I missed the end of the 2nd Royals loss. I went to The Land of the Lost w/my 11yr old grandson…He liked it, (B-)– I thought it was the worst Will Farrell flick yet…BUT on the way home we Listened to WLW and Doc Rogers and Doc was sounding like an honorary member of RR. He was firmly and loudly (as loud as Doc gets) calling for:;

1, Dickerson as the everyday CF – Doc says he’s earned it, Wily Taverus was a mistake…sit him..let him come off the bench…Doc was talking OBP, BA and defense, says C-Dick is the better all around player.

2. Jannish to be given a fair chance play 3B. Said that 46 PAs weren’t enough to think that PJ has earned a job, but he should at least be getting looked at because Pete (that’s what he kept calling him) Rosales is a back up player who has peaked.

3. Jerry Hairston Jr. to be in the line up the majority of the time – although Doc doesn’t see Cherry as a full time player…he’s a fan of Cherry’s versatility and finds value in his experience as a long time MLB player. He doesn’t understand why Cherry wasn’t used in the last two games. He wants Dusty to use him to give Bruce a day off, BP, a day off, Gonzo a day off..He was saying that Jerry Jr. while not a starter, can be a spark that ignites the offense and that right now it is crucial to get this offense going.

He also seemed annoyed that the Reds haven’t been more forth coming about Joey Votto’s circumstances – although at the same time he was extremely supportive Joey’s situation. I usually find Doc kind of a ‘play the game the right way’ kind of guy who is pretty loyal to and supportive of Dusty and Walt. However, tonight he was sounding the alarm, "the Reds have to start winning or they are quickly going to find themselves 6 or 7 games back and out of contention" (my paraphrasing). Doc was sticking to his guns when the typical know-it-all Lance McCallister clones started called and bashing Dusty for stupid reason, and bashing Hairston ect. If a pretty conservative baseball guy like Doc is pushing for immediate change, maybe he it could influence Walt or Bob to step in and ask Dusty to shake up the line up and batting order.

Maybe Slyde , BK or Chuck or someone in power - jch (?) should call Doc and confer an honorary RR membership upon him....Well  at least present him with a Red Reporter Star of The Game status when Jannis, Jerry, and C-Dick all get a simultaneous start. This is stuff that we’ve talked and written about a lot recently, but Doc hits it on the head when he says that it is crucial that these changes be immediately implemented.

BTW Doc also believes that the red's pitching is plenty good enough to contend...just need some offense and we could be in the hunt until the fall.