Behind The Box Score

As the Chicago Cubs wrapped up a 5-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates last night at Wrigley Field, talks intensified between Isiah Thomas and the organization who hasn’t won a championship in 102 seasons. Thomas, who flew to Chicago on Tuesday, met with GM Jim Hendry about the job opening. Sources say the two had a 30 minute meeting concluding with Thomas talking to the media about the allegations. Read the rest of this entry »

Reds fans, Reds country, enjoy it. I said it last night, but it needs said again. This is still the dream ride, still the storybook type season that every fan has waited for. We struggled through Adam Dunn’s Read the rest of this entry »

In his three years as the general manager of the dreadful Pittsburgh Pirates, Neal Huntington hasn’t shied away from shocking moves. First was in his inaugural season, shipping off Jason Bay. Then in his second year, sending Jack Wilson, Freddy Sanchez, Nate McClouth and Adam LaRoche packing for new cities, new teams and new dreams. Well Huntington has pulled the trigger once again, with what he calls his “Legend Package.” Read the rest of this entry »

Watching Reds Live, Scott Rolen had a quote that I think shows what this team really has been like this year.

“We didn’t get 7 games up by looking at the scoreboard… We did it by playing, and winning.”

This is special. Chapmania hits GABP, the Reds keep rolling, the Cards keep stumbling. I keep trying to find other words for this last 2 1/2 weeks after getting swept those dreaded Cards, the way we have played. This is the kind of stuff that champion-type teams do, they play baseball the right way. Since that series, the Reds are  13-4, and (not counting tonight’s stats), have batted 20 percentage points better than their season average (.290 vs .270), and bang out an average of 10.8 hits a game, 1.4 better than the earlier part of the year.

I don’t know that there are many words I can use right now. Just every Reds fan out there, look at the standings, look at the schedule, smile. And realize how special of a run that this can be. It’s far from being over, there is still a whole month of baseball left to play, and we have a big series in St. Louis this weekend that could put Reds Nation into a euphoric state if we take care of business. Just think, a year ago, the Reds were 58-73, 18.5 GB at this point. This year, a 7 game lead, and a 76-55 record. Good times.

Just call it a 13 month break. Edinson Volquez went 6 strong tonight, giving up only 1 run and 3 hits in in his return appearance after having Tommy John surgery last July, en route to a 8-1 win. He dominated the Rockies (49-41) after a bumpy first inning, retiring 15 out of the 18 batters in the 2nd through 6th innings. The bats came alive tonight, supporting the pitching staff with 8 runs, 7 of the 8 runs came in via the long ball, 4 home runs hit by the Reds tonight, Stubbs adding two of the blasts. Thoughts from tonight:

• Volquez looked like Read the rest of this entry »

As half of the 2010 season is in the books for the first-place Cincinnati Reds (sounds weird, doesn’t it?), BtBS is going to take a look at the big wins, losses, plays, and what needs to be done to stay ahead of those dreaded Cardinals to clinch a playoff birth for the first time since 1995.

Best Wins of the 1st half:

May 18th: Reds 5, Brewers 4- Dreading the 9th inning against all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman, the Reds find the rally at the perfect time, retaining at the time a short-lived stint as the NL Central leader. Janish led off the 9th inning with a double, and was knocked in as Rolen hit a blast into the left field seats (the deck below where we had been sitting in the bleachers). Hoffman crumbled under the pressure by giving up a double, walk, and Joey Votto ended the game with a long single that allowed Heisey to come around to score the winning run, capping the comeback that seemed impossible when Cincy trailed 4-1 in the bottom of the 8th, and before Votto’s 8th inning blast, 9 reds had been retired in a row.

April 8th: Reds 2, Cardinals 1- A rough start by dropping the first two night games of the 2010 campaign were erased with one swing of the bat by none other than Jonny Gomes, who hit a walk-off blast into the left field seats to cap off win #1 of 2010. Bronson Arroyo worked his day game magic in the victory, going 8 strong with only 4 hits and 1 ER. This helped Cincy avoid a dreaded sweep by St. Louis, keeping the Reds around for the time being (see below).

May 16th: Reds 7, Cardinals 2- Another big win over the Cards to take over first place in the central for the first time all season. Scott Rolen was the big man of the night, going 2 for 4 with a big blast in the first inning to help the Reds jump on STL and Brad Penny early. Bronson worked his magic again, going the distance, giving up only 2 ER and 7 hits, en route to his 3rd win on the season.

Rough moments of the 1st half:

5 game slide/Swept in Pittsburgh (April 14th-18th): Moments to forget from this stretch include: 30-160 (.188 BA) from the plate, 2 terrible bullpen appearances in the 9th inning in consecutive games (Masset on Friday, Cordero on Saturday). Add to the batting part with amazing run outputs of: 3,2,3,4,3. Yikes. At this point, I think about how finishing anything better than 5th or 6th would quite an accomplishment.

The collapse in Atlanta: Up 6 runs going to the 9th. Single, single, single, single, walk, error, strikeout, grand slam. That’s all for that one.

The collapse in Philly: Up 6 runs going to the 9th. Double, flyout, single, single, home run, flyball, walk, home run. Lost in 10th. ‘Nuff said, again.

For the Reds to win the division/wild card, they must…

• Not have any more meltdowns in the 9th inning. Those two games in Philly and Atlanta are games you will look back on at the end of the year and realize how they could have changed the season if they fall short.
• Take care of business against the teams they should take 2 of 3 or sweep with ease. They get Houston for 9, Pittsburgh for 6, and the Brewers for 9 as well.
• Have Nick Masset figure out which Nick Masset he wants to be, whether it be 2009 or 2010 Masset, he needs to decide so the bullpen can get more stability.
• Figure out Coco Cordero, and every save cannot be a “thrill a minute” as Marty goes on and on about. It’s just not what we need. Some of those thrills turn into BS’s and L’s in the stat column.

If the Reds don’t make the playoffs, it will be because…

• Teams figure out the rookie core of pitchers and we get rocked night in and night out. I don’t see this happening though. They are too strong and capable to adjust on the fly. This is the future of the Reds right here.
• The bats all of a sudden come to a halt. There have been spurts of this during the season, and it scares me a little bit, if in a big series against STL this would somehow happen.
• They choke on the infamous west coast swing. We have not been able to win on the west coast at all, example being the debacles in Seattle.

Prediction- This team has the right mix of everything. The batting has been amazing at times, pitching off the charts, and the core of young players don’t have a lot of September expierence, but i feel like they can make the playoffs and dethrone the Cardinals. A new decade calls for a new leader of the division, and the NL Central will belong to the Cincinnati Reds.

Let’s get him back too.

To some like me, sports are everything. You learn a lot from organized sports. For example:

-how to play the game the right way

-how to play fair, with rules

-how to interact with others and be a helping hand towards a greater cause

-how to grow as a person

-how to deal with the situation your forced with

-how to make your teammates that much better

-and lastly, MOST importantly, Read the rest of this entry »

In an almighty New York Yankee lineup, one that leads all of baseball in batting average, home runs and RBIs, the majority of the production is coming from an unlikely source. Through 54 games this season, Robinson Cano has hit .373 with 12 HRs and 43 RBI’s, easily in the top ten in the American League in all three categories, with his average being tops in the AL. Coming into Thursday’s victory against the Baltimore Orioles, Cano had a 16 game hitting streak which he extended to 17 games with a double in the first inning, bringing home Derek Jeter. More impressive is the defensive work Cano has put in this season, as the slick fielding second baseman has only committed one error this season on over 270 chances. Also on his resume for 2010 is the fact that Cano leads the Yankees in EVERY offensive category, sporting a very impressive 1.046 OPS, good for fourth in the league.

 When Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez get most of the credit for the danger that comes with the Yankee lineup, Cano has been the reason that the New York offense has been so good this season. When people talk about the best second basemen in baseball, Dustin Pedroia, Chase Utley and Brandon Phillips are usually the first names mentioned. But so far this season, Cano has easily distinguished himself as the best at his position, as he not only has produced at the plate but has been magnificent on defense. Most suprising is the power that Cano has showed early on. Hitting a career high 25 long balls in 2009, the 27 year old Dominican is easily on pace to collipse that mark with over 100 games remaining on the schedule. Although the Yankees trail the Tampa Bay Rays by 2.5 games in the East, things look bright in the Bronx. With Curtis Granderson and Jorge Posada on the way back from injury, the additions of their bats will only add protection for Cano, A-Rod, and the struggling Mark Teixeira. Traveling to Toronto to face the division rival Blue Jays, Cano looks to extend his hot streak against a team whom the Bronx Bombers have yet to play this season.

In a crazy week of sports that involves championship weeekend in the NFL, Cavs-Lakers in the NBA and arbitration in Major League Baseball, here a few interesting facts that are products of this week. Read the rest of this entry »

On the first day of free agency for Major League Baseball, the NL’s best team traded for one of the best pitchers in the league but also took a risk in the process. After failing to acquire Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay before the trade deadline, the Philadelphia Phillies finally completed a deal with the Seattle Mariners and the Toronto Blue Jays just minutes ago. According to SI.com, Philadelphia dealt the dominant Cliff Lee to Seattle and it is rumored that Halladay will sign an extension in the coming days after indicating his interest in Philadelphia. Read the rest of this entry »