Showing posts with label baseball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baseball. Show all posts

Reds def. Mets, 7-2

This is from a while ago. Had a chance to watch the Reds beat the Mets, 7-2, in a game that was close most of the way, until the Reds blew it wide open in the 7th. We were in the second-to-last row from the top. Hard to see the ball, but at least the view's nice.


Reds Report

When the Reds went on a that long winning stretch at home, I thought that this was it, all that young talent and a couple veterans have finally coalesced and we won't lose very much anymore until September. And they played well for a little longer, then they lost 2 of 3 to St. Louis, 2 of 3 to Boston, and got swept by the Dodgers. That did it for me. They would have to play almost perfectly to make any postseason this year. I guess there's always next year.

One thing to watch are all the young pitchers. Case in point, this weekend series with the Yankees, won by the Reds 2 games to 1. Starting pitchers in this series: the rookie Volquez, the rookie Thompson, and the rookie Cueto. Their lines:

  • Reds win, 4-2. Volquez: 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO, 0 HR, 1.71 ERA
  • Reds win, 6-0. Thompson (ML debut): 5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
  • Reds lose, 4-1. Cueto: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 SO, 0 HR, 5.01 ERA
I'd say the future looks bright.

Photo by Bill Kostroun/AP

Speaking of Volquez, the Josh Hamilton trade may have been the most mutually beneficial trade in the history of baseball. That's my unofficial opinion.
  • Hamilton: .316 AVG (7th), 19 HR (1st), 76 RBI (1st)
  • Volquez: 10 W (tie 2nd), 1.71 ERA (1st), 110 SO (1st)
Each player is leading their respective league positions in two-thirds of the Triple Crown. Not much to complain about with that trade.

Speaking of positions, the Reds lost their fourth short stop of the season on Friday, losing Jolbert Cabrera (who was 4-for-4) to injury. This certainly has not helped their record, but the season's starting short stop, Gonzalez, was never supposed to hit much in this lineup. The two subsequent replacements, Keppinger and Hairston, Jr., were upgrades, IMO. So then who hasn't been hitting? How about the 3 and 5 hitters, bringing in averages of .249 and .219 respectively. Griffey, Dunn, WTF?

600 Clean Ones

Congratulations (belated), Junior, on 600 home runs.

Photo by Wilfredo Lee/AP

BRUUUUUUUCE!!!

Sunday was a great day for baseball... Griffey on the verge of 600, Cueto on the mound, and some kid named Jay Bruce everyone's been talking about. Griffey didn't hit #600, but he did go 2-3. As did Bruce, with a HR and an RBI double, in a 6-2 Reds win. He raised his career average to .591.




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Most Entertaining 28 Seconds I've Had Today

Mr. Redlegs falls! Good thing that dude's got all that padding around his head.

via OMGreds.

Cueto, Henry Leave Fans Speechless

The Bengals cut Chris Henry after his fifth transgression with the law in the last 28 months. I say good riddance. He was a walking punchline off the field. On the field, he had some spectacular plays, but he wasn't clutch.

What's especially disappointing is that Henry was a model player and teammate, behavior-wise. There was an ESPN article on Bengals' off-field problems a while ago:

But inside the Bengals' locker room, Henry is regarded as a model teammate. And therein lies the difference between the kind of character that matters to teams and that which matters to fans. Henry's coaches and teammates say he shows up on time, pays attention in meetings and goes about his football business as quietly as a mouse. When he does speak, Henry addresses coaches with barely audible "Yes, sirs" and "No, sirs." He works hard in practice, has played through injuries and has quickly developed into the Bengals' No. 3 receiver, with 29 catches for 451 yards (15.6 ypc) and 7 TDs, the same number as Chad Johnson.
That tells me that Henry was for the most party a good person, but makes bad, really bad, snap decisions, and has a bit of a temper, when in social situations and not beside a coach.

In Reds news, Johnny Cueto made is major league debut yesterday. His line in a 3-2 win:
7 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 10 SO, 92 NP, 1.29 ERA
I'm sure I join thousands of Reds fans when I say:
"...!"

Cue CuetoMania.

Opening Day 2008

Here are a few pictures from the Opening Day parade on Monday. I thought I was going to get drenched, but the rain held off. I couldn't stay for the whole thing, and only caught the first hour's worth before returning to work. They said that this was the largest field ever, with over 200 groups in the parade.

You can see all my parade pictures here.

The parade started off with a police motorcycle formation. Bright and shiny!


The mayor rode with his assistant in the D.A.R.E car. I saw Pepper and Portune, and most of city council.


One of the nicest things to see in the parade.


This plug-in, 100 mpg, electric car caught me eye. If I haven't said so before, my belief is that the electric car can remove our country's dependency on foreign oil. They get 100 mpg, they're proven, and they've been around for 100 years. You park 'em in your driveway and plug 'em in overnight. But why doesn't anyone have one? Technology? Please. I believe that the oil and car industry will not let them come to market.


This woman had a cooler scooter.


My shot of Peanut Jim Tarbell didn't turn out so well.


The Bockfest goat always entertains.


This T.A.N.K. bus is a Reds fan!


The Chick-Fil-A cow, exhorting me to eat more chicken.


A unicycle gang.


Some sort of lawnmower formation.


A portable tennis match.

Joe Nuxhall R.I.P.

When I heard the news about Joe Nuxhall on Friday morning, I cringed a bit, and felt a wave of sadness pass through me. I went down to the ballpark - not sure why - maybe for no other reason than because it was a clear morning.

News crews were already down there doing location spots.


On Saturday afternoon, Sarah and I went for a walk and ended up back at the ballpark. By that time, the memorial had grown.


At some point, this guy from 700WLW with a handheld DVR asked me a few questions. You can see more of my salient thoughts on the video here.

Rest in peace, ol' lefthander.