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The Anti-Greats: Day 1
by riverfront76 on Feb 8, 2010 12:00 PM EST
in History/Hall of Fame
22 comments
The cyber-ink was not yet dry on the Top 100 Reds series when the call rang out: ‘Who are the worst 100’?
I intentionally kept most of the Top 100 series as positive as I could. Over 1700 players have worn the familiar colors since 1890, and in carving out this relatively small slice of the 100 greatest, the players would by definition occupy the part of our brains labeled "Happy Reds thoughts. Do not throw out".
Defining the worst is a whole lot trickier than doing the same for the best. Generally speaking, the worst never even see the field. Some, however, sneak through the cracks, and can be said to contribute fewer wins than some guy watching from the dugout. Or some other team’s dugout. Rarely is this the fault of the actual player. Players have varying levels of natural ability; they age in ways that are sometimes predictable, sometimes not; they work hard at a very difficult game that most of us fail at before needing to shave on a daily basis. Usually, more fault should be placed at the feet of the decision makers who traded for these players or signed them or continued to play them past the limits of supporting evidence. The stats, however, are assigned to the guys on the field, and so this list is about them. A celebration, if you will, of the bad times that help us really appreciate the good ones.
To give the exercise a bit more structure, I’ve selected 25 players in such a way that they might mirror the makeup of an actual roster. In alphabetical order, I present the top 25 anti-greats, to be posted in daily blocks of five:
22 comments | 0 recs |
Red Reposter - Jay Bruce is kind of a big Deal around here
by ken on Feb 8, 2010 9:00 AM EST
in News
227 comments
- Bruce learns from bout with adversity
Mark Sheldon reports on Jay Bruce's offseason and how he's dealt with a frustrating 2009.
Electing not to play winter ball and make up at-bats from the 57 games he missed last year, Bruce instead went home to Beaumont, Texas, and decompressed. Eventually, he resumed lifting weights, running, throwing and -- beginning about a month ago -- hitting. The wrist has passed all of the tests, and there is nothing holding back Bruce in his workouts. "It's felt fine and like [the injury] never happened," Bruce said. "I've had no pain; it's nonexistent. For a little bit, when I came back, it was still tight, but it's fine now."
Good to hear.
Sheldon also reports that Gomes' return remains up in air. As Turtle noted, MLB trade rumors is reporting that Gomes may sign with Cleveland. - Diamond Hoggers interviews Zizzy Mane
Zizzy Mane, a hip-hop musician, grew up playing little league with Jay Bruce. The two have stayed in touch and Bruce has selected Zizzy's track "The Deal" for his at-bat music this year. Zizzy talks about his and Jay's favorite artists and tells some Bruce stories from little league. Definitely worth a listen, especially if you're a music fan. - END devours Mexican pitching, plates 3 runs
Juan Francisco went 3 for 3 with an opposite-field HR and a sac fly in leading DR to a 7-2 win over Mexico on Saturday. It's great to see this as END had struggled in the first four games, hitting .188 with 1 double. He's also had 3 errors. Former (?) Red Kevin Barker also hit a HR (!) for the DR (!!). Yesterday, DR won the series with a 7-4 win over Venezuela. END added another 3 RBIs to give him 6 for the final two games. -
Fayplacement: Embarrassing moment
Fayplacement Nick Hurn recounts a moment he'd like back from RedsFest: The elevator doors open, Davis enters, Bruce enters and I follow. I’m halfway in when I trip over Bruce’s size 50 shoe and stumble directly into Davis. My first conversation with Davis, one of my favorite players of all-time went something like this: (Trip, stumble into Davis) Davis: Have you been drinking? Me: No, Jay Bruce has really big feet and I’m a small guy. I tripped …. Davis: Are you sure you haven’t been drinking? (Laughter) (Silence) (Elevator doors open). - The Atlantic - Where Have You Gone, Jim Merritt?
Andrew Cohen watches Game 5 of the '70 WS on the MLB Network and decides to contact Jim "Got Nothing" Merrit, the losing pitcher for the Reds that game, for an interview. Cohen did not get a response. Just a strange column/blog post from a guy mostly known as a legal reporter for CBS. - C. Trent catches up with Glenn Braggs
Braggs reminisces about the 1990 team. While most fans ask Braggs about the bat-breaking in the World Series, I'll always remember him for the the homer-robbing catch in the LCS against Pittsburgh. -
Red Letter Daze talks to Cuban baseball writer Peter Bjarkman
Since we've gone far too long without an Aroldis Chapman story. This guy isn't terribly high on Chapman, but I don't agree with this assessment below:
Is he a good risk in the abstract? Certainly, because he can throw 100 mph. But if you are comparing the risk to the $30 million he received, or to Stephen Strasburg, the No. 1 overall pick of the Nationals in last year’s draft, then no. I don’t think you want to risk that kind of money on any pitcher who hasn’t thrown a single inning in professional baseball and who could blow his arm out tomorrow.
Of course, Stephen Strasburg also hadn't faced professional competition when he was drafted. That's the nature of the draft and international signings - you're taking guys on their potential. You can't select those players based on a robust track record against other professionals because it doesn't exist. And while there's an injury risk inherent with any pitcher, Bjarkman concedes that Chapman hasn't had an injuries in the past 3 years. All that said, there are plenty of interesting first-hand observations about Chapman's stuff and control that are worht the read. - MLB on FOX Unveils 2010 Broadcast Schedule
The Reds will not make any appearances. My NL Central tally: Cardinals - 8; Cubs - 8; Brewers - 4; Astros - 2; Pirates - 0.
This year FOX will feature a couple of prime time games instead of the normal afternoon-only schedule. BizofBaseball also reports that there's still no word on whether the blackout policy will remain the same for the prime time games. Fans naturally hate the blackouts, but it would be particularly maddening if an afternoon game is blacked out because of a 7 p.m. prime time game. - Pitt. Post-Gazette - Thanks for Nutting
I'd say public opinion is stacked against Pittsburgh owner Bob Nutting. Pittsburgh's major newspaper implores Nutting to sell his team already in the wake of rumors that Mario Lemieux has made an offer: [B]y selling the team you can finally deliver on your promise of producing a winner, and probably years ahead of schedule. You would become an overnight sensation, Pittsburgh's newest baseball hero. It's worth thinking about. (HT to Big League Stew). Meanwhile, the Astros appear to be off the table. - D.C. Sports Bog - Adam Dunn on 1B, MMA
Entertaining copy as always from my favorite ex-Red. Dunn admits to being a chatterbox at times when playing first: "Depends who it is," he said. "I've got my buddies, and we've got a lot of things to talk about. Other people, I have no idea what to talk about. For instance, say Brian McCann was over there, I would probably make some sort of fat joke, something like that. I would talk to David Wright about how he can't hit homers any more. It depends." Also, Nyjer Morgan calls Dunn "Freddie Physical." (HT to Big League Stew)
227 comments | 1 recs |
RR Community Prospect Rankings: This kid is a Hellflower
by nycredsfan on Feb 5, 2010 7:00 AM EST
in Community Prospect Rankings
83 comments
Josh "Hellflower" Fellhauer (hat tip to BK for the nickname) is #24. I'm glad he finally made the list, because I think he's going to be legit. He should start the year in Lynchburg at the Reds new A+ affiliate team. Why am I telling you this? Because I'm super excited that Reds prospects will be out of the offensive abyss that is Sarasota, Florida. Hopefully he can have a positive year and move his way up this list.
Ok, kids, this is our last prospect of 2010! Surely there's someone left that you feel deserves to be on this list, so vote for them. But more importantly, tell us why we should vote for them too!
83 comments | 0 recs |
Fantasy Camp Update: Pitching Ain't So Hard, As Long As You Wear A Cup
by Slyde on Feb 4, 2010 11:05 PM EST
in Reds Fantasy Camp
51 comments
The final day of games began with me ruing the decision to participate in this camp at all. I woke this morning lacking energy or motivation to go through with another double-header, and the only thing that didn't hurt on me was my left arm, which I really don't use. We got to the park and immediately hit the hot tub to loosen up, and the day started to get a little bit better.
Our morning games start about 10 AM, and typically the weather has been a little bit chilly every morning - say 55 degrees or so - so it's important to get stretched out as much as possible. I really only have two places that I've hurt - my ankle, which is purple and my groin which was slightly strained - but I ache all over. So, I spent part of the morning before the game in the trainer's room with 10-15 of my closest friends getting taped up around my ankle. Then I spent the remaining time stretching my legs in every direction possible. By about 10:15, I actually felt reasonably comfortable. I couldn't run, but it didn't hurt to just stand there.
We were the 6th seed in the playoffs, or the 2nd seed in the consolation bracket, so we got to be the home team in our first game. We took on Tom Browning and Kent Mercker's team, who we had beat yesterday 2-0 as our pitcher threw a 1-hitter and hit a triple to spark our 2-run rally in the 7th. We started our other big gun in today's game, and he was nearly unhittable for 4 innings as we built up a 3-run lead, but he pulled himself out early because frankly the games just don't mean that much. Yesterday's star pitcher came in and was much more hittable and the other team managed to score 6 runs off of him in the final 3 innings. As has been the case with our team, we never were able to get another rally going and once we got down, we were done. The loss meant we would play for 7th place in the afternoon.
As for me, I made a tweak to my batting stance, spreading out my legs a little bit more and it made all of the difference in the world. I hit a hard ground ball to short in my first AB, but there was a runner on base and a force out was made to end the inning. In my second AB, I hit a flyball to left center (see video after the jump) and probably could have gotten a double out of it, but my legs hurt and it forced me to run like a cripple (see video after the jump). My third AB was a line drive up the middle that I got a single on. After waiting the whole week to get a hit out of the infield, I got 2 in consecutive at bats. It felt good.
51 comments | 1 recs |
Red Reposter - The Reds + Cabrera - Taveras = Smile
by Charlie Scrabbles on Feb 4, 2010 11:00 AM EST
in News
272 comments
-
What a difference, huh?
"In the last three weeks -- beginning with the surprise Jan. 11 signing of Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman through Monday's signing of veteran shortstop Orlando Cabrera and the trading away of Willy Taveras -- Reds general manager Walt Jocketty has moved Cincinnati from likely also-ran to a potential preseason sleeper. "I'm excited about it," Jocketty said on Monday. "Obviously, we've been able to do some things to improve our club that I wasn't sure we'd be in position to do. A lot of it was being patient and waiting for the market to drop to our level, I guess, where we could afford to do some things."
Throw in the Scott Rolen restructuring/extension, the Ramon Hernandez below-market contract, and the apparently savvy non-tendering of Jonny Gomes (and perhaps a subsequent re-signing?), and you got yerself one purty darned good off season. I wouldn't go so far just yet as to call the Reds a "potential preseason sleeper", but this baseball team is moving briskly in the right direction. It feels great to say that. -
Hall o' Famer Hal isn't all that excited about bringing Orlando Cabrera aboard
He reminds him too much of Alex Gonzalez. Can't say I disagree. The key difference is that Gonzo was signed for 3 years and almost $15 mil. The Reds will likely only pay Cabrera $3 mil to be a stop-gap this season. Oh, and Cabrera is Cal Ripken compared to Gonzo, at least in terms of durability. It terms of on-field play though, it's kinda hard to tell the difference between the two. -
Jay Bruce says last season was important
"The adversity I dealt with last year was pretty serious," said Bruce, who will turn 23 on April 3. "Everyone should deal with adversity, and I'm going to use it as a positive to come back this year and be the player that I know I can be."
Bruce worked out all winter and started hitting a month ago. I would have liked to see him play that month of winter ball in the DWL, but I ain't mad at 'im. -
MetsBlog has been beating the drum for the Mets to get Aaron Harang or Bronson Arroyo AND Brandon Phillips all winter
I'm not saying this particular Mets fan is delusional. The Reds DID say (what seems like years ago) that payroll was a major problem and intimated that major pieces could be dealt. But that clearly isn't happening now. It must suuuuuuck to be a Mets fan. The Reds perceived financial trouble is basically all they have to hang their hats on now. Just one more reason to send Ol' Walter a heart-felt valentine this year instead of those phony prank ones I usually send. -
Aaron Gleeman at Circling the Bases says the A's essentially made the trade
so they could pay Adam Rosales $800k a season for the next three. That's still pretty cheap for a decent utility infielder. That being said, it's an incredible deal for the Reds. I like it for the A's, but i looooove it for the Reds. Love it. -
You know, Adam Rosales' goofy, home-spun, Opiecharm is much easier to swallow from afar
Reds GM "Walt Jocketty called and said they had to make a move, and that there was a better opportunity in Oakland than there was in Cincinnati right now," (Rosales) said. "It's the first time I've ever been traded. The Reds drafted me and gave me my first opportunity to be a professional baseball player. "I had a little heartbreak feeling, but that's what baseball is, and I got a call from Billy Beane and he sounded excited to have me as part of the Oakland A's organization, so I was excited as well." I genuinely wish Rosie all the success he could hope for out By the Bay. -
The Reds are giving you a chance to win tickets to Opening Day
'course, real fans go to game 2. -
Doug Gray reviews Drew Stubbs' 2009 season
Stubbs had an up-and-down season, down in April, up in May, down in June. His 10% walk rate is good, and his 23% K-rate is acceptable if he can find a bit more pop or a few more walks. There has been a great argument going on in the Taveras Trade thread about whether Stubbs is the best option as the Reds' starting CF. If you aren't already following that, give it a look-see.
------------------------------------------- -
Just picked this up over the wire: David Coleman at Crawfish Boxes responds to an article by Houston Chronicle writer Bernardo Fallas
Fallas wonders if the Astros should go after dearly departed Willy Taveras. Coleman, on the other hand, doesn't. He does a pretty job of arguing why Taveras should never play major league baseball ever again. Damn, am I glad to be so successfully rid of him. HT to BBTF
272 comments | 0 recs
RR Community Prospect Rankings: Every time you play one off your hips, you owe me 40 situps
by BK on Feb 4, 2010 7:00 AM EST
in Community Prospect Rankings
53 comments
"Major League" references aside, Danny Dorn won yesterday's poll in a barnburner, winning over Sam LeCure who made an improbable late day run. Even though he's been on the ballot for over two weeks now, Josh Failhauer still can't catch a break.
Same candidates as yesterday (minus one), so you know by now who you're voting for.
53 comments | 0 recs |
RR Community Prospect Rankings: Lurch-ing towards the finish line
by nycredsfan on Feb 3, 2010 7:00 AM EST
in Community Prospect Rankings
4 comments
Prospect #22 is 6'7" behemoth Logan Ondrusek. Logan should start the year in AAA, and a good showing there could put him in the Reds bullpen at some point this season.
We're down to our final 3 prospect spots. There are a number of deserving candidates available, and some of you have been voting for the same guy for a while. Speak up in the comments and tell us why your guy deserves a spot on the list!
4 comments | 0 recs |
Fantasy Camp Update: It's Almost Playoff Time
by Slyde on Feb 3, 2010 12:14 AM EST
in Reds Fantasy Camp
59 comments
We are through 3 days of camp and 4 of the 8 teams have a 2-3 record. Unfortunately, one of those team is the Toyota Recalls - my team. After losing our first game on Sunday, we went 1-1 on Monday and split another double-header on Tuesday. The two losses on Monday and Tuesday were fairly disgusting - Tuesday we lost the morning game by 2 touchdowns.
The big win came Tuesday afternoon when we beat the previously unbeaten team managed by Bill Hatcher and Ted Power. To say that Hatcher was pissed would be an understatement. Even as a coach at Fantasy Camp, he sure doesn't like losing. He was cursing up a storm and bitching and moaning for a good hour after the game. But the fact was, he was owned by our pitcher - a 47-year old banker from Houston - who threw a complete game, striking out 6 and inducing 8 ground balls back to the pitcher. It was probably the most boring game to play the field, well, ever. It was still a beautiful win.
The morning game on Tuesday started out well. My brother Tim was the starting pitcher and we jumped out to a 4-1 lead. Our opponents - managed by Pete Harnisch and Joe Price - battled back and took a 7-4 lead. Then we got to the 6th inning and the wheels fell off. A hit batsman, a walk, and a string of hits - including an inside the park home run - turned a tight game into a major blowout. It got so bad that one of our coaches, Joe Oliver, had to finish off the inning, and even he surrendered a run. We took our lumps, but that happens sometimes. The shame of the whole thing was that it was the only win so far by Harnisch's team.
59 comments | 1 recs |
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