Reds, Ricardo Montalban and Herve Villechaize Bid You Fond Adieu, Cardinals Sneak By 11-4

The Reds reminded us what the 2008 season was all about with three consecutive suck ass games in St. Louis. Nice job boys, way to finish things off strong. Arroyo and Harang were exhausted after a long season of not living up to expectations and both turned in sub par starts. Putting the absent offense into holes both Friday and Saturday. And today Pettyjohn was horrible. At least he has a human interest story featuring a debilitating disease to show for himself. What's your excuse Majewski? That goatee better be eating away the flesh underneath or the Reds Rocket is making no excuses for you.

Today, Votto and Encarnacion went deep, giving them 26 and 24, respectively, for the year. Not too bad considering the ages of those two fine fellows. But without a little baseball going on, picturing the positive future the Reds have in front of them isn't quite the same. Though it may give you Cincinnatians a break from thinking about the Bengals, which is something nobody should have to do.

For the playoffs, the Reds Rocket was a little pleased to see the Brewers slime in the back door. Makes the Central look good, two teams in the playoffs. Though the Cubs will soon be sitting home, complaining. And that is something everyone can enjoy. I'll be back soon to sign things off for the season. Maybe I'll try to keep the site active during the Reds' offeseason this year, but since I have no particular insight or connection to anyone with said insight, the posts get a little boring and, likely, redundant. 'Nothing new today, Reds are still sweet.' Nice season Reds.

Cueto Not Too Goodo, Astros 8-6

Before showing some late spirit versus the Astros bullpen, the Reds didn't play all that well. Cueto gave up a bushel of runs before taking an early exit from the 2008 season. The Reds Rocket is still pleased with his rookie season performance. All the flair on the mound, tilting his hat upwards when he is unhappy with things. Nice job Johnny. Now maybe you and Volquez can catch the same plane and talk in Spanish about the the flight attendant's large rack.

Hairston made the game interesting with a three-run bomb in the 9th. And Patterson continues his march towards .205 with a 1st inning shot off nemisis Oswalt. This additional playing time has really paid off. However, the Reds left town with a series defeat. Something which this new team has become unaccustomed. Team lands takes on the Cardinals tomorrow in the final series of the season. They just finished beating up the Diamondbacks but that does not prevent my prediction of a nice, clean sweep to close things out.

Love Means Being There On the Side Of the Road With a Pile of Garbage, Astros 5-0

The Reds stayed true to their word to only win 2 out of every 3 games for the remainder of the season. It's just too bad that it had to fall on Ramirez's turn because he's been pretty reliable. But Dusty's got his reasons and they will be followed or there will be consequences. 'I swear to you guys I will put Patterson out on the mound. I really will. Just try me. He'll be out there tomorrow sucking on the mound just like he does at every other facet of the game.'

Speaking of old pal Corey, there was an article on the official site where Dusty took some time to debunk the rumor that Patterson is engaged to be married to his daughter. Skip was pretty fired up about the whole thing, implying that, possibly, Patterson may not be good enough for his daughter. Which is crazy, we all know Corey is the cat's meow. Dusty, however, forgot to address the even more insidious rumor; that he sits down when he pees. That is something, which if false, needs to be cleared up.

The offense put the ball in play, knocked out 10 hits but couldn't push any of those runners across the pentagonal base. Bruce resumed his role as leadoff hitter. It is as if the team is in search of the lowest OBP and that player will be the one who receives the most at bats. The five hole is probably a better fit at this stage of his career but what do I know. Very little is the answer. Reds get the series tomorrow.

Reds Agree With Astros' Proposal To Only Face Wandy For Remainder of the Season, Reds 2-1

The Reds Traveling Salvation Show continued its tour in Houston this evening. Keppinger knocked out three hits and Volquez picked up his 17th win with a nice 7 and a third. Dusty was correct in his decision to jank Edinson in the 8th and bring in Bill Bray to face the very dangerous Michael Bourne. If you allow him, he will beat you by himself. And Weathers plan to walk Tejada to face Berkman? Genius. These guys are finally using more than their hair to make decision out in the field.

The Reds also got their first taste of instant replay tonight. And, if you weren't in favor of its use beforehand, I am certain you are now. Votto's shot in the 7th hit the top of the wall, bounced into the stands and was ruled a single. Dusty meandered out, pointed to the wall, raised his hands to illustrate his uncertainty with the correctness of the call, then stood around with his hands on his hips. The umps were so impressed that they gathered together and decided to go try out the new software. After enjoying 2 hot dogs, a stadium-sized soda and a refreshing sit in the sauna, Gary Darling came back out and said that after looking things over, it didn't look like a home run to him. Those seats that the ball hit, are part of the field of play. Like the warning track. So, everyone just cool out and let's get back to the game. So, that screwed Votto for the second time tonight, the official scorer gave Wigginton a three-base error in the 1st, even though he didn't get a glove on the ball. Sure he looked, not only physically, but mentally retarded on the play but that is not the typical call given the particular scenario. Tough break Joey Jo-Jo, but Soto probably has the NL ROY locked up already.

Coco looked to wrap things up when Wiggington lined out to Janish, who flipped to second base to double off Reggie Abercrombie. But the the umpire manning second was just about to get the number from a nice-looking Texan who is in the process of going through a divorce. She's lights out, premium gas. He ruled Keppinger was off the bag, then his pals, without using the computer, corrected him because they were already late for their reservation at Chili's. Everyone went home happy. The Reds just want to keep winning so they can avoid the pitfalls of high draft picks next June. The deadline signing of Yonder was a pain in everyone's collective ass. Reds win again tomorrow, do it. Reds! Reds! Reds!

Reds Are Dirty Talkers and Fancy Walkers, Reds 7-5

The game began poorly, Harang giving up 4 runs in the first three innings before simmering down and placing a guillotine headlock on the Fish offense. His 7 innings gave the offense time to catch up against Nolasco. Votto hit a bomb, then the team went buckwild in 7th, dropping 6. There was some bad Marlin defense but a couple of clutch hits. Andy Phillips came off the bench with another late inning hit. Votto's RBI double gave them the lead and Phillips gave them a Cordero-resistant cushion with a two-run single. Big win in front of the 27 people at the GABP. Skyline all around.

With the recent hot streak, the Reds are looking more and more like a real ballclub. One that doesn't guarantee you will be furious if you bother to tune in. And, while we're at it, let's take a little time to show some respect for what Corey Patterson is putting together this year. I am borrowing this information verbatim from a comment from Mike on the Redleg Nation game-time comment log. Mike appears to be pretty sharp and much more willing to research things than certain blog contributors. So, if you have any questions in the future, I'll run them by Mike first.

All these seasons have a minimum 350 PA:

Worst Reds OBP of all time

OBP PA Year Player
0.222 378 1883 Pop Corkhill
0.238 367 2008 Corey Patterson
0.242 460 1906 Tommy Corcoran
0.246 354 1971 Dave Concepcion
0.249 482 1917 Dave Shean
0.250 365 1915 Ivey Wingo
0.251 501 1973 Bobby Tolan
0.251 434 1951 Virgil Stallcup
0.252 450 1932 Wally Gilbert
0.253 566 1948 Virgil Stallcup

The worst Reds batting averages of all-time

AVG PA Year Cnt Player
0.193 382 1984 Nick Esasky
0.196 512 1888 Frank Fennelly
0.201 551 1891 Germany Smith
0.202 367 2008 Corey Patterson
0.205 354 1971 Dave Concepcion
0.206 501 1973 Bobby Tolan
0.207 460 1906 Tommy Corcoran
0.209 421 1972 Dave Concepcion
0.209 594 1944 Eddie Miller
0.210 358 1973 Cesar Geronimo

The worst Reds OPS+ of all-time (*Timmons note from Wikipedia: For teams and average performers, OPS+ is a fair approximation of runs per out relative to the league average. Its cousin OPS and the expected form for a "OPS+" statistic, OPS/LgOPS, do not result in an estimated unit. From a historical perspective, LgSLG is usually around 1.2 times LgOBP, and so OPS+ essentially is based on 1.2*OBP + SLG. It is therefore more accurate in estimating runs scored than simple OPS, as the best-fit weight for OBP, based on comparison with Linear Weights results is around 1.8)

OPS+ PA Year Cnt Player
43 450 1932 Wally Gilbert
43 471 1930 Hod Ford
44 354 1971 Dave Concepcion
44 605 1970 Tommy Helms
47 367 2008 Corey Patterson
47 477 1953 Rocky Bridges
49 437 1997 Pokey Reese
50 551 1891 Germany Smith
51 385 1930 Leo Durocher
51 460 1906 Tommy Corcoran

And the worst OPS+ for OF in the history of baseball.

OPS+ PA Year nt Player
17 427 1886 Jim Lillie
35 371 1989 John Shelby
43 363 1985 Marvell Wynne
45 416 2001 Peter Bergeron
47 367 2008 Corey Patterson
49 472 1886 John Cahill
51 428 1954 Bob Talbot
52 461 1977 Rowland Office
52 582 1890 Bob Gilks
53 389 1893 Jimmy McAleer
54 481 2005 Corey Patterson

Extra Extra Reds Are Awesome (but lose to Brewers), 8-1

The Reds decided to drop the finale to the Punky Brewsters today but still took another series from a team with a record over .500. For those of you still keeping track, that makes 5 consecutive series wins. And with the 1 game set tomorrow versus the Marlins, the final home game of the year, it will soon be 6 straight. Not bad from a team which gave up about 2 months ago.

Arroyo was out of tune today, giving up 6 over 6 innings to the impotent Brewer offense. Bruce was out of the lineup with a sore paw. That left the outfield in the capable hands of Patterson, Cabrera and Hairston. This lineup keeps getting more and more interesting. Dusty is going to put on his gameday batting gloves tomorrow and man center. He still knows how to lay it down. Dick Pole is playing shortstop. He has above-average range and isn't afraid to do the little things to help the team win.

The two previous games had a much more positive outcome. The team pounded 7 bombs Friday night, which ties the season high. Two by both Votto and Bruce, making the Reds the only team in the Majors with two rookies with 20 or more homers. The future appears bright but I may remember making similar comments about this time last year. Saturday featured the team finally figuring out how to beat Sabathia: allow his defense to let him down. Cueto was efficient with his pitch count, lasting a full 6 innings. The Reds' Dominican pitchers understand the importance of pitch economy. All three games did feature a Paul Bako-less lineup. The impact upon the pitching staff appeared negligible. Tomorrow Reds batter Fish and fry them in a pan. Fry it up!

Pujols Remembers He's the Best Player in Baseball, Cards 5-4

Even with the additional motivation of playing for the National Society of Kittens Trapped in Tea Cups the Reds couldn't quite finish the sweep of the Cardinals. It's going to be hard facing those cats and their sad little faces tomorrow.

Volquez, again, struggled with his control and elevated a fastball with a couple runners on board and Big Al took him out of the yard. But he kept the Reds in the game because when he bothered to keep the ball over the plate, the Cardinals weren't hitting it very hard. The offense was paced by the hot bat of Adam Rosales, who broke his career high of hits in a game (1, done twice) by picking up a RBI single and later a double. That guy is alright. But the reappearance of Paul Bako in lineup didn't provide the spark expected. The key is to keep running him out there, the hits will come. Of that, I am confident.