The 2021 Cincinnati Reds are officially kaput

It was a run for the 2021 Cincinnati Reds. Not a great run, and not even a particularly good run, but it was nevertheless a run.

That run officially came to an end on Tuesday night on the south side of Chicago, as the Reds watched as the St. Louis Cardinals won a game that mathematically eliminated them from any chance of winning their way into the ‘win and your in’ half-assed definition of being ‘a playoff team.’

They’re also on the verge of losing the White Sox, for the record, a loss that would also had eliminated them had Central Standard Time not postponed the inevitable.

There was a time when this roster looked poised to be special. There was a time when the concept of it turning into even a reasonably successful season was still on the table despite stumbles and fumbles. There was a time I could put it out of my mind, leave it all behind...there was a time, that time is gone.

We’ll be irrationally enthusiastic about the 2022 Cincinnati Reds at a future date, I’m sure. For now, we’re just going to sulk at yet another year of futile Redsness.