A FEW MO' THINGS, 5/8/12
-Suddenly, the Reds are good again.
While we've dissected every lineup combo, blasted Dusty Baker for bullpen mismanagement, hammered the organization for not disabling the second baseman, second-guessed both the Latos and Marshall trades, and treated every loss as if it would set the franchise back decades, the Reds have gone on a nice little 11-5 run.
They might not be winning against great competition, but they're winning nonetheless.
Last night's win was machine-like, a 6-1 deconstruction of the Brewers that stood out for three reasons..
Jay Bruce with an absolute bomb. Clearly, it makes total sense for him to be hitting fifth*
Bronson Arroyo. Maybe to say that he's back would be getting ahead of ourselves, but the ERA is at 2.75, he's had precision control (nearly a 7/1 K/BB ratio) and he's kept the ball in the park, allowing just under a home run every eight innings.
Todd Frazier playing air guitar...
(Photo courtesy of @SwarlesBarkley)
I know the heightened expectations for 2012 has caused us to comb through every issue this team has, and that's a good thing, but the intense scrutiny shouldn't obscure the fact that the Reds are playing pretty well right now.
*This is a reference to folks like me who use their radio shows to talk about why Jay should be batting fourth.
-"Man, I can't wait to see Billy Hamilton in a Reds uniform one day" is going to turn into "When are we going to see Billy Hamilton is a Reds uniform?"
That will turn into, "We've gotta see Billy Hamilton in a Reds uniform soon."
Then that will become "WHY ARE THE REDS NOT BRINGING BILLY HAMILTON TO THE MAJOR LEAGUES?"
This will morph into "WALT JOCKETTY SHOULD BE BEATEN WITH A BAG OF HANDCUFFS FOR NOT PROMOTING BILLY HAMILTON!"
It's going to happen.
The four Reds who's career paths we followed closest over the last few years were, in order, Votto, Bruce, Stubbs, and Cozart.
The two players who've looked the most Major League-ready when they arrived here were Votto and Cozart.
The two players among those four who spent the most time in the minor leagues before their call-ups were Votto and Cozart, who had more than 5,000 minor league plate appearances between them.
Let's keep that in mind.
-I like this look at the five least old-school players in baseball. And I like these digs at Cole Hamels...
The funniest part about Hamels' "old baseball" approach? He's 28 years old! What old-school baseball is he referring to? 1998? 1996? Hamels has to be the youngest player ever to invoke old-school quoting privileges.
Plus ... wouldn't Hamels have to be one of the least old-school players in the game? When your nickname is Hollywood Hamels, you can't be old school. When your wife is a reality TV contestant who posed in Playboy, you can't be old school. Old-school players marry the first Baseball Annie they meet in the minors. And they certainly don't spend as much time on their hair as Hamels does.
-The Bengals might be interested in Braylon Edwards. I might be interested in saying no thanks.
-I'm not going to say I behaved this way when the Knicks wrapped up their game four win over Miami, and thus avoided a sweep. But when you're favorite team hasn't won a postseason game in more than 4,000 days, you do some crazy things....
-Kenyon Martin has a stalker and it's not me.
-Here's a study that didn't need to be done.
-Mark Lyons is saying all the right things in Arizona.
-John Calipari went on the defensive, talking about his scheduling philosophy. I think it's fair to explain why the IU series is ending, and I think the fact that the Wildcats and Hoosiers won't play anymore is a shame, but he shouldn't feel the need to defend his handling of his program to outsiders. A coach is responsible for doing what he feels is within the best interest of his program and his players, not others.
-Could an Indiana/Louisville series be in the works?
-In Texas, they've determined that tryouts are unfair. One day these kids will learn that the job interview process is also unfair.
-Blake Griffin actually has low post moves. Last night he showed them. Oh, and Chris Paul showed why he's incredible. Clippers win. Billy Crystal is insufferable.
-The good folks in Minnesota are the latest victim of pro sports' biggest sham, with their lawmakers approving a plan that would earmark money for a new Vikings stadium. Under the proposed plan, the state of Minnesota and the city of Minneapolis would combine to pay for 56% of the cost of a new stadium.
Sounds fair, right? Especially since the team would likely pocket far more than 56% of the profit the stadium would help bring in. Think that appeases the clowns who, like most modern pro sports owners, are guilty of legal extortion?
Vikings vice president Lester Bagley, who has spent about a decade trying to get the team to this stage, also breathed a sigh of relief. But he said franchise owners will find it tough to stomach an amendment that would put the team on the hook for $105 million more.
"There's time to work on it and get it fixed," Bagley said. "I don't want to take away from the moment. It was a great day."
Ponderous.
We don't want to lose our teams and the Vikings belong in Minnesota. But I look forward to a day when both voters and the people we put in office come to the realization that publicly financed stadiums do not work.
-Radio show today at 3:04 on ESPN1530. Listen please. And we have the weekly chat tomorrow at 9am. Click here and wait. I don't know why I found this as funny as I did, but I did....
