A FEW MO' THINGS, 8/28/12
Who's life is it?
-Something amazing happened in Arizona last night...
What was amazing wasn't the win's importance for the Reds, though the 3-2 victory did keep the Cardinals from cutting the lead to five, put an end to the frothing at the mouth of a certain fraction of the fan base, and potentially gave a gassed team a but of a jump start.
What was most amazing wasn't the pitching performance of Bronson Arroyo, who continued his role, won his 11th game, and piled up his 90th victory as a Red. (Factoid I was unaware of until the Fox Sports broadcast learned me this last night: those 90 wins since 2006 leads the National League during that span)
What was most amazing wasn't the excellence of Brandon Phillips, his clutch RBI double or his masterful glove-work at second base. And it wasn't BP's postgame interview on Fox Sports where he accused Jim Day of having a mancrush and accused him of "not liking chocolate."
What was most amazing wasn't the bullpen work, much needed after recent struggles by Broxton and Marshall, both of whom had scoreless innings last night, setting up Aroldis Chapman, who usually is pretty damn amazing
What most amazing isn't the fact that there are people who still oppose replay in Major League Baseball. Even though without it, the Reds and Diamondbacks might still be playing.
What was most amazing was what happened in the left field seats during Bronson Arroyo's homer. Watch the replay and check out the guy in the brown shirt.
He doesn't move.
There is a ball screaming in his general direction, that hits a rail maybe six feet from him and remains completely motionless. He either either catatonic or such a grizzled veteran of foul balls and homers that he's totally nonplussed by a batted ball coming his way.
This is amazing.
I've been to a billion baseball games. I've picked up a home run ball and I've come close to a few foul balls, but the one thing that happened every time a ball came close was that the people the ball was traveling toward either freaked out, ducked for cover, started knocking people over, or basically just lost their minds.
Not this guy.
I've been to games where the ball doesn't even come close to people and yet they still do all these things, and yet this main demonstrated such poise, such indifference, in the face of both potential danger and the potential fleeting glory of nabbing a souvenir.
Amazing.
-Thank you, Tony LaRussa.
Brandon Phillips before the break hit .280 with a .750 OPS
Brandon Phillips after the break is hitting .327 with an .853 OPS
-This ain't good.
Kyle Cook has a significant foot injury. Joe Reedy goes in-depth about what this means...
....this is the worst possible injury at the worst possible time. If Whitworth was injured, you could see Collins stepping into the spot. At center, you have to do a ton of juggling which isn’t the best thing or go out and find someone. With Faine at least the latter option exists.
Faine, a former first-round pick, would provide a veteran presence and more important is someone who has worked in a Gruden offense. There is one caveat — according to Pro Football Focus he graded as the fourth-worst run blocking center. But Faine is the best possible option on the street right now and trying to take a gamble that something would develop in the waiver wire is a huge gamble.
Can the preseason end already?
40% of the projected starters on the offensive look to be done for the season. There's bad news about the secondary on what seems like a daily basis. The starting running back has been out since suffering an injury in the first pretend game. Carlos Dunlap is dealing with his third knee injury in three years.
I'm almost afraid to search for any news on my favorite football team.
-At least I'm not walking around with this...
-What do you do if you're Dusty Baker and Bryan Price in the postseason?
Let's say the Reds get homefield in the NLDS. This year, there's a quirk in the schedule that dictates that the team with homefield goes on the road for games one and two, then hosts games three through five.
What tough decision could this mean for the Reds? Cueto and Latos are locks to make the rotation. Arroyo is a safe bet, and since no pitcher not named "Bronson" has ever gone on three days rest, the Reds will probably use a fourth starter and I'll bet right now it'd be Homer Bailey.
Ordinarily, you'd start your ace (that's Johnny Cueto if you're new) in game one, meaning he'd pitch a potential game five, right? But given Bailey's home/road splits (5.58 at GABP/2.91 everywhere else) do they slide him up in the rotation and have him pitch on the road in a game two? If they win game one, it takes pressure off Homer. If they lose game one, at least they'll have Homer pitching somewhere other than GABP, with Latos, Arroyo, and Cueto behind him, all at home, softening the blow of a 2-0 deficit?
A little premature, but still, fun to think about.
-This is a big win for ESPN, but it's a big win for baseball. More eyeballs need access to the sport.
-The bad news: If you attend a Browns game this year, you'll get kicked out if you stand to cheer a home team touchdown. The good news: You won't be compelled to stand all that often this season.
-High school football in Michigan looks fun...
-Here's today's terrible idea of the day: A movement toward a 24-second shot clock in college hoops. Survey the landscape of college basketball point guard play and get back to me on whether this is a good idea.
-I love Springsteen, but these are creepy.
-More later, including today's radio show and a blow previewing it. From the University of Kentucky, here's the world's largest water balloon fight...
