A FEW MO' THINGS, 5/7/12
-Programming Notes...
1) I have four radio shows on ESPN1530 this week....Monday through Thursday.
2) We have a Weekly Chat on Wednesday at 9am.
3) #RedsTweetup
-We're about to get a nice, good, glimpse into what the Reds' priorities are.
Apologies to Mat Latos (or, as Jeff Ruby called him on Sports Rock last night, "Mat Lacoste"), who was very good despite not exactly being pitch efficient, the star of yesterday's Reds win was Todd Frazier....home run, double, and outstanding play at third, and a batting average of .389.
And now the Reds have a decision to make.
Miguel Cairo is due to come off the DL. Someone has to go. It shouldn't be Todd.
Todd Frazier should be getting consistent playing time at third base in Cincinnati, not in Louisville.
Willie Harris should be getting consistent playing time in a recreational wood-bat league, not in Cincinnati.
I'm interested to see what the Reds do here. Yes, Willie bats left handed. The problem is that he doesn't hit left handed.
Frazier has mad the most of a handful of opportunities, and even if he's not starting, has shown pinch-hitting acumen that not many of his teammates possess.
Do the Reds send the right message by rewarding a guy who's come through the system and who's performed well?
Or do the Reds send the wrong one by owing something to someone who looks overmatched and out of sorts?
We might find out today. I hope the Reds do the right thing.
-The Reds are 10-5 in their last 15, winning series, and for the most part, taking care of business against the dregs of the National League Central.
But still, the manager's rationale confounds....
The fourth hitters in the Reds lineup are hitting a combined .178/.259/.277 with nine RBI. They are last in the National League in average, slugging percentage and RBI.
Still, Reds manager Dusty Baker has no plans to move Jay Bruce up to fourth from fifth.
“No, because I want to break up them lefties,” Baker said. “Plus, Jay’s hitting well and hitting home runs, but he’s still got improve on driving in runs himself.”
Yes, Jay's hitting well and hitting home runs, which the Reds could certainly use in the four spot, but you have to break up them damn lefties.
Stupid.
-Maybe while Heisey and Ludwick compete to see who could be less inspiring, we should just let Drew Stubbs play.
Albert Pujols finally hit a home run. This is funny.
-I love this....
Cole Hamels admits it: He plunked rookie phenom Bryce Harper on purpose.
"I was trying to hit him," the Philadelphia lefty said. "I'm not going to deny it...."
"....I grew up watching, that's kind of what happened. So I'm just trying to continue the old baseball because I think some people are kind of getting away from it. I remember when I was a rookie the strike zone was really, really small and you didn't say anything because that's the way baseball is," Hamels said.
"But I think unfortunately the league's protecting certain players and making it not that old-school, prestigious way of baseball," he said.
In other words, Hamels said, "It's just, 'Welcome to the big leagues.
What I love even more is Harper's response. The dude stole home....
Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo responded to Cole Hamels’ admission he drilled Bryce Harper on purpose last night in harsh terms, saying MLB should suspend Hamels and calling out Hamels as “fake tough.”
“Players take care of themselves, I’ve never seen a more classless, gutless chicken [bleep] act in my 30 years in baseball.
“Cole Hamels says he’s old school? He’s the polar opposite of old school. He’s fake tough. He thinks he’s going to intimidate us after hitting our 19-year rookie who’s eight games into the big leagues? He doesn’t know who he’s dealing with.”
Rizzo said player safety should take precedence and Hamels should miss at least one start.
“With all the bounty [stuff] going on in professional football, the commissioner better act with a purpose on this thing,” Rizzo said. “Players have a way of monitoring themselves. We’re not here to hit people and hurt people.
“He thinks he’s sending a message to us of being a tough guy. He’s sending the polar opposite message. He says he’s being honest; well, I’m being honest. It was a gutless chicken [bleep] [bleeping] act. That was a fake-tough act. No one has ever accused Cole Hamels of being old school.”
This is great. And I hope this keeps up all season. Baseball badly needs stuff like this.
I like Bryce Harper. He's fun to watch, for starters. But he's also got personality. Baseball needs personality. The sport's best players have the personality of a legal pad. Harper is brash, cocky, and he has incredible hair. He's polarizing, and he plays the game the right way.
I don't take issue with Hamels hitting him, there are certain "welcome to the big leagues" moments every rookie has to face, though I question the wisdom of admitting that the plunk was intentional. And I like how Harper handled it.
And I'm excited to watch Bryce play at GABP this weekend.
-Speaking of this weekend's series against the Nationals, game one on Friday will be the first #RedsTweetup of 2012. $25 gets you a Mezzanine seat,a t-shirt, and a $10 concession voucher you could use to buy me a beer. Go here to get tickets. 
-Ben Roethlisberger went through commencement exercises at Miami. Two years ago, I would've been allowed to make fun of this. But since he took the Steelers to the Super Bowl two years ago and became a good person again, I'm not allowed.
-I love the New York Times' feature on Billy Hamilton. Not only do I like what it says about Billy, but I like what it says about where the game is going. I know statheads will debate the risk/reward of the stolen base, and the argument is legit. But stolen bases are exciting and I wish there were more of them. If Hamilton ushers in a new era of base-stealing, I'm all for it.
I just don't want the Reds to rush the kid to the Majors.
-Here's Kate Upton in tiger pants. Also, she's topless.
-Your Eli Manning highlight from SNL....
-Random NBA Playoffs thoughts....Doc Rivers has been masterful this season, but his work in the series against Atlanta has thus far been his finest work....While everyone has slobbered over the Heat, Bulls, and Knicks, the Indiana Pacers have turned into the most enjoyable NBA team to watch this season...If you are watching Philly/Chicago, you are watching a 76ers team develop and grow before your eyes. These guys are learning on the job....This website is still amusing....The Lakers' win over Denver last night might have been their gutsiest postseason win of the post-Shaq era....TNT should carry every playoff game, every year. ESPN just doesn't do these games justice....My favorite NBA entity ended an 11-year drought with an inevitably-delaying win at home yesterday. This summed it up best....
Knicks fans will wait three days with bated breath. They will interpret Wade’s inability to exploit the defensive switch that left the vulnerable Stoudemire on him — “I lost control of the ball and had to take it out for 3,” Wade said — as a sign of something, anything, that might bring them back to the Garden on Friday night. Maybe the Heat will start to hear footsteps or have a player go down; that seems to be in the air this playoff season. Wade, for one, had his ankles in ice after Sunday’s game. Bottom line: don’t tell Knicks fans — that ever loyal band of wishful thinkers and Anthony worshipers — that no N.B.A. team has ever recovered from a 0-3 playoff deficit. Not after they finally left a playoff game without having to curse the fates while finding the rationalization to still care. “It was a great win for us and our fans to get over the hump,” Stoudemire said. “To finally get over the hump now and win a game today is great.” It was now or not until next year for the Knicks, several of whom won’t be back, and their fans, most of whom certainly will return just as they have season after deflating season. They all earned the win Sunday. But all things considered, the paying sufferers in the stands deserved it more.
-Remember when people gave a crap about boxing? There was supposedly a huge fight on Saturday and not one person I know saw it. I do know that Justin Bieber was there, so there's that.
-The show rundown comes later, with plenty of Reds talk, and thoughts on the NFL concussion crisis on the horizon. Follow me on Twitter please. Hit play, turn up, and walk away....
