By Thaq Diesel

I waited until the season was over to announce it, but I had my mind made up by mid-year.  Brandon Phillips has taken over from Sean Casey the moniker of “Thaq Diesel’s favorite Reds player.”  A trophy should be in the mail to Brandon by early next week.

Phillips has an easy-going way about him that is infectious.  When he hits a double, he does the two handed point across his chest to the dugout to some mysterious person, probably Griffey, with whom he likely had $20 bucks riding on the at bat.  I like his home run trot – he runs at an angle, like a rickety ship that has taken on too much water and is listing to the leeward side.  In the field, Brandon has a unique style and agility that allows him to make spectacular plays, if not a few errors.  He throws the ball early when running down a ball in the hole or turning a double play.  It’s this early motion that reminds me somewhat of Andre Agassi when he would return a serve – it looks unorthodox but works very well.  He has home run power and has great overall speed.

I was going to keep this a secret, lest the front office decide to deal him like they did Sean Casey last year.  I’m hoping Phillips is in the long-term plans for the Reds. 

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By Thaq Diesel

I’m reminded of the 1987 Toronto Blue Jays, who choked away the final seven games of the season to miss the playoffs in lieu of the Detroit Tigers.  In my twisted mind, I’m substituting “Cincinnati” for “Detroit” and St. Louis for Toronto.  It will probably be Houston playing the role of Detroit if it happens at all.  Still, a boy can dream.

• The way Cincinnati has played the Cubs this season is pretty representative of the Reds season. They’ve hovered around .500 against them and should have beaten them more than they have, all things being equal.  Oh, and they had six errors against them on Saturday.  And the Reds scored 75% of their runs off a homer.  It’s like a picture snapshot of the season!
• Sunday, Aaron Harang threw 87 of his 110 pitches for strikes.  That’s what you call rearing back and throwing it.  Suffice to say, he didn’t walk a batter. 
• I like the name Norris Hopper.  It’s like a cross between a hockey division and an evil grasshopper character from A Bugs Life.  My next kid is getting that name, boy or girl.
• “He was about crying in the dugout that it wasn’t a legal game, and I told him there’s no crying in baseball,” second baseman Juan Castro said.  That tells me a) that Norris is a rookie and b) that Juan Castro really is a leader in the clubhouse.  My favorite Castro moment of the year is when he sat near anyone in the dugout who hit a home run so his kids could see him on TV when the Reds were at an away game. 
• One more week of baseball left.  Man that was fast.

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By Thaq Diesel

After some inspired play this season and a chance to play full time, Ryan Freel is done with a hand injury.  Uncle Milty goes under the knife as well.  Griffey made it most of the year before getting hurt.  The playoffs are all but out of the picture for the Red Legs.  I guess you have to enjoy the fact that it lasted this long, especially when many didn’t think this season would have any hope at all.  The bullpen has some young arms, when it had nothing to start the year.  Hey – things are looking up for next season at the very least.

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September 18, 1976 at Riverfront Stadium 

Giants 5, Reds 0  (95-55)

Ed Halicki and Gary Lavelle held the Reds to only two hits in one of the worst offensive games of the season for the Reds.  Pete Rose doubled and the Reds drew only a single walk.  They hit into a double play, Ken Griffey was caught stealing and the Reds stranded two runners.

Fred Norman dropped to 12-6 on the season.  He gave up four runs on seven hits and five walks in 5 2/3 innings of work.

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By Thaq Diesel

The Reds lost 2 out of 3 to the Padres.  Rather than say the Reds are basically the playoffs, which would be easy and somewhat logical, I’m going to stay optimistic and fight to the bitter end.  At this point it’s either think that way or become Randy Quaid in the left field bleachers in “Major League.”  It’s so tough to stay positive when your team has remained at .500 for the past month (actually one game under for September).  They just haven’t recovered from that late-August West Coast road trip.  Still, happy thoughts… 

My next pipe dream is that the Reds sweep the Cubs at Wrigley (I’m going to see one or two of those games this weekend, which will be detailed in the Monday morning post).  At the same time, either the Dodgers or Padres (I am indifferent to which one) sweeps that series.  Oh, and the Cardinals lose all their games, as do the Marlins, Phillies and Giants, Barry Bonds retires and Tony LaRussa ceases to be an a-hole.  Now I’m really reaching.

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By Thaq Diesel

I’m an optimist at heart;  I want the Reds to make the playoffs.  I just don’t see it happening.  This team is sputtering around like a 1980 Sunbird with a bad clutch.  The inability to play consistent winning baseball this past month has me cringing when I turn on a game or see an ESPN baseball score ticker.  I can tell myself the Reds are still in it all I want.  Subconsciously I seem to believe differently.  I really hope I’m proven wrong.

Something has to change.  Thus far, the omens have only been bad.  Griffey injured himself in a freak way while hustling on a play yet again.  Everyday Eddie is now at home watching the Price is Right every day (hopefully while icing down the elbow).  We just acquired a fresh pitcher who subsequently lost his first start Elizardo Ramirez-style (pitched well, team didn’t score behind him.)  The guy’s name:  Sun (as in things look bright), Woo (“as in let’s win!  Woo!”), Kim (as in the girl who dumped me in third grade).  Sigh – even that seems cursed.  (I know the Reds list Ramirez as out with shoulder tendonitis.  I’m convinced he’s on the DL with a broken heart.  Nobody picked him up this year when he pitched.)

I’ll keep rooting for you, Reds.  Time is running out. 

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By Thaq Diesel

Elizardo Ramirez almost coughed up the win on his own today.  Yet, he dug deep, pitched himself out of a jam (after a balk moved the runners to 2nd and 3rd) and got a long overdue victory.  The apocalypse will now begin.

The road trip is finally over and the Reds can boast a 4-3 winning record.  Despite being only 1 game over .500 in June, Cincinnati is only two games out of first.  How cool would it be to have the Reds in first place at the All-Star break?  We all wished it at the start of the season, but how many of us Reds fans actually believed deep down in our hearts that they could do it?  As it stands, the Reds would be the National League Wild Card. 

• The American League Central has mowed down the National League Central this year in interleague play.  In particular, this past week hasn’t been pretty.  Looks like the Astros are finally going to stop the bleeding tonight.
• It was satisfying to see Griffey and Dunn homer in the same inning today.  I can’t figure out if Dunn is slumping (for the entire season) or if he’s just settled for nestling home runs in between strikeouts. 
• Congratulations to Jerry Narron for being selected to the National League All-Star team as manager.  Griffey may yet sneak in as an outfielder and you have to figure that Arroyo is going to be a pitcher on the team, if not the starter.
• Hopefully the Kansas City Royals will not prove to be a miserable team with the Reds number, akin to the Cubs this year.  The Reds have lost to most superior teams this year.  They really need to whoop up on the inferior ones when they can.
• If you were Jeremy Sowers, would you think it cool that you gave up your first big league home run to Griffey?  I would, but then again I’m a fan.

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By Thaq Diesel

Elizardo Ramirez almost coughed up the win on his own today.  Yet, he dug deep, pitched himself out of a jam (after a balk moved the runners to 2nd and 3rd) and got a long overdue victory.  The apocalypse will now begin.

The road trip is finally over and the Reds can boast a 4-3 winning record.  Despite being only 1 game over .500 in June, Cincinnati is only two games out of first.  How cool would it be to have the Reds in first place at the All-Star break?  We all wished it at the start of the season, but how many of us Reds fans actually believed deep down in our hearts that they could do it?  As it stands, the Reds would be the National League Wild Card. 

• The American League Central has mowed down the National League Central this year in interleague play.  In particular, this past week hasn’t been pretty.  Looks like the Astros are finally going to stop the bleeding tonight.
• It was satisfying to see Griffey and Dunn homer in the same inning today.  I can’t figure out if Dunn is slumping (for the entire season) or if he’s just settled for nestling home runs in between strikeouts. 
• Congratulations to Jerry Narron for being selected to the National League All-Star team as manager.  Griffey may yet sneak in as an outfielder and you have to figure that Arroyo is going to be a pitcher on the team, if not the starter.
• Hopefully the Kansas City Royals will not prove to be a miserable team with the Reds number, akin to the Cubs this year.  The Reds have lost to most superior teams this year.  They really need to whoop up on the inferior ones when they can.
• If you were Jeremy Sowers, would you think it cool that you gave up your first big league home run to Griffey?  I would, but then again I’m a fan.

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By Thaq Diesel 

Well, we’re getting near the end of June and it seems like the Reds have struggled the whole month, but they’ve been exactly .500 this month going 10-10, which surprised me when I looked it up (the recent .  Yet, when I looked at the National League in total, there are only four teams that aren’t hovering at .500, the Reds having the third-best record of the four.  The Mets own the best Record by far, 18 games over .500.  But let’s face it, the National League is mediocre.

Which brings us to the recent series against the Mets where the Reds went .500 like the month of June.  Eric Milton has started again to look like his old self, which is troublesome.  If he gets behind in the count, it’s not hard to guess what’s coming next.  David Wright guessed fastball, and he was wright! 

Wednesday night, the Reds showed some of the plucky spark they showed in the first two months of the year by coming back late.  Granted they blew a lead by giving up three runs in the 7th, but let’s dwell on the positive.  Brandon Phillips hit a clutch bases-loaded single against Billy Wagner, who was throwing triple digit fastballs.  In fact, all the Reds hitters leading up to Phillips did a great job fighting off Wagner.

 ”I just stink,” said Reds reliever David Weathers after giving up 4 ER in 1/3 of an inning pitched on Tuesday.  Elizardo Ramirez has an ERA of 3.69 and has a 2-6 record.  I saw him smiling in the dugout during Wednesday’s game, so they haven’t broken his spirit.  The kid just can’t seem to get a break.

Speaking of stank, Arroyo went back to his nasty self (something Prince should start doing again, by the way) and pitched a complete game victory on Tuesday.  The Reds ain’t dead yet!  They may be sleepwalking, but they’re still alive and only four games out!  Beat the Indians!  Hell, beat anybody from the AL Central!

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By Thaq Diesel 

All righty then.  We see the difference between a playoff-caliber World Series team and a team that is trying to decide if they want the spotlight of October on them.  The Reds were bullied by the White Sox this weekend.  Worse, the Reds are now 5.5 games out of first and have lost 8 of 10 games.

• The front office is not standing pat.  They’ve been cutting dead weight in the bullpen by cutting Rick White and ending the Brandon Claussen era of pain with a DL stint.  I assume when Claussen returns he will spend some time in the minors.  Okay, maybe I’m just hoping that will happen.  Claussen’s replacement, Mike Burns, has struggled.   
• Wayne Krivsky is also looking at shoring up defense with the Juan Castro move on Thursday.  I once thought Castro, who is brilliant in the field but at times woeful at the plate, would never find much playing time anywhere.  Juan can’t be much worse than the team batting average of .260, however, and he’s not likely to cost the team games with his glove (as JLo, Brandon Phillips, et. al. have all done at least once this season.)  The beauty of moves for the likes of Castro is that it’s not very expensive, it fills a need defensively (and perhaps he can lead and rub off on the young error-prone infield), and it brings a familiar face back to the clubhouse.  Krivsky is GM of the year hands down.  Let’s just give it to him now.
• I just don’t understand why the Angels left Estaban Yan unprotected on the waiver wire.  Oh wait – yes I do.  Okay, there’s a ding in the armor of our new GM, but at least I can understand the thought process; why not take a flier on a live arm?  I think it’s time to cut bait in this case, however.
• I realized something as I watched A.J. Pierzynski and his reaction to Griffey’s check swing end to the game on Saturday.  That guy really is an a-hole.  I can understand why he got punched in the face.
• So when does the 10-game winning streak start again?  It’s just feast or famine around here.
• The Marty Brennaman disgust meter reached a season-high level 10 this weekend.  I’m one notch behind him.  The season is at stake this next week.  The Reds need to get their schtuff togther right quick.

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