected the blog for a while again, this is probably going to be maddeningly long.

First off, TheBaseballReport.com is giving away copies of "Tales From the Reds Dugout," (Tom Browning's book). The e-mail said they hoped I could put in a few lines about it, so here's those few lines. If you don't already have the book, you can register here to win it. I have not read the book, nor do I have it, but I hear it's an interesting read. It is Tom Browning, after all.

To The Games!!!

Thursday Bronson Arroyo failed yet again to secure win number 10. To be fair, it wasn't exactly his fault. He only allowed the Mets 2 runs in 8 innings, it's just that Tom Glavine also only allowed 2 runs. Majewski got the official loss. The game went into extra innings with the score tied at 2. Majewski gave up 2 more runs in the 10th. The Reds failed to respond, losing 4-2. They also lost the series to the Mets.

The Brewers strolled into town on Friday. With so few of these games on TV I've had a hard time keeping up. It sounds like the Reds made a heck of a comeback Friday night, though. The Lizard got pounded in his 5 innings for 5 earned runs on 11 hits. When Elizardo left the game the Reds were down 5-0. Jason LaRue belted out a home run in the bottom of the 5th to get the Reds on the board. Encarnacion's 2-run homer brought the Reds to within 2. Since he contributed so nicely, he got to sit out the next game. In the bottom of the 9th, with Phillips and Hatteberg on base, Derrick Turnbow walked Freel to load the bases. Dana Eveland replaced Turnbow, he then walked pinch hitting Valentin to give the Reds another run. Griffey chose this day for another dramatic game-ender; a walk-off 2-run single. The Reds won 6-5.

The Reds also won on Saturday despite Joe Mays. Freel's two home runs as well as Hatteberg's just being plain awesome these days really helped. Freel hit a solo shot to lead off the 1st. Later in the same inning Hatteberg smacked a two-run homer. Unfortunately, Mays decided the Brewers needed to have 3 runs as well, which he promptly gave them in the top of the 2nd. After much battling, 6 pitchers for the Reds, and an 8th inning solo home run from Freel, Cincinnati came out on top 8-7. Standridge, it must be noted, had now made it through two consecutive appearances without allowing a single run or hit. Amazing!

Sunday was a sad day. Milton got a bad break on the numbers. Though it shows 4 runs, only 2 of them crossed the plate while he was still out there. Things looked bad for him from the beginning. He loaded the bases in the 2nd, from the which the Brewers gained 2 runs on the Reds' 0. The only run for the Reds came in the form of a Brandon Phillips home run, which I hadn't seen in a while. It was apparently his 8th this year. Majewski inherited some runners from Milton in the 7th (I still don't think he should be out there past the 6th) and allowed two of Milton's guys to score. Coffey worked the 9th, where no runs scored. All in all, a sad day for the Reds, as they lost 4-1.

In notes of presumed interest, Kent Mercker found himself on the 15-day DL with an inflamed elbow, retroactive to Friday, I believe. Retroactive is such a great word, don't you think? I love saying it. Man of Misfortune, Brian Shackelford, came back from Louisville to take his place. I have heard rumblings that David Ross might be back in the rotation as early as Wednesday this week. He was to be having a rehab assignment in Chattanooga today.

Tuesday Cincinnati starts a series in Houston, where Aaron Harang faces off against Roger Clemens. Scary scary. Clemens's record of 2-3 isn't so scary, but his 2.43 ERA is a little. And his picture is a lot.

At Least It's Not Just Us

Sure, the Reds were banged up by the Mets yesterday, but the White Sox helpfully destroyed the Cardinals at the same time. While they embarrassed the Reds, too, at least we didn't give them 11 runs in one inning.

Catching Up A Bit

One of these days I'll get around to telling the story of the last 5 games. Though, since we only won 1 of those 5, do you really want to hear about it? You're going to hear about it anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter. Lucky for you, that won't happen today. Today we're going to put together a "Things I've Failed To Mention" list. This list will also include links to things of interest that are mostly more than a few days late.

First on the list we have Voodoo Albert. Voodoo Albert is a creation of Daedalus over at ye olde Church of Baseball. After his inception the stupid birds lost a series to the Cubs and were swept by the Reds. He also had the somewhat unfortunate side effect of landing real life Albert on the DL. Sure, I like that he wasn't around for the series with the Reds (not that I think he would have helped), but it's never fun to see people hurt.

September 23rd looks to be Hang with Red Hot Mama and JD at Great American Day. That's really all the info I have on that. You'll have to check with them for more details. You should go, though. I'm sure it'll be good times.

Though he's only played in 4 or 5 games since, Todd Coffey was named as the Reds' closer last week.

Encarnacion's ankle sprain was apparently more significant than originally thought. He went on the 15 day DL a few days ago. Ray-Ray takes his place on the roster.

As I mentioned a few posts back, Christina's dad finangled us some pretty nifty seats for the game on Saturday. I did in fact curse us by noting the forecast a few days in advance. Instead of being 76 and sunny like Wednesday's forecast, it was under 60 and raining. So, for the year, we have 100% crappy baseball weather. It was still a good time, despite the rain, loss and that ridiculous grand slam. Claussen probably could have gotten out of the jam and allowed fewer runs to score than Yan did.

That's all I've got for now. I'm sure there are plenty more things that I've missed, but I'm tired of fighting the internet. It's time for the game, anyway. Go Reds!

Thanks to Christina's Dad

We're going to the game on Saturday! And guess what! It's not supposed to be 50 degrees and raining! Amazing!

Hope I didn't just curse us.

Bleck

Think Rick White wants us to hate him?

Weird Fact of the Day

According to the Reds pregame show, Adam Dunn walked on a 3-2 count during the first last night. There was no 4th ball. I'm not going to complain, because I like having 15 runs and it's not like having that one run back would have done the Brewers any good, but how does one let that happen?

Respect?

I don't remember specifically what show I was watching, but one of the baseball shows on ESPN last night said people in Detroit are looking forward to this weekend's series as a World Series preview. I don't know that I'd be bold enough to say that, but wow. At least Detroit thinks we're for real.

This is Just Wrong

What is wrong with Harang and when the hell is our offense coming back?

On nos!

Oooh I'm excited. Mr. Heart Attack himself, David Weathers coming in for Mercker who came in for Coffey when I'm quite convinced he shouldn't have. Not that I have much say in that nor does my understanding of the game rival Narron's in any way that would allow me to say my opinion is better, but still. I don't think Coffey would have allowed those two runs.

Kearnsy's working on saving the day, though.

Real Reds

One of the features on tonight's Real Reds answered everyone's most burning question about the players: "Have you ever had a real job?" Some of the answers were actually kind of interesting. Weathers was, among many other things, a grave digger. Harang made deli trays and apple and pumpkin pies (I think I'd laugh if I saw that man baking pies). Griffey handed out beer tokens at a Speedway for a week before his mom made him quit, saying he needed to focus on baseball. He almost sounded upset about it, too. They didn't ask Dunn. For some reason I want to know if he had a job. I suppose I just assume that if he did he'd have some funny stories about it or it would be something really odd. Though I don't know how you can get more odd than grave digging.

Bah!

Matt Holliday has quickly earned himself the position as my Least Favorite Rocky. He narrowly beat out Dinger the Dastardly Dino or whatever he is. What the hell does a dinosaur have to do with the Rockies or baseball? About as much as the Gapper I guess.

Currently the score is 3-0 in favor of those stupid mountain dwellers and Jeff Francis is a 12-year-old boy.

Milestone of Sorts

Marty says that today marks the first time in major league baseball that two guys named Encarnacion have each batted clean-up in the same game. It is also the first time that two guys named Encarnacion have each hit a home run in the same game. I just wanted to share that. I'm a giant dork for useless information.

Let the Games Begin

Time to give the Cardinals a good, solid kick to their hindquarters. I move that Arroyo hits Poo-Holes in the face and take him out of the game early. It's such a shame that guy plays for St. Louis.

Mr. Molina looks like he's getting pretty tired of chasing wild pitches.

GO REDS!!!

I don't really support hitting people in the face. I'm just scared of Albert.