The always lovely Mrs. M and I attended last night’s Red’s baseball game vs. the Brewers.  Although Milwaukee is in collapse mode, the Red’s young guns were  exhilarating to say the least.  J. Votto and J. Bruce is as exciting a pair of young players in my memory. I remember great former Red’s #3 and #4 hitters like: Vada Pinson and Frank Robinson, Joe Morgan and George Foster, Johnny Bench and Tony Perez  …Bruce and Votto, (barring injury) are poised to contend with these greats amd can potentially exceed them. Joey Votto looks like a 30 – 35 HRs/ 90 RBI a year hitter and Jay Bruce – The sky is the limit, when he’s really gets going he will one great player.  I remember seeing and FEELING Josh Hamilton at GABP last year. At the plate he emanated a visceral personal power and confidence. Tonight I ‘felt’ the same kind of special qualities almost radiate from both Bruce and Votto.  

I am aware that it easy to play better when there is little on the line.

The Reds have been playing against teams who have/had a lot on the line: St Louis, Arizona and the Brewers and beating them with young but highly talented and intense players. Ryan Hannigan is fun to watch..he’s really into every pitch and he has taken control on the field. What a killer group of young players we have!

Votto–1b, B Phillips 2b, Edwin Encarnacion 3b, Jay Bruce–RF, Ryan Hannigan–C

Chris Dickerson – CF, Johnny Cueto P, Edinson Valquez P, Ramon Ramirez P, Micah Owings P, Jared Burton RP

Combine these guys with veteran players – Aaron Harang, Bronson Arroyo,  Jeremy affeldt, Fracisco Cordero and David Weathers and you’ve got a very strong nucleus for 2009. Jerry Hairston Jr. continues to contribute and the Reds win a lot more games with him the lineup that without him playing. Can Alex Gonzalez make a comeback? What role will Jeff Keppinger play- will he and Hairston provide the core for a long awaited and much needed stronger bench?  And will Yonder Alonso surprise us and fight his way up to the big club sometime next year.

I can’t believe that I’m writing this but last night I saw it..the Reds are only 2 or 3 players away from being a competitor.  We could use a Mike Cameron kind of center fielder, a right handed batter who can still play great defense, hit 25 home runs, knock in 75 RBIs and bring established veteran leadership. The Reds need a decent hitting slick fielding shortstop – maybe that will be Gonzo, or it could even be Jerry Jr. for a year, he looked very comfortable there tonight. We need a strong back up catcher, maybe its Bako but he doesn’t inspire confidence offensively although he’d be a left handed hitter off the bench. I could see a team with a line up like this:

Chris Dickerson LF

FA (Mike Cameron style) CF

Bruce  RF

Votto 1B

EdE 3B

BP 2B

Gonzo SS

Hannigan C.

SP Rotation

Harang

Volquez

Ramirez

Arroyo

Cueto

BullPen

Weathers

Burton

Affeldt – I think they can sign him

Gary Majewski

Josh Roenicke

Bill Bray

Micah Owings P/PH

Bench

Kepp

Cherry

Bako/FA

Drew Stubbs

Jolbert Cabrera. – he makes sense as a veteran back up.

No Freel, no Noho, No LLM, No Corey, no Belizzle, No Merker.

Although it  won’t happen, if Yonder came of age overnight…then with Joey in leftfield…well things get even more interesting.

So what do you do with Micah Owings – Pitcher or convert him to CF?

My comments as usual not sabremetrically supported. I’ve watched some good red’s teams come together over the last 50 years and I do believe that the energy and intensity and talent that is emerging is cause for optimism for a significantly strong 2009.. This is especially in the case of the starting rotation. With continued quality starts, a decent BP and young talented hitters…well you get the picture.

Dusty appears much more comfortable with this group of players than when Griff and Donkey were here. This may be ‘his’ team. Hopefully he won’t fuck it up.

I am not a fan of Dusty Baker’s approach to field management of the Reds. But I admit that I feel for the guy to a point. I saw him on the news last night and he was almost incoherent trying to talk about the loss of Dunn and Griffey. Dusty had the look of a deer in the headlights. He appeared to have no or very little input on these moves (arguable for sure) and he now is face with playing out the season with no VP, no power hitter, his best pitcher on the fritz, a bunch of never-weres, rooks and saddled with players who on a real team would not even be bench players.

 Some of his comments:

 About Dunn:

It will be tough to replace his offense. It's even tougher to replace the man," Baker said. "I really liked Adam in the short period of time I was here.

 About Dunn’s offense:

When asked how he was going to replace Dunn’s offense Dusty was quoted in the Inquisistor:

Whew," Baker said. "You don't. …Who knows

 About Dunn and Griffey:

Things haven't been the same since Griff left," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "Anytime you lose a player or add a player, it changes the personality of the team. It changes the dynamic of the team. And when you lose two major players, it really changes the dynamics and personality of the team." (quote from today's(?) Inquisistor)

 On top of this his owner (no slave retorts, please) is still prattling about being competitive and having a winning club next year. Dustyevski may be the scapegoat yet.He, of course, was a poor fit to begin with and should have never been brought here.I'm beginning to think that Castellini is in so far over his head that he may never be able to right this ship.Meanwhile Unca Jocko and Billy Boy. could be taking Big Bob down a long losing road.

Stick a fork in them they are Dunn. The disappointment caused by injuries to key players and the incompetence of Dusty Baker is shared by all RRs everywhere. Would it have been a different season if Freel and Hopper hadn’t been hurt, if Jerry Jr. wasn’t a on and off the DL and if Keppinger hadn’t been hurt at a time when he was hitting pretty well? Who knows? Probably a little better…but the truth is that Dusty Baker has been extraordinarily awful as a manager, witness all the stupid decisions he’s made. Aaron Harang’s ‘injury’ is most likely Dusty based. However, that being said, this team is just not very good. When your best average on the daily starting team is Votto’s .281 and you’re forced to play Corey Patterson because there is no other outfielder available to play CF. When the leaders of almost all of the offense categories are 2 players, BP and Dunn and the leader in most of the pitching categories is 1 pitcher, Volquez, then it becomes apparent that this team is not getting enough from all of its everyday players and  has an absolutely abysmal  bench’ The bullpen has been acceptable, but like last year overworked. Only Volquez and to a lesser degree Arroyo (and to a lesser degree yet Cueto) go to the mound with a strong chance of winning (Recently Volquez is faltering). So what’s new, we all know this right? I think that the Reds must make some changes in the offensive makeup of the team. The pitching is not great but there is hope on the horizon – Harang bouncing back, Arroyo remaining consistent, Voltron and Jonny C have a year under their belts. Homer is the only unkown – he’s 50/50 in my estimation as to whether he’s going to get it together. The Red’s must part ways with Fogg, Affeldt and Weathers.  The offense must be improved significantly. Dunn must be signed. Period. The bench players must be upgraded. Goodbye to Patterson, Valentin, Andy Phillips, Freel, Cabrera and either Keppinger or Hairston. 

Jocketty needs to be finding a strong everyday CF, a shortstop that can field and hit (not one or the other, maybe Gonzo will return from the dead (doubtful) and a good hitting catcher (I’d be happy with Ross, but his rep is not great for calling a game). The 2009 Reds other challenge is fixing the bench. There is NO pop off this year’s bench. We must have on our bench, an acceptable RH hitter who also play outfield or 1st base. We only need one utility guy (I prefer Kepp he doesn’t get hurt all the time like Freel and Jerry Jr.) . Last but not least, we need a fifth starter (could be Homer?). We also desperately need a manger. We need one who utilizes the right information, who can run a tight, strategically well thought out game and one who doesn’t complain “This isn’t my and Walt’s team’ –this is Wayne Krivsky’s team”. What a tool. The chances of this happening could be better than we think as the Reds flail their way down to being 17 games out and in last place this has got piss Bob off royally.

So what do you think should be done, how and with which players?

I just returned home from the soon to be Oscar nominated HELLBOY II -An Extraordinary film, somewhat sentimentally indulgent yet still a probing and multifaceted look at how today’s societal woes can be easily overcome by a pair of star crossed lovers and gay-fishmanthingy…along with a leftover from Voyaqe to the Bottom of the Sea!

I missed tonight’s game but was excited by the win. I was amazed however to hear Doc Rogers on the post game show (on WLW) give the credit for the last 2 wins almost completely to Dusty.He said that = “This Red’s team is now ‘Dusty’s Team’ and “they are finally beginning to play like it”. (My paraphrasing); However, I am much more inclined to agree with Kent Merker’s comments the other day when he suggested that the Reds have everything they need to win and compete in their division. that they just need to continue play together, in a consistent lineup and that with consistency and time will come dramatic improvement y. Dusty is probably a good man, a fair manager and a good ‘teammate’ But he doesn’t have the capacity to change his MO or to best use the players that he has. One only has to look at how Adam Dunn is utilized. Merker is high on the young talent – Bailey, Votto, Cueto, Voltron and Bruce being blended with Veteran players like Griffey, Arroyo, Weathers, Keppinger, BP and Dunn to creat a very competitive team. Although I don’t like all of those players, I think that he is a lot closer to knowing how to put together a team and make it productive than Dustbag Bakedbrains is. Sadly, I know that Dusty’s going to get the credit if the Reds win and Dunn et al with get the blame if they end up on the dump again. Boy it is just too frustrating to hear this shit even on a winning night.

My Indian name is "Runs For Beer'

by Madville on Jul 20, 2008 12:22 AM EDT

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AnVMcsemJD7lz5wBqj_wcg0W0bYF?slug=txredsmoves&prov=st&type=lgns

The Reds have DL'd another important cog in the machine as Jared Burton has been placed on the 15 day disabled list retroactive to July 11. I was at the game last night and Burton warmed up but not used. He appeared tp be throwing without discomfort and I can only surmise that he had a negative reaction to getting ready, after the game was over and was therefore Dl'd. I also don't know how much blame (if any)  to put on Dickpolehead and Dustbrains. Athough my kneejerk reaction is that if a pitcher's having physical problems, somewhere in the mix is Dusty Baker. Without Burton the team is forced to rely on Stormy Graves back as the set up. He's actually been pretty decent recently, here's hoping he'll keep it together until Burton is reinstated.

The more I see this team struggle offensively, the more I wonder why Chris Chambliss is no longer the hitting coach. The more I see  Aaron Harang struggle, the more I wonder why Dick Polehead is still the pitching coach. I am reasonably convinced that strong direction from either areas of coaching could engender positive results from the offense and pitching. Yet the present coaching staff seems at best inert. With, of course, the exception of the little gnome guy, Chris Squires who has won both of his games when called upon to run the team. I agree with Kent Murker - This team has all the components to win. Once again I turn to the manager and his coaching staff and ask - what have they done over the course of the season to improve this team's individual performance? The Answer - not much. This series with the Cubs is vitally important. Yet again the Team plays like they're on downers - Quaalude's -  Soapers - Heroin....maybe even BEER! I I totally believe that at least 9 - 12 games this season have been lost by the manager and his staff. And - Where is the Veteran  leadership ?...cause it sure isn't coming from Dusty Baker and crew. I just hate to see this season lost to incompetence and 'right way' bullshit. AAARRRGGGHHHH

The 2nd half is under way for the 2008 season. the Reds win a roadtrip and are 1 and 1 at home.With July upon us and the All Star game soon to be played, what changes do you think Walt Jocketty will make? How do you evaluate the the roster?

Jerry Jr - nice job, a keeper                                                                                               Dunn - another excellent season in the making                                                Keppinger- the guy can hit and plays solid defense, if limited                                 Griffey - A defensive liability and not a #3 hitter any more                                            Brandon Phillips - SS of the future? An interesting hitter but not at cleanup           Joey Votto - maturing nicley, both offensively and defensivley                               J.Bruce - a few bumps in the road, but a star in the making                                       David Ross - heading back to 06 form?                                                                         Bako - nice surprise and a good #2                                                                              Edwin E.- When will he emerge as a RH hitting force?                                             

Plus - Hopper, Freel, and CoPat - who goes who stays?                                           What about - Old man Weathers and Majewski?

I like the starting rotation if Bronson can keep his mechanics together and the bullpen has solid performers in coco, Bill Bray, Burton and Affeldt.

So if you are Walt Jocketty what do you do? Who do you move, and who do you keep?

This is Madville Harvey - good Day!

I've been a really big fan of Adam Dunn ever since he was in Dayton. he's my grandson's favorite player and my 98 year old Mother thinks he's sexy. As we know this guy has gotten very little love from Cincinnati. Now Mr. Bacardi, GM from the Toronto Jays has been dissing him...(Someone asked Dunn if he would give Ricciardi a hug on the field if he saw him."A bear hug," Dunn joked. "I have other things to worry about than that dude.")

Dunn is in a horrible slump: Over his past 17 games, Dunn was batting .111 (6-for-54), while his overall batting average dipped from .254 to .220. He has an over .800 OPS but has been so inconsistent that I think that he should actually be dropped in the line up to 7th. Although his BA is only.188 his OPS is over 1.000 when batting 7th (5 games, small sample size).  This is an option year  and Dunn should be having a career year, and well I guess actually he is...what I'm suggesting is that we stop looking at Adam as 'The Man' and just let him play. We can get more productivity from Votto and EdE by moving themup in the order. I'd love to see a line up something like this:

Kepp SS                                                                                                                                     Bruce CF                                                                                                                                    EdE  3b                                                                                                                                   Votto 1B                                                                                                                                     BP 2B                                                                                                                                              GriffeyRF                                                                                                                                                       Dunn LF                                                                                                                                     weak hitting catcher                                                                                                               Pitcher

I would like to see the young guys getting more PAs as this year is over as far as play off contention is concerned. Dunn is going be good for 40 dingers and 90 RBIs no matter where he is in the line up.Let Dunn and Old Man Griffey bring up the rear and see if the young guys can manufacturer some runs.

AND if the Reds are set on letting these younger players build a nucleus  for 2009, maybe, (just maybe) it is time to think about letting Dunn go. That is if anyone wants a guy who has no passion for the game, is lazy and strikes out a lot.