They finally did it! They beat Roy O, Professional Reds Killer.

I was there, one of 32,078. It was amazing.

Must run to celebrate a birthday, but more on tonight's win later!

I don't know where all the speculation and questions surrounding the ownership of the Washington Nationals is coming from... I can tell you who owns the Nats.

The Cincinnati Reds.

Since the Expos moved to Washington and became the Nationals, the Reds have a 8-1 record against the team that is supposed to contend and be better than the Reds. BOOYAH to you, Bowden.

Today was no exception. Not only did the Reds beat the Nationals, they dominated the Nationals, with three pitchers combining to allow only one hit the entire game. I can't remember the last time I've seen the Reds pull something like that off. Have I ever seen that?

I was excited when Krivsky brought in Arroyo from Boston, but I never would have imagined that I would see him begin his tenure as a Red with a 4-0 record. Dunner looks to be removing himself from his funk... first come the singles, then the doubles, and then the homers. Freel got on base twice... Edwin has moved behind only Pujols in the NL RBI count. (Who would have thought that!? I need to see if he's available in my Fantasy League!)

I don't think there is a doubt in anybody's mind that this upcoming homestand beginning Friday is important. While not necessarily huge at this point in the season, a good showing will go a long way for this team and possibly get some people in Cincinnati to wake up and realize just what is going on down at Great American.

I'll be there on Friday, will you?

After sixteen straight days of ball, the Reds are off Thursday. Good... and yet... with the momentum this team has behind it, it's tough to see them get a day off, followed by a game against Roy "If the Reds own the Nats, then I own the Nats by default" Oswalt. Friday has got to be the night, right? 15-0? That's just too good.

Oh, and thank you Dave Ross... there was no way the Reds could go three straight games without a homer. Even at RFK. My head would have exploded.

Enjoy the day off, Redlegs, and be ready for Friday.

Did I just call Dave Williams' mediorce pitching performance?
"Not hard!" you say? I agree, but a post or two ago I specifically asked Williams for 5 innings and no more than 4 runs...

Dave Williams tonight: 5+IP, 4ER, 0K, 1BB (Yes, kids, he got the win.)

Sometimes I frighten myself.

It's official: I have my tickets to the Baseball 101 Ladies Luncheon that is to be held on May 9th.

Am I excited? Sure... Brennaman is going to be there, and that alone is worth the price of admission in my opinion. At the same time, I'll say what I said when my mother suggested that we attend - "I don't know how I feel about going to something called 'Baseball 101' - I think I'm probably at a post-graduate level."

I got laughs out of the people nearby with that one.

Now my goal is to convince mom that we can't just go to the luncheon that Tuesday, we have to go to the game that night as well. How can I spend my day at Great American and not go to the game!? She'll come around.

Best of luck to the Reds tonight - I'll be at Benihana... with my wireless Internet handy.

Congratulations to EZ Ramirez, winner of the "I'm not a Major League pitcher, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night" Award!
I knew that if I spent as much time as humanly possible telling everyone who would listen how badly he would do tonight, that he would pitch seven + innings while giving up only 2ER, not to mention getting his first ML hit. Reverse psychology, it works! Now, let's see how the next couple of starts go because it looks to be a month before we get Milton back, and the spot in the rotation is Ramirez's after tonight's performance.

The Reds are off to their best start, 13-7, since the strike-shortened 1994 season. Hey, I'm impressed. And keep in mind, a good deal of this has been done sans Junior, who is due to come back Friday, I believe. I'm going to try hard not to get ahead of myself here, and keep in mind that the upcoming home-stand is going to be a big test of this team's chances. With three games against the Astros and two against the Cardinals, I'd be thrilled to take three wins, especially since I believe that Roy O is pitching Friday night... As most of you will know, Roy Oswalt owns the Reds like no other pitcher has ever owned any team... And I'll be there on Friday. :)

Today the Reds acquired Cody Ross, of multiple-HRs-against-the-Pirates-last-week fame, from the Dodgers for a player to be named or cash. Tony Womack was designated for assignment in a corresponding roster move. I can tell you that there are some absolutely thrilled Reds fans out there to not have Womack on the team any longer. Me? I really don't care either way... I do think that that $1.1 million that the Reds are going to eat from his contract if no trade is made is a nice piece of change, but that really can't be attributed to Krivsky, who inherited Womack from Dan O'Brien, and brought in a younger, brighter-so-far player in Brandon Phillips.

Before I forget, thank you to the LA Dodgers and No-mah-no-more Garciaparra for coming back and beating the Astros.

Well, tomorrow it's Dave Williams' turn again... Maybe he'll have a great night... All I want is 5 innings, no more than 4ER... can you handle that, Dave? Every time he has a bad start, he talks about how he's going to put this behind him and try and go out there next time and do a better job - let's see it.

Go Redleggins!

I've been too busy... I hate being so busy that I miss multiple games in a row. All I want to do tomorrow is sleep in and watch the Reds beat the Brewers @ 2:05 (hopefully!), but instead I have the honor of waking up at 7 and attending a training class (yes, on a Sunday) from 8am-6pm.

But anywhoo...

I figured the match up of Dontrelle Willis and Aaron Harang would be a good one, probably like many of you did. As we all know, Harang lasted only 4 innings and Willis pitched shutout ball... for a while. I was going to go to the game Wednesday afternoon, but I was called into work when someone else called in sick. I told my boss that if the Reds came back and won the game, I was never going to let him forget what I sacrificed seeing to help him out. I had the game on the radio at work, and the 8th inning was a very loud one inside the store, as I was an extremely ecstatic thanks to an incredible comeback.

Thursday was great as well, and again, I was stuck at work! Brandon Phillips has been a fantastic acquisition, and had an amazing night at the plate. He's not going to keep up this torrid pace, but if he's going to play every day as opposed to two or three platooning players playing at second, then someone will be ready to play all the time, as opposed to those players who have a chance of slumping without every-day playing time. Sorry, Womack... I know there are some people out there who are happy to see you riding the pine, no matter what you think your role should be with this team. It's going to be interesting to see what happens to Freel when Junior comes back... It's my opinion that he's gotta be in there, so...

Last night's game, again, played while I was working (AAARGH!), is one that has got to be making Red Sox fans, with David Wells going to the DL, etc., grumble. So far, Arroyo has been quite a pitcher for this team, and there can't be a soul on the Reds' end of the trade who doesn't think that Pena for Arroyo was great for the team. Eight innings of one run ball, especially after Arroyo's first pitch was hit out of the park? Amazing. (Thank you, TiVo, for recording this for me.)

The only good thing about my weekend chock full o' training is the fact that I wasn't able to sit through today's fiasco. After watching Claussen's last outing where he shut down the Marlins' offense for 7 innings and then reading today's news... it's amazing how much of a difference there was. I don't think you can say that he pitched well Monday because it was against the Marlins - they scored plenty of runs on Tuesday and Wednesday. I'm hoping that this was just some sort of insane fluke. I can't believe the Reds got shut out... that was possibly the biggest surprise for me as I was continually checking the score on my cell phone. ***** you, TiVo, for recording this for me.)

I just discovered that Milton's knee is bothering him again. ...great. So much for all of the talk about how strong his legs were and how good they felt. Perhaps it's something small and he really will pitch on Monday in DC. With Milton out, Harang is pitching tomorrow instead, and I'm almost certain that it will be a good rebound outing. I'm totally guessing, though, so best of luck, Aaron.

What would make my training go by faster tomorrow? A third win in four games against Milwaukee... I know the Reds can accomplish this.

I predicted a 4-3 road trip... now I'm saying 5-2... I dunno, it just seems like the Reds will take 2 of 3 in Washington. I'm too tired/lazy to back that up with any good reasoning right now, so my gut feeling will have to suffice.

Go Redlegs, make my day tomorrow better when I'm able to sneak a peek at the Internet on my phone!

My plea to the Cincinnati Enquirer:

Stop it with the "Arroyo comes in to stop the bleeding" and "Milton returns to 2005 form" headlines!

All we need is for the casual Reds fans to open the paper in the morning and go "Ah man, well... the Bengals will be playing again soon..."

Guys, gals, whomever: step back and take a breath! The Milton story header was in today's paper. Can't a starter have a bad day? (Granted that's a BAD day, but...) Look at it this way, perhaps: Two quality starts followed by a 9ERs-surrendered-performance as a three game cycle for the remainder of the season will leave Milton with a crappy ERA, but theoretically twice as many wins as losses. The likelihood of that happening? Not high, but at the same time, a complete reversion to last year's stats seems incredibly unlikely as well given that he is supposedly much healthier and has looked good in a few starts where things could have gone terribly wrong (Wrigley with the wind blowing out, anyone?).

The "Stop the bleeding" headline was either in the paper the day after Opening Day or the day of the second game. Again, "stop the bleeding?" Granted the loss was a big one, but it was one game of 162. One loss does not equal "bleeding" in my opinion, not even an Opening Day trouncing.

Of course, this is merely my opinion, and I'm not the one getting paid to write for a newspaper.

Upon further review... I'm right.

(My eternal Reds-related optimism shines through yet again...)

I decided around 6:00 tonight that I was going to go to the game. I stopped in at work on my off day to talk to my boss, and he brought up yesterday's game. That's pretty much when I decided to go - just because I knew the Reds would beat the Marlins tonight, and that is exactly what I needed to see.

Not only did the Redlegs win, they pretty much took apart Brian Moehler. As much as I like close, exciting games, I don't mind blowouts because I love to see excellent pitching performances from Reds pitchers, and that is exactly what Claussen gave all 16,960 of us watching tonight. 7IP, 7K, 0ER... Awesome. Even the 'pen looked decent... Burns, well, I hope he figures some things out. Soon.

Again, I say it... Austin Kearns is having a great April. The boss and I were talking about fantasy baseball earlier today, and I mentioned that I'd love to be able to draft Kearnsie onto one of my teams. He laughed. I looked at him for a second and then gave him the stats, and he ceased his laughing and said "Oh really?" Ha! On second thought, however, he picked up Freel for his team last week, and ever since then Freel has been hitting the ball right at fielders - 1 for 5 tonight - maybe I should tell him to trade for Pujols.

Every starting position player had a hit tonight, and oddly, everyone by Freel scored a run. Five different players had RBI, and Brandon Phillips had 4! He's looking pretty good so far... On the not-so-great end of things, Claussen's control was not stellar - I didn't write down his exact ball to strike count, but he was at around 110 pitches over 7 innings, and it was probably about 45-50 balls to 60-65 strikes. I'm not going to complain too loudly, however, because not one of his two walks came around to score.

I'd like to see a replay on the caught stealing call on Ryan Freel at third in the second inning - I was sitting in the Moon Deck so not even close to the play, and then someone (unlike myself) who remembered to bring their radio, commented that Marty was "going ballistic" over the call.

All in all, a good night down at Great American... Here's to good pitching and one heck of an offense!

Fan notes:

One of Edwin's AB songs is Kanye West's "Golddigger" ... It's a tad disconcerting to hear the five year old sitting right next to you sing along word for word. ... An inning or two later, he was talking about how hot dogs give his dad heartburn... !! ... Not things I said or did when I was five... Smart kid?

In the top of the 6th inning, the Ohio State fans in attendance could be heard throughout the stadium when "Hang On Sloopy" was playing. Being an OSU fan myself, I absolutely love that stuff! O-H-I-O! ...The Reds need a song... and I'm not talking about those creepy songs that they already have - those of you who have been to a game in the past two seasons know what I'm talking about. Something good.

_____

Thoughts and best wishes to Sean Casey who is currently on the DL after suffering two broken vertebrae in his lower back.

I was 2/3 of the way done with my post, and everything just disappeared. One good thing I can say about that happening is that it took my mind off of the game that has had me fuming for the past hour - instead of being upset by the walk-off loss, I got to let off some steam by cussing at my computer!

I still remember the first line of the post:

The worst losses are the ones that come in the last at bat.

Obvious enough, but it's something that you don't spend too much time thinking about until it happens to your team. Walk-off losses HURT! Three homers by one guy on the opposing team hurts! Blown saves hurt!

...I don't feel like rehashing what I previously wrote, so I'll just say this: The Reds need to take this, file it away as a learning experience, and go out tomorrow night and spank the young Marlins silly.

I said the Reds would take 3 of 4 from the Buccos, and they did. I said they'd split the road trip - they did. My brain is shouting that I should say they'll take 2 of 3 from the Marlins... But I'm saying SWEEP! (Reds over the Marlins, of course.)

I've said this before, and I'm sure I will have cause to say it again: Albert Pujols is the best player in baseball. Bar none - against the Reds, against anyone. I just wish he wasn't so good against the Redlegs!

Shake it off, guys, you'll see the Cardinals again.

Friday night's game in one word: Amazing.
Saturday's game: not so much...

Aaron Harang looked like the Reds' ace last night - in fact, he could easily have passed for the ace of any staff in baseball in my opinion. A 1-0 win over the Cards in which the 'pen looked great and Harang got a hit and the only RBI of the game? Seriously, what are the odds? Todd Coffey somehow got Jim Edmonds to strike out on what looked like ball four, which if it had been ball four, would have walked in a run and tied the game.

Dave Williams, who pitched a decent game his last time out - six innings, 2ER - looked completely over-matched by the Cardinals today. 3 innings, 6 runs? Those are Miltonian stats circa 2005! The last thing we need is another pitcher who gives up 3 dingers a game! I am comforted, however, by the fact that you can't win 'em all, and if the Reds are going to lose, and Burns is going to have a crappy day out of the 'pen, it might as well have been today, and hopefully Arroyo can go out tomorrow, hit three more homers and pitch a complete game shutout.

I'm easy, though - I'll settle for a sac. bunt and a quality start. ;)

• Milton pitched 6 2/3 innings of good baseball yesterday. A couple of walks, but 5Ks... 2 ER, one off of a homer.
• Griffey got the day off due to the stiffness in his right knee... he is day-to-day, which makes me wonder if he'll start tonight or not. I'm sure it's Junior's call, but Narron might take into consideration the fact that Junior doesn't hit too well off of Chris Carpenter, the Cards' starter for tonight's opener.
• It's the Redlegs' first visit to the New Busch Stadium - here's to hoping that they start things off right by hitting some balls into the seats in the outfield!
• Harang is starting his third game of the season tonight, and hopefully he can continue to get progressively better as he did from his Opening Day start to his start last Saturday against the Pirates. At the very least, let's lower the nearly-8-and-a-half ERA a tad.
• A couple of consecutive scoreless innings from the 'pen!? Let's keep it going!

...Everyone watching or listening to the game tonight: Enjoy! ...I have to work.

Go Redlegs!

Seen after Wednesday's error-filled 4-1 loss to the Cubbies, as reported by a fly on the wall:

Brandon Claussen chasing Edwin Encarnacion through the visitors clubhouse with a copy of Harold Reynolds' defensive skills video.
Said Reds left fielder Adam Dunn upon witnessing the scene, "Hey, everyone has a bad day in the field." He continued on after a laugh, "It's nice to be at home with a sympathetic official scorer, though, because I only got one [error]!" obviously referring to his Opening Day performance at Great American Ballpark.
Brandon Claussen, not amused to hear someone laughing after the error-filled loss, left his chase of Edwin and started immediately towards Dunn, before quickly realizing that the ex-football player would probably rip his arms off. Claussen immediately regained his cool, then shrugged in defeat, muttering "We'll get 'em next time."

My favorite thing to do when the Reds punch another team in the face?
...read the blogs written by the opposing team's fans!

::evil laugh::

It's a shame that my work schedule interferes with my ability to watch baseball on TV. Wednesday - day game, televised on WGN, but I work 9-9. I should write a letter or something... this seems horribly unfair.***** the never-ending need to make money to live!

In an effort to see games that I would normally miss, I did break down and buy TiVo. (Note: I could probably go and work for the company based on the number of people to whom, and number of times, I have extolled the virtues of said product.) Having said that, however, I have a horrible feeling that TiVo will somehow fail me later today while I am at work. Example: I got home last night expecting to be able to watch a recorded game featuring the Braves and Phillies from ESPN... TiVo had instead recorded 'The Ten Commandments' over on CBS. A sign from God? Perhaps... but my guess is that A. Someone changed my settings, or B. I stupidly, accidentally replaced baseball with a Biblical mini-series starring Dougray Scott as Charlton Heston... er... Moses.

I'm going to go check my settings now... I better not get home from work tomorrow night to find three hours of Britney Spears or Sean Combs trying to sell me Proactive - that would not a happy Ashlee make!

...To answer my own question... TiVo, or any DVR setup, is amazing. If you can't be home for it, it's there when you get back... at the same time, you end up watching an amount of television exponentially multiplied by the amount you previously viewed, so don't fall too deep into that hole.

Just make sure you're recording the right program - unless you like surprises!

I couldn't let this slip by without saying something...

Brandon Phillips on his new life as a Cincinnati Red:

"It was kind of frustrating, just being without a team. Now I'm here. I'm loving Cincinnati," Phillips said. "The clubhouse is nice. The food is nice. All the coaches and players, they seem real laid back and cool. I think I'm going to have fun."
(Mark Sheldon, mlb.com)

Translation: "I love the food! I love the city! ...oh, yeah, the guys are good, too."

Brandon Phillips' priorities in life:

1. A nice place to hang out and change clothes before the game.
2. Good food
Last, but hopefully not least...
3. "Laid back and cool" coaches and teammates.

I can't give him too much of a ribbing, though: He got a hit in his first Reds AB yesterday! Best of luck, #4!

I said the Reds would take 3 of 4 from the Pirates... Unfortunately, I was right.

Well, Tuesday marks the beginning of some actual schedule challenges - The Cubs at Wrigley, and then the Cards at the New Busch. I'm not making any predictions - I just want to see how they fare on the road, and I pray it will be better than last season, because last season's road record was abysmal. I'd be pleased with a split in the six games played. We just need to keep scoring runs and getting this good - excellent, walk-less starting pitching we've seen over the last few starts. Some of the bullpen is looking better, meanwhile, the defense continues to make bonehead plays. ::shrug:: I don't know what it is going to take for these guys to start calling the ball in the cases of collisions, but I hope they figure something out very soon.

Harang looked better yesterday, and will continue to improve over his next few starts, I think. Dave Williams really impressed me today, considering he is the " #5 Starter." A few walks and a hit batter, but only 2 ER... not bad. Merck with the perfect 3 K inning... nice. I'm not happy with today's loss, but I'm not absolutely disgusted with the team, even though this game could easily have been won if a few things had turned out a bit differently - Javy's E which led to a run, Womack's out at the plate in the sixth, Belisle's not-so-good outing, etc.

No game tomorrow, and no work for me. Why do I always seem to get my days off when there is no game to attend/watch/listen to? Ces't la vie.

On to Chicago... Go Reds!

Why I love Ryan Freel, Reason # 495:

Freel, talking about the Reds acquisition of Brandon Phillips and the possibility that GM Wayne Krivsky is aligning players for a trade...

"It looks like that could be the road [Krivsky] goes down," Freel said. "With me and Tony switching and playing second base and Richie swinging the bat well, there are a lot of different things they could do. I don't like to think they'll make a trade. I hope to God they don't trade me. I want to end my career here as a Cincinnati Red, but I have no control over that."
(Mark Sheldon / MLB.com)

Yeah, that's the kind of stuff fans like to hear.

"...and this one finally belongs to the Reds!"

Gotta love Marty Brennaman. His reaction was absolutely correct - following a 2-hour-plus rain delay, Milty pitches a gem and the bullpen almost gives it away in the 9th... It took, what? Three pitchers to get three outs... Hammonds, Weathers, and Merck? I must admit that when I saw Mercker trotting out to the mound, my eternal Reds-related optimism slipped a notch - but that was before I discovered that Burnitz was like 1-25 versus Mercker. Narron made the correct move - again.

I got to the ballpark just around 7 for the supposed 7:10 start. I was set to meet a friend of mine before the game, but I didn't see him where we had agreed to rendezvous, and he wasn't in his usual section - 419, always 419. I was filling out the scorecard, and I noticed the grounds crew running out onto the field where they proceeded to roll out the tarp... "Oh ****." Thus began a 2 hour, 25 minute rain delay. Fortunately even though I didn't run into Steve (419 guy), I got a text from two other friends letting me know they were in 425... I love it when things work out like that. I moseyed on over to 425 and we waited through the torrential downpours and the insane lightning, and generally had a great time. Best of all, about 9:30 we got the word that the game would be played! Yay! I love rain delays if only for the simple fact that they weed out the people who really don't want or care to be there. There were a few thousand left when the game started, and it's amazing how into the game those people are.

As I stated before, Milton looked good. Period. A few K's, no walks (That was 20+ innings with 0 walks until Hammonds gave up one in the 8th!). 7IP, 2 ER... A homer, of course ;), to Sean Casey. 9 ground outs, 9 fly outs... the ratio is getting much better... Now, the bullpen... 4 runs in two innings. No, Dunner's E didn't help matters, but all 4 runs were still considered earned. Fortunately, David Ross' shot into the bleachers in left, which was originally an insurance run, ended up being the key, winning run - as much as I love extra innings, I have to be at work at 8:30 in the morning (yes, in seven hours!), and I wanted to get a move on.

Felipe! Felipe! ... Two beautiful shots to pretty much the same place - the grassy knoll in center field. Kearns got a hit with two on for two, two-out RBI. ...as some guy sitting a few rows behind me shouts at the field that this is his "last chance" and that if he didn't get a hit there, he'd never amount to anything... something like that. Well, Kearns did get a hit, and I didn't hear another word from the guy behind me for the rest of the game. Booyah.

Harang tomorrow, certainly looking to improve upon his OD performance. I have a feeling the 10.8 ERA will be a bit lower by the end of the game. Call it a hunch. Unfortunately, I have no such hunches or feelings when it comes to the 'pen... That's my big worry right now, and I'm betting I'm not the only worried party.

I guess we'll just have to keep cranking out multiple HRs every night. :)

...go Reds!

And now, ladies and gentlemen, a re-enactment of the events in my living room during the bottom of the eighth inning...

<Adam Dunn is up with two outs, runners on first and second. The game is tied at 5. He hits the ball into left center field...>

"Get down, get DOWN!!" ... The ball bounces off of the grass and into Chris Duffy's glove "YESS!!" ... 'Out' is the signal from the ump at second base "NOOOOOOOOOOO... It BOUNCED!!!" I jump up out of my chair and immediately rush to the television, shouting at the umpire to talk to the other umps, somehow believing he can hear me... "Are you KIDDING ME!? COME ON!!" ...

Thankfully, the umpires got together at Narron's insistence and did reverse the call, which then led to Denorfia scoring a run and the Reds re-claiming the lead, and the eventual win. And it was a hit, there is no question about that.

Man, I really want to be at GABP when Dunner hits one of those monster shots that actually leaves the confines of the stadium. Apparently tonight's shot which "split the uprights" (the Power Stacks in right center) so to speak, bounced off of the concourse and down onto Mehring Way, where it then hit a car that was passing by... Even more interesting, the word is that the driver stopped his car, got out, retrieved the ball, and got back in his car and continued on his way. Who knows how true this is... I still got a good laugh out of it!

As for the homer, as soon as Junior bounced into the double play and Dunn came up with the bases empty I offhandedly remarked "now he'll hit a home run... watch." And, of course, he did. It's just one of those baseball things, I think.

Claussen looked pretty good, kids. 5 k's, 0 walks... one mistake pitch to Joe Randa. Yes, you'd like to see him go out there for a few more innings, but the situation in the bottom of the fifth called for a pinch hitter, and Narron pulled the right strings with Encarnacion. Bullpen looked pretty strong, except for White's pitch to Doumit that barely made the seats. Weathers was on his game tonight with some quick outs against some tough hitters... 9 strikeouts overall, and best stat of the night: 0 walks! Again! ...yes, I am aware Claussen hit 3 batters, but he recovered for the most part, and only one of them scored.

Isn't it amazing how absolutely atrocious Kearns can look in one AB, before coming right back two innings later and having a solid at bat with an extra base hit? Flashes of brilliance...

Tomorrow night: Eric Milton vs. Himself  - The Rematch, 2006 style.
I'm going, and dammit, I'm not sitting in the Moon Deck because I don't expect there to be any balls that make it out there... unless struck by someone wearing red pinstripes. ...always the optimist... :)

I said the Reds would take three of four in this series, and we're off and running... let's not stumble in game two!

I didn't say it here, but I did announce yesterday that the Reds would win today's game. I should trust my gut more often.

Ryan Freel.

Yes, he gets his own paragraph. 3 runs scored, 3 stolen bases... manufacturing the 8th run of the game virtually under his own steam. I love watching him play.

Bronson Arroyo can hit, too? Now we're going to expect a homer every fifth day! ;) Yes, the home run was great, but the sacrifice bunt might possibly even be better because that's what he is going to be called on to do more often than not, and it looks like he can get one down... something that has been difficult for Reds pitchers to do over the last few seasons.

It's nice, when surrounded by Cubs fans, to hear their "Let's go Cubbies" chanting cut short by a great play or a Reds hit. One of my bosses at work (a huuuuge Cardinals fan) said something on Saturday that made me laugh: "The Cardinals could finish fifth, and so long as the Cubs finish sixth, it was a good season." I know where he's coming from.

I saw some more lousy pitching this afternoon, but fortunately more of it can be attributed to Chicago's starter and 'pen. People harp on the Reds bullpen... I've got to say, the Cubs' ain't looking much better. Williamson has control problems, Jerome Williams gave up three runs (2 ER), and that was just today. Six walks given up by Cubs pitching today... Conversely, Arroyo struck out seven and didn't walk a single batter... Coffey looked good, even if his outs were looonnnng outs, and Weathers looked even better. 3 homers for the Reds, 3 for the Cubbies... standard for GABP, I guess.

I'm still not convinced that the Reds will end the season in the basement of the NL Central, and I think the next four games with the Pirates will either be a nice look into whether or not I'm absolutely kidding myself. I'm thoroughly convinced Claussen will improve, and that Milton will be better... I'm waiting to see how Dave Williams handles a start against his former club, especially since I have yet to really see him pitch. I was in Pittsburgh for the final Reds visit there last season, and if I remember correctly, he did have a start in that series, but I can't really remember taking a good look at him... I was too excited by the fact it was my first out-of-town series and because the Reds won all three games... As for Harang, well, his OD start was not what we're going to see every time he goes out there - we all know that.

I leave you with this closing thought... for those of you who are unaware, the Reds now have cheerleaders. I think they are officially called the Pepsi MDX (?) Dancers... yeah... they dance on top of the dugouts with shiny pom poms and skimpy clothing... they're cheerleaders! I was initially reluctant to think this was a good idea, but I talked to a few of them today and the best part was that they were genuinely interested in the game, and that goes a long way with me. They also had the crowd near them clapping along with the music and a few adventurous souls were dancing along with them. So, dance on, ladies, keep the fans entertained between innings.

I wore my Reds jacket today... and I got the looks and comments I expected.

My boss asked me if I had "recovered from" yesterday. Someone else asked me "What happened?" I later received a text message from a good friend and fellow fan asking me "What's up with your man Adam?" ...it goes on...

My response to the question about Dunn: "A homer and a sac fly... not too shabby!" Of course, I haven't forgotten the error and the various other miscues scored as hits, but it does seem that everyone has forgotten about the good that did happen yesterday.

Yes, the Reds lost good and hard, but it was one game. Good pitching and defense, the two cornerstones of any good team were virtually absent yesterday, but I'm not convinced what we saw is a good representation of what is going to happen over the next 161 games. Come on, guys, last year started off with a bang... and look where it ended. Maybe this is exactly the embarrassment that the team needs to light a fire under it. There are no excuses to be heard, no one is pointing fingers, and that is perhaps the best sign to be seen.

I got into a heated discussion with the new guy at work today. He had just finished talking about how he made $1500 off of buying and selling Opening Day tickets, and although I did not ask outright, I am relatively sure he didn't go. He has seemingly given up on the season. He's convinced that trading Wily Mo for Arroyo was a horrible mistake, even though he didn't like Pena. His reasoning? They could have gotten someone better. My response: Possibly, but not likely - the Reds needed pitching, and no one is going to give up a great starter thisclose to the beginning of the season, much less for someone as unproven as Wily Mo, even if he does have enough potential to fill an ocean. He also said Krivsky "hasn't done enough." Well, in the limited amount of time he's been the GM, he's made some acquisitions and a trade that I think have strengthened the team... that's as much as we can ask for someone who has been here only a few months. Give the man some time! The thing that sticks out in my mind is when he said "What? Am I supposed to wait around for Homer Bailey?" Yes! If this guy can do half of what he is supposedly capable of, he will be helping the Reds in a big way in the near future. He then said that Bailey is going to go the way of Brandon Larson. I think that's the point when I decided that his credibility was shot. He seemed to be a big fan of Edwin Encarnacion, however, stating that he's the "best third baseman" the Reds have had since Sabo. (In his opinion Aaron Boone is grossly overrated.) ...work is going to be interesting for the next six months, I have a feeling. I talk about the Reds a lot, and I can't wait to see what he says next.

I suffer from Tangent Syndrome when I write... I do apologize.

I'm going back to Great American tomorrow, and I know I will have a good time... The ballpark is electric, and there is no place I'd rather be on a sunny, 60 degree afternoon. I'm looking forward to tomorrow because it will be a beautiful day, and a wonderful second chance for the Reds to start their season.

...161 more to go.

As ever, Go REDS!