Red Reposter's Deep Fly Ball Thoughts - 4.5 - Number of games the Reds have made up in the standings over the last week. After the sweep at the hands of the Cardinals, the Reds sat 1 game back. Since then, they have swept both the Marlins and the Diamondbacks to win 6 straight, while the Cardinals went 1-4 against the Cubs and Brewers.
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After that embarrssing sweep at the hands of the Cardinals
Dusty Baker huddled his team up and gave them a moving, inspirational speech. Or maybe he just clunked their heads together like the Stooges. "Move on" was pretty much all he said, and now it's like that series never happened. A pair o' sweeps later and the Reds are 3.5 games up on those same Cardinals.
After lasts night's charming of the snakes, Ramon Hernandez sat at his locker, furiously punching the keys of his Inspirational Motivational High-Pollutional Metaphorical Phraser Baby 2099, and this is what it came up with: "We're all grown men. You have to be able to clean up and come back. As a team, you have to put something like that in the past. That shows how close this team is. We win together and we lose together. Nobody points fingers. It's the little pieces that make a big building." Worst $29.99 he's ever spent. -
To make room for Travis Wood, the Reds sent Carlos Fisher down to Louisville
It came down to Fish or Mike Leake. Dusty says one of the deciding factors is Leake's bat. "Leake has done so well for us," Dusty Baker said. "Fisher will be back up in September. . . Leake can be excellent in that situation (long relief). He warms up quickly. Out of the bullpen, you want a guy who throws strikes. He does that. If I have to leave him in there, I don’t have to pinch-hit for him." Leake is hitting .356, which is 2nd in the league among pitchers with more than 50 PAs. Dan Haren, now of the AL Angels of Anaheim California USA Earth, leads the league in absentia. -
The toughest part about Fish's demotion is that he won't be going home to see his family
"He's from L.A.," Baker said. "We're going to L.A. It's our only trip to L.A. Tough part is, he's got to tell his family that he's not coming. It's part of the game." Dusty then kicked Fish's dog, drowned his goldfish, and then lit one of his toothpicks on fire and put it out on Fish's forehead. Expect Fisher to be back with the Reds when rosters expand in September, as long as he isn't an emotional train wreck. -
Tom Verducci spoke to "one GM" who says the Reds are going to make the playoffs
"The wild card is coming out of the Central," the GM said. "They have a huge advantage with the schedule down the stretch." Of course, that means the Cardinals will make it too. I don't know about you, but I actually want to see the Cardinals make the playoffs. Who would you rather play in the NLCS, if you had your druthers? The Giants? The Padres? The Braves or Phillies? I want the Cardinals. Oh, and some jerk might go to jail for lying to Congress about steroids.
while Dusty spent time in the brig last week serving his suspension
he got to take in the games with top pick Yasmani Grandal. "He seemed strong physically. A well-mannered, well-schooled young man," said Baker, giving his impression of the 21-year-old catcher. "But I had trouble getting him to talk." Baker may not be here when Grandal makes it to town though. Word 'round the internet is that Baker could be an attractive commodity this offseason, what with his success rebuilding the Reds into a title contender. As many as 10 teams could be looking for a new leader this winter, and Dusty has put himself in a position to choose. This could get really interesting.
The Fayplacement sez many of the Reds players this year are performing better than their ball cards
He uses batting average and ERA to prove his point, but it's still a valid one. Not a single one of us at the beginning of the season thought this team had what it took to be sitting in 1st place (with some daylight) this late in the season, and that is precisely because so many of these guys are playing better than expected.
Reds get permission from MLB to remember the 11th of September
But it will likely happen on the 12th because Petey will be at the casino all weekend. The 25th anniversary of Pete Rose breaking Ty Cobb's all-time hits record will be the first time Pete will be permitted to participate in anything involved in MLB in an official capacity since his ban. I don't want to speak for anyone else, but I get the sense that 20-something Reds fans like myself couldn't care any less about Pete Rose. I never saw him play and I was fresh out of diapers when he was caught gambling, so I have no memories of him as anything more than a used-up has-been hawking signatures for $15 a pop at local monster truck rallies. I get the sense that this celebration is going to get awkward.
A collective burst of laughter erupted from Cincinnati yesterday
So powerful was this phenomenon that it actually disrupted weather patterns across the mid-Ohio valley late yesterday and into the evening. Meteorologists were puzzled at first, fearing it some kind global warming anomaly or worse, a terrorist attack. Fears were allayed though as the true cause was soon discovered:
"By adding (Pedro) Feliz to the roster, the St. Louis Cardinals have simply made themselves worse. He doesn’t appear to be a capable defensive replacement. What little bat he once had has completely evaporated. Feliz may be the worst player in baseball who has received playing time with any sort of regularity. There’s a chance that Feliz reaches some sort of respectability in St. Louis much as there is a chance of any baseball player having a good month, but that certainly doesn’t mean that we should expect it. The Cardinals job of catching the Reds is at least as hard as it was at this time yesterday. The addition of Feliz may have made it harder."
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Baseball America has released their list of the best tools in the league
A few Reds appear on the various top-3's, with Joey Votto's strong 2nd place showing in the "Best Hitter" category the coup de grace. Brandon Phillips was selected the best defensive 2B in the NL, Scott Rolen is listed as the 2nd best 3B, and Jay Bruce the 2nd best arm in the outfield. And they didn't even mention our stable of great young pitchers. Heh.