Winker Amazingly Avoids Tag

In the Reds' 7-1 win over the Brewers last night, Jesse Winker pulled what's been called a Matrix move to elude the tag at third to record a triple. Pretty amazing.



But more than the Matrix diversionary moves, Winker's hurdle over the third baseman reminds me of the hurdling of Chris "Beanie" Wells, the Ohio State running back, during the 2008 season.





But, back to baseball, a cleaner jump for a score was turned in by the Toronto Blue Jays' Chris Coghlan back in 2017.


All pretty amazing stuff!

Reds Ascending!

I didn't see the game today, but what a win! After dropping the first two in the weekend series against the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers, the Reds win big. The highlight, of course, was a grand slam by pitcher Michael Lorenzen, the second such homer in two weeks by a Reds pitcher. (Anthony DeSclafani did it last week, becoming the first Reds player to hit a slam since the 1950s!)

June could be called "Reds Ascending." They finish the month at 14-11, the first month of the season in which they've recorded a winning record. Reds batters hit .281, leading the majors. 

The key in recent weeks, apart from the hitting, has been the fact that starting pitching has begun to take hold. Starters are staying in games longer, taking the load off of our excellent bullpen.

I'm excited to see what July brings. If the Reds can win tomorrow's game, they'll split the weekend series. I'd take that, for sure.

It's been two years since I've been to a game in Cincy. I hope to find some time to make it to Great American Ball Park before the season ends. Go, Reds!

[I'm the pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]

Cincinnati Woo-ing...Still Not As Annoying As the Vuvuzela

The Cincinnati Reds fan who started the Woo thing at Great American Ball Park (GABP) seems like a great guy and is certainly loyal.

But Cincinnati Enquirer sports columnist Paul Daugherty has a good--if overstated--point about how annoying all the woo-ing has become. Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon talked about it on Pardon the Interruption on ESPN.

Daugherty even thinks that GABP ushers should be instructed to give woo-ers a warning, then eject those who continue to annoy other fans with their impressions of Ric Flair. (Or is it Little Richard?)

Meanwhile, woo-ing fans or no, the Reds enter tonight's game against the San Francisco Giants one game out of first in the National League Central Division.

This is a rebuilding year for the Reds. But the way this young team is playing, featuring a surprisingly potent offense and terrific pitching out of the bullpen, the future is looking bright in Cincinnati. Woo!

PS: It can get annoying when overdone, but the woo-ing still isn't as nerve-grating as the vuvuzela.

[Blogger Mark Daniels is pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]

As season winds down, Brandon Phillips' days as a Red may be numbered

The player who may be remembered as the second-best second baseman in Cincinnati Reds history--after Joe Morgan--seems likely to be traded during the off-season. Since he has the right to veto any trade, it's likely, based on remarks he makes in the linked article, that he'll only go to a contender. I will hate to see Phillips go; he's one of my all time favorites.

Eugenio Suarez touches them all!

I was overeating today at Tank's Bar and Grill, when I saw this bomb by Eugenio Suarez of the Reds. He hit the ball pretty good, as Tony Perez used to say.

Geno provides the big blow for the #Reds Sunday. 💪https://t.co/GYN5XUprFX

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) May 15, 2016

Bob Howsam's Connection to the Broncos

I never knew this about the architect of the Big Red Machine, arguably the best team in National League history.

Sign Her Up!

This is fun! Good on Billy Hamilton.

The sadness of Pete Rose

Paul Daugherty has long been one of my favorite newspaper columnists, his specialty being sports. He writes for the Cincinnati Enquirer. Yesterday, Reds Country was abuzz with the announcement that Pete Rose, long banned from baseball and separately barred from the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown because he bet on baseball when he was a player and manager, would this year be inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame at Great American Ball Park and his number 14 forever retired from use by the Reds.

Daugherty registered what is probably a widespread point of view among Reds fans in a column titled 'Sadness pervades Reds' Rose announcement.' This is how it ended:

Enjoy the local honor [Daugherty writes to Rose]. It’s not a consolation prize, not for someone who grew up on the West Side and still, in some small way, owes his personality to that part of town. It’s not Cooperstown, either, or even a batting cage. Sadness endures, even on a day of celebration.

I responded:

I'm a lifelong Reds fan and Rose was, in Big Red Machine days, my favorite player. (In retrospect, I tilt toward Morgan as the best all-around and most pivotal contributor to the team's success though.)

People like Bonds and McGuire should never be allowed a spot in Cooperstown because, while baseball delayed taking a hard stand against PEDs, they and others juiced themselves in ways that made their on-field exploits artificial. They cheated.

But because baseball didn't finally promulgate stricter rules to banish such cheating from the game until after McGuire, Bonds, Sosa, and the others had done their worst, their ilk can't be banished from baseball as they should be.

Separately, they're still eligible for the Hall, though I doubt that they'll ever get in.

I am disappointed in teams that hire them.

But this has nothing to do with Pete Rose.

Despite repeated protestations to the contrary, given over a period of years, Rose did bet on baseball and on the Reds.

And, unlike the PED-users, there was no ambiguity about the rules governing betting in baseball. Since 1919, this has been a cardinal sin of the game. Rose knew it. Every player knew it.

So, while it may be sad that Rose isn't in baseball and may be disgusting that PED-users can stay in the game and even be eligible for Cooperstown, there's nothing to be done about it. Rose clearly violated the rules of the game, even flouted them.

The McGuires and Sosas of baseball violated decency but no official rules. While they shouldn't be allowed in the Hall, baseball can't block them from the game ex post facto, after the game finally cleaned itself of the filth of PEDs.

It had cleaned itself of gambling long before Pete Rose dirtied the game he loved and the career he cherished.

My sadness for Rose has nothing to do with thinking baseball is wronging him. It isn't. My sadness comes from realizing how, like the character in a Greek play, someone with so much greatness tossed his career and his greatness aside.

 

Joe Morgan, my all time favorite Red

Today in Reds history, 1978: Joe Morgan smacks his 200th home run and becomes the first player in history to have 200 homers and 500 stolen bases.
Posted by Cincinnati Reds on Thursday, August 27, 2015

Goodbye, Johnny Beisbol?

The trade of pitcherJohnny Cueto from my beloved Cincinnati Reds seems inevitable. 

The ace's contract expires at the end of this season and he's such a great pitcher, any long-term contract will likely be out of the Reds' reach once he enters the free agent market. The trade deadline is the end of this month and I look for the Reds to seek to get something--1 solid major leaguer and two prospects seems likeliest to me--in a trade of Cueto before or shortly after the All Star Game.

I hate that it's come to this. The Reds have had a nucleus for pennant runs for several years now. Cueto as the ace of the pitching staff has been part of this nucleus. But it seems one thing or another has always gotten in the way of post-season contention: injuries, iffy middle relief, and so on. 

On top of that, Major League Baseball has been slow to adopt meaningful revenue sharing, such as exists in the NFL. The result is that the big-market teams with their big-market regional media contracts have deeper pockets and can outbid smaller-market teams like the Reds for the services of the Cuetos of the baseball world. 

I can't blame phenoms like Cueto for taking advantage of free agency, a hard-earned player right that, thanks to Curt Flood, freed players from what amounted to indentured servitude to baseball teams that paid them comparative pittances. But it surely would have been nice if the Reds could have, at some point during Cueto's tenure in Cincinnati, made a run for a pennant and beyond. 

Revenue sharing is essential for the competitiveness of major league baseball to be sustained and to cultivate deeper levels of loyalty from fan bases. Until that happens, the Reds and other small-market teams will routinely be bid out of contention for the established stars which their organizations may have developed but can't afford to keep.

By the way, vote for Cueto for the final fan-selected slot on the National League roster. His numbers commend him for the honor. There is no limit to how many votes you can cast. See here.

39 Years Ago Today

Post by Cincinnati Reds.

38 Years Ago Today

The greatest team in National League history swept the Yankees to win the World Series. It was the second consecutive World Series championship for the Big Red Machine!

The Post-Season Continues in the NL

Looks like neither the Cardinals or the Giants are going to run away with the National League crown and berth in the World Series. They're both digging in for what is proving an intriguing National League Championship Series (NLCS).

At this point, I'm pulling for another I-70 World Series, pitting the Kansas City Royals, already up two games to none over the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Championship Series (ALCS), against the Cardinals. The two teams met in 1985, winning the World Series four games to three.

Pulling for the Cardinals doesn't exactly set right with me. As a fan of the Cincinnati Reds, I view the Cards as kind of the death star of the National League's Central Division. I like the graphic my son posted on Facebook earlier this baseball season that carried the simple message, "Friends don't let friends root for the Cardinals."

But just as I would love to see an all-Ohio Reds versus Cleveland Indians (with a new team name, one would hope) World Series and just as a Mississippi State-Ole Miss college football championship sort of appeals to me (if Ohio State can't make the playoff), I'd like to see an all-Missouri World Series this year.

And even though I'm a dyed-in-the-wool National League fan, always rooting for the NL squad in the All Star Game and almost always pulling for the NL entrant in the World Series, I'd have to make an exception this year if the Royals win the AL crown. It would be a great feel-good story if they won the World Series after the franchise's twenty-nine year absence from post-season play.

Who are you rooting for?

It's the @Cardinals. They love drama. Hello, @KoltenWong: http://t.co/zK8sU2pUc3 #Walkoff pic.twitter.com/F8aBVt1Bez
— MLB (@MLB) October 13, 2014

Billy Hamilton, Rookie Thief

The roster riddled by injuries all season long, it seems like the Cincinnati Reds have been stuck in the starting gate from the beginning. But center fielder Billy Hamilton has been revved up all along. Today, he set a new record for Reds rookies by stealing his 54th base of the season. Sweet!

Bruce's Amazing Catch from Today

Mesoraco's Grand Salami from Today

Billy Hamilton is Amazing!

"That's an easy play," said Reds broadcaster Thom Brennaman. Not when you're trying to make it on Billy Hamilton!

"Don't Blink": Hal McCoy's Profile of Billy Hamilton

If speedy Billy Hamilton can develop as a hitter, the Reds will be given a big boost this year. A gifted base runner and base stealer, Hamilton's presence in a few games at the end of last season amped up the offense, electrified the home crowds, and frustrated opposition pitchers, catchers, and middle infielders. Check out Hall of Famer Hal McCoy's profile of Hamilton here.

Bryan Price on Managing the Reds

In the first of a two-part interview, new Cincinnati Reds manager talks about his philosophy and vision for the team. This guy is incredibly thoughtful and understands that leadership is about relationships. Looking forward to the 2014 baseball season!

A Look Back on the Reds 2013 Season

These are some off-the-cuff thoughts I had about the Cincinnati Reds' 2013 season. They came after the Reds lost the one game Wild Card play-in last night to the Pittsburgh Pirates. I posted them on a Facebook site I've enjoyed during the latter part of this season, Reds Nation #4192. Tell me what you think.

Some members of the site thought that Reds manager Dusty Baker should be fired. A few thought that the Reds players weren't really trying last night. That's why the post starts as it does.

Any team can lose a single game. So, while I'm definitely disappointed that the Reds' season came to an end tonight, I have no particular qualms with how any player played or how Dusty Baker managed in this particular game. I'm not knowledgeable enough to have an opinion about the management of the game. And I certainly can't psychoanalyze players' motives or desire to win.

But, as an armchair fan, it seems to me that the Reds not winning the NL Central Division came down to a few factors, besides the obvious ones that both the Cardinals and Pirates played better than the Reds this season.

1. Run support was lacking. Once again this season, I could say what would have been unimaginable over most of the past twenty seasons or so: The Reds' pitching staff was very good. But offensive production, usually a trademark of Reds teams, wasn't that good. Parts of the lineup seemed at times to have gone AWOL at the plate.

2. The injuries of Cueto hurt the Reds a lot. Losing your ace for a good chunk of the season not only hurts in the games he ordinarily would start, it messes with the bullpen and the rhythm of thinks in the rotation.

Other than that, there were no obvious flaws, from where I sit, and lots of pluses.

For all the complaints about Joey Votto, he had a great year and a high average in important game situations, in addition to his high on-base numbers and batting average.

Brandon Phillips was wonderful: sparkling on defense, commendable at the plate.

Frazier and Cozart were both terrific on defense. Cozart improved at the plate in the latter half of the season. Frazier, I thought, beat the sophomore jinx.

Choo was tremendous in the lead-off spot. Like Votto, he is a tremendously disciplined and productive hitter. He did well in center field, though it's not where he's most comfortable.

Jay Bruce has emerged as a consistent power hitter, underrated or overlooked in the media. I believe that 2013 shows that he is only going to get better.

Homer Bailey, Mat Latos, Sam LeCure, and Aroldis Chapman, in addition to Cueto, were joys to watch on the mound. Even Bronson Arroyo, a true professional, shone brightly in most of his starts in what will probably be his last season as a Red.

It will be interesting to see what moves the Reds make in the off-season. Obviously, the front office will want to find a spot in the lineup for Billy Hamilton. But above all, I look for them to shore up the offense. Agree? Where would they do that?