Red Reposter - 8/24/09

That was one bastard of a weekend.  My car left me stranded 70 miles from Buffalo, which is also 70 miles from anywhere else of note.  And this is the 5th time something has gone wrong with it in the last 6 months.  And then everyone I like on the Reds team gets hurt.  I've moved on from anger to sadness.  On a completely unrelated note, is anyone interested in buying an '02 Ford Focus wagon?  It's really reliable cute!

• The big news from the weekend is that Aaron Harang had emergency surgery
  to remove his appendix. He's done for the rest of the season. Thus ends another disappointing year for the Harangutan, who finishes with a 6-14 record despite his solid 4.21 ERA. Alls I can do is hang my head.

• More injuries
  Chris Dickerson sprained his ankle in the 3rd inning trying to get back to 1st on a pickoff attempt. I wouldnt recommend watching the video. It's not all that gruesome, but it hurts. Also, Ryan Hanigan got a mild concussion with a foul tip hit him in the mask. Dickerson will likely hit the DL again and Hanigan is listed as day-to-day.

• Erik at Redlegs Rundown predicts two things that will happen with the Reds in the near future
  He gives his reasons, but basically he sees the Reds trading both Yonder Alonso and Brandon Phillips. I dont know if he means this off-season or within the next few years, but they will happen.

• The Nationals gave bloggers their own suite for a day
  and they got to interview the manager while they gave their mom's a day off from making grilled cheese sandwiches. I wonder if the Reds noticed.

• The Fay has a few words to say about the prospect of bringing up prospects
  It's short, but it reminds me of why I believed in Edwin Encarnacion for so long.

• THT concludes their list of biggest 2nd half busts
  and our dear departed friend and inspiration Adam Dunn represents at #5 for his epic fail in 2002. Here's the snippet:

• Imagine Adam Dunn as not only a 40 HR, .400+ OBP guy but also a .300 hitter and a .450+ OBP guy. Yikes. Well, that’s how Dunn started the 2002 campaign. In 2001 Dunn had come up for the second half of the season and had gone an impressive .262/.371/.578 with 19 home runs and 43 RBIs in just 66 games. He was off to a hot start in ’02 and, while still striking out 100 times by the break, he clearly had a good eye, excellent power and was a run producer. The Reds were 46-41 and two games out at the break. Cinci slumped out of the break, finishing 9-10 in the rest of July but still just five back. Dunn’s production slowed but he still was at a respectable .258/.427/.532 with four home runs and eight RBIs during this stretch. Both the Reds and Dunn would disappear in August and, shockingly, even more so in September. The Reds stalled to an 11-18 August dropping out of the race 10 games back. Dunn would screech to a .160/.305/.283, three home run, six RBI month. They would play out the string in September, going, 12-15 while Dunn absolutely blew up hitting .179/.310/.274 with one home run and three RBIs. In the second half of the year Dunn only drove in seven runs that were not by a home run and he had only one multi-RBI game (he drove in two with a HR). There is an element of unfairness in expecting essentially a rookie to man the no. 3 and no. 4 spot for a playoff drive in the dog days of August. However, Dunn’s complete reversal from earlier in the year and utter lack of production from two key run-producing spots sends him high up on this list.