This series with the Nationals featured play-by-play man Bob Patterson and color analyst F.P. Santangelo, whose successful campaign to reestablish sideburns in the mid-nineties overshadowed his career between the chalk lines.

via lasordaslair.com

The interesting nuggets from the visitor's feed this week include local pizza places being cheap rat bastards, remarkable relief domination by some no-good immigrant, and Davey Johnson being accused of masturbatory efforts during a classic children's game.

This post is sponsored by Bayer™, the Wonder Drug That Works Wonders. (If anyone just got that inside joke, you win a complimentary upgrade voucher from small to medium at Hot Dog on a Schtick.)

Continue reading this post »

With the MLB 2012 Draft coming up June 4-6, let’s take a look at some players Cincinnati might consider selecting with the 14th overall pick. We’ll start with Texas A&M RHP Michael Wacha, whom Baseball America has slated to go to the Reds in its first mock draft.

Wacha has a Reds connection, as he is Dusty’s nephew. Dusty Rogers, that is. Rogers was Cincinnati’s first-round pick in the defunct January phase of the draft in 1984. Rogers, a LHP, played four seasons, topping out in Low-A ball. Wacha figures to go a lot further than that.

The 6-foot-6, 200-pound junior right-hander from Iowa City, Iowa, is 8-0 with a 2.14 earned run average this season. In 13 games, all starts, Wacha has thrown 92 innings, striking out 95, walking 16 and allowing 76 hits. Opponents hit .226. Wacha has two shutouts, including an effort against Pepperdine in which a ninth-inning error followed by an infield hit were all that stood between him and a perfect game.

Continue reading this post »

When Leake's last start was skipped, I was curious. I understood the need for Cueto to face Greinke, but after that, Leake would be facing opposing #2 pitchers. Since Leake has been the least effective starter this year and is the only innefective starter with options, is it too far-fetched to think that Chapman will eventually replace Leake in the #2 spot? Could this be the first step in the process of making Chapman a starter? He did pitch two innings his last time out. Was that the first step?

Look, I love Scott Rolen. I love what he meant to the team in '10. I love his impact in the clubhouse. What I don't love is that he came back to play this year when he should have retired.

He was a liability last year (when not on the DL) and he's worse this year.

Continue reading this post »

Cincinnati will select 14th in the 2012 MLB Draft next month, the fifth time the Reds have made a choice from that slot. So far, they're batting .250. That one hit, though, was a grand slam. In 1969, Cincinnati selected McKell (Ky.) High School LHP Don Gullett 14th overall.

Gullett is the best pitcher ever selected in the history of the No. 14 slot, edging Scott McGregor. Gullett won three World Series rings, two with the Reds, and went 109-50 with a 3.11 ERA in an injury shortened nine-year career.

Cincinnati's other three picks at No. 14 were less impressive. In 1997, the Reds passed on Lance Berkman, Jayson Werth and Adam Kennedy to select LSU shortstop Brandon Larson. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but Larson posted a line of 8-37-.179 for his career. In 1999, the year Josh Hamilton was the No. 1 overall pick by Tampa Bay, the Reds went with at No. 14 Hudson's Bay (Wash.) High School RHP Ty Howington, who never reached the big leagues. Pitching-starved Cincinnati opted for Howington over OF Alex Rios. Interestingly, the Howington pick broke a string of 12 straight No. 14s to reach the majors and began a three-year run of players who never got out of the minors.

Continue reading this post »

Let's just have a thread and talk about the greatest television shows of all time. I'll make my list here, which only includes shows I've seen. Any genre counts. I put weight on shows that have been over long enough to marinate on them.

1. The Sopranos. I don't think I'll ever see a better TV show. It's greatest appeal, to me, is it's vastly underrated as a comedy. It's hilarious just about every episode.

2. Roseanne. This one will get a lot of blowback, but this show gathered some of the greatest TV writers of all-time and dealt with lower-middle-class life better than probably anything ever. Dan is the best. I can't even count the number of times this show has made me cry. I think it's easily the most underrated show ever.

3. Breaking Bad.

4. Andy Griffith Show. The problem with a lot of the older shows is they're not edgy and rarely brought raw emotion or difficult issues into play. Andy did actually do this quite a bit.

5. All in the Family. The best show at doing what I just described above.

6. Arrested Development.

7. Cheers. Great long run. Sems like anything that could happen on a show happened on this show.

8. Everybody Loves Raymond.

9. Seinfeld. Didn't get into this as much as most, but I thought it was pretty great.

10. The Cleveland Show. Ha. Right.

I've probably forgotten a ton and this probably isn't even the real list, but it's a place to start.

A couple weeks ago The Rain Delays were discussing who would be regarded as the best american film director....according to you. Not the hip choice or the critc's darling, but who is your favorite director of American films? We received lots of differing opinions (shocker!).

I'm nominating Martin Scorcese. I'm a huge fan of Goodfellas. It's almost the perfect film in my eyes, just tremendous. Shutter Island was amazing, as was The Departed. I found The Aviator to be very interesting. The Gangs of New York also. (does Marty work with anyone else other than DiCaprio?)

Casio was solid, if a tad too long. Cape Fear is underrate, a tremendous performance by Bobby De
Niro. The Color of Money finally earned my favorite actor his first Academy Award. Raging Bull...Taxi Driver...Mean Streets.

That's 11 top notch flicks by my count. I know some can argue the merits of films that would rank toward the bottom of those eleven, but i find them all strong films.

I'll put a list below for those i think warrant top director consideration. Its my list and i'm sticking to it! Now, i'd love to hear your opinion about your favorite director, who is it and why?

As the 2012 MLB Draft approaches, we eagerly anticipate scouting reports on players the Reds might select. Have you, however, wondered what scouts thought about some players currently on Cincinnati’s roster?

Here’s a look at some reports on three players compiled from various sources. To add to the overwhelming titillating suspense, the name of the player will be at the end of his report:

1. Possessing a large, strong frame, his body type is similar to that of Darren Fletcher. He has a fluid uppercut swing and is an aggressive hitter who attacks the ball. He has starred against older competition. Defensively, he blocks the plate and catches the ball well. Ranked by Baseball America as the 44th-best prospect in available, he has a strong, loose arm and a good throwing action. At 18 he is an impressive physical specimen and hard worker, he could be a starter on the Olympic team. Able to dunk a basketball, he is the point guard on his team. He has worked with major leaguers Pete Orr and John Suomi to improve his game. – The player? Joey Votto.

Continue reading this post »

Set to the tune of "Getting Rid of Britta" (italics in your best Pierce voice)

Verse 1:

Saying goodbye to Willie
was not a hard thing to do
'cause when someone's 3 for 34
we'd rather have Jason LaRue

Chorus:

The Reds got rid of Willie (he had to go)
They made room for the T (he's the Toddfather)

The Reds got rid of Willie
They made room for the T (he's the GDT)

Verse 2:

I didn't know when I saw him pinch hit
That he could ever be that bad
Oh so tiny and small, he seemed to have it all
But he made me say Walt "Crap! That ain't cool..."

Chorus:

The Reds got rid of Willie
They made room for the T (he's the Toddfather)

The Reds got rid of Willie (he had to go)
They made room for the T (he's the GDT)

Verse:

It isn't like he could ever hit here
But I would trade him for the lowest minor leaguer
He bummed us out...he blues our souls
He flied out to short and left us less than whole

Chorus:

The Reds got rid of Willie
They made room for the T (he's the Toddfather)

The Reds got rid of Willie (he had to go)
They made room for the T (he's the GDT)

Our recent Cubs series provided our Opponent's Feed™ archives with some tasty info on the Reds that you may have missed if you were sequestered in Brenneland™ (a fully-owned subsidiary of Condescension Enterprises). These include another media lunchroom story, insight into Votto's current batting adjustments, and a pretty badass tattoo.

via www.chicagotribune.com

Continue reading this post »