A FEW MO' THINGS, 9/20/12
I faced a dilemma this morning: Sit in my kitchen and blog while trying to come up with yet another angle on the Reds' postseason rotation or trying to figure out how to manufacture something that isn't there....or have breakfast with my grandmother.

I chose grandma.

And now I'm short on time.

The details of last night's game, and Drew Stubbs heroics, are obscured by two things....

1)  Dusty Baker's health.

2)  The fact that they're gonna clinch at home.

I know the Reds will need some cooperation from one of two really bad teams, and they'll need to win today in Chicago, but I'll still betting on Friday.  It's the #RedsTweetup.  You need to be there.

Regardless of when the Reds clinch, the next step is buying up as much NL Central Champs gear as possible.  Such swag has a short shelf life - admittedly you do look kind of goofy wearing your division title stuff weeks after a quick exit from the playoffs and if they do advance in the postseason, you'd rather wear the shirts touting the more recent accomplishment - but few emotionally charged-up fans can resist geting their hands on overpriced loot with their team's logo and the word "champions" on it.

MLB keeps the stuff under wraps until a team clinches, so we won't see what the Reds will be hawking deep into the early-morning hours right after the clinching, but here's to hoping the shirts in 2012 look a little cooler than the shirts from 2010...

It's not necessarily that they were ugly shirts, it's just that they were a little too busy, maybe a little too NASCAR-ish for my liking.

Let's hope that like the Reds postseason fortunes, the apparel this year improves from two years ago.

-Good article here from one of Dusty Baker's former players, who writes about Baker indeed being a player's manager....
Dusty's speeches to us were one-of-a-kind. I had a constant half-smile on my face to the point where my cheeks got tired. He didn't quote Vince Lombardi, Jackie Robinson or Earl Weaver. He quoted 50 Cent. Baker always was up on pop culture, keeping things loose, enjoying the music. I think one of our NLCS speeches was out of a scene from "The Godfather."

We use the term "player's manager" with derision.  I've always wondered, what's wrong with the guy you're working for wanting his workers enjoying the man they're working for.

As I told you, short and sweet today.  We have a radio show at 3:04 on ESPN1530.  Madieu Williams and Solomon Wilcots are among our guests.  We'll have a blog previewing it.  In the meantime, let's settle an age-old debate.