Red Reposter - 9/4/09

RJ at FanGraphs continues his look at The Machine
by breaking down the pitching staff today. Just as the offense led the league in walks by a wide margin, the pitching staff was the best at being stingy with the free pass. Wouldnt it be nice if we had a manager that did things The Machine Way rather than the Dodger Way?

Shysterball has a really touching tribute to Ernie Harwell
the long-time Tigers announcer has revealed that he has incurable bile-duct cancer. It doesnt seem like he expects to see next season. By all accounts, Harwell has been one of the true paragons of baseball broadcasting.

Dusty has Micah Owings talking to Brooks Kieschnick about being a reliever and a pinch hitter
As I recall, Kieschnick wasnt all that great as a pitcher or a pinch-hitter, but whatever.

Now that the Reds have finally conceded the season, youngsters like Drew Stubbs, Homer Bailey, and Paul Janish are getting more playing time
"We’re just trying to keep everything on a positive note, keep winning as many games as we can," general manager Walt Jocketty said. "It’s an opportunity to see a lot of our younger players, like (Paul) Janish and Stubbs, to see what they can do. So far they’ve all responded well." I think this should have started a long time ago, and I'd like to see Wladimir Balentien get to play everyday, but it is fun to see these young guys finally getting a chance. And winning, that's nice too.

ESPN looks at the worst all-time "train wrecks" in baseball history
and the '82 Reds, the only 100-loss team in franchise history, make the list. Good thing those days are long gone, huh?

Chris Sabo's Goggles says he hasnt seen a Reds game all season
and likely wont. I agree with the sentiment. I've only been to one (epic) game so far this season and I likely would not have gone to any had it not been a special occasion. The declining attendance is going to continue until the team puts a contender on the field, and I'm afraid they wont fund a contender on the excuse that they dont have the money to do it because people arent coming out to watch.