You can't think that in the thick of a pennant race I've given up on the Reds. Quite the contrary, in fact. I've been spending all of my time over at redreporter.com. Too much time. I find myself in the same boat as Sister Daedalus - it seems like I have sacrificed my social life for the Reds this season. Seriously, if you're a Reds fan who has happened to wander into my little blog here, go check out Red Reporter sometime: JD runs a good ship over there. I'm "Ash" 'cause, you know I pride myself on my creativity and the fact that I'm so darn clever. Ok, it was simple, and it's me.

So, why am I back? Well... Daedalus has prompted me into action. She has written a letter in response to a column in a little nothing Cincinnati paper called City Beat.If Daedalus is indeed a "juvenile blogger," I would be proud to be called the same.

I have yet to come across a Reds blog that has been active for any length of time that is not full of insight or humor, or even both. My own blog isn't chock full of stats and facts, but rather my opinions, thoughts, rants, and raves, with a helping of actual fact thrown in there to make me seem legit. ****, I am legitimate. I don't need a million readers or a column in City Beat to legitimize my fandom, and I don't need either of those things to legitimize my opinion that Jerry Narron is, in general, an absolute M0R0N.

I was going to pick and choose points Mr. Bill "Who?" Peterson (Classic, Daedalus, classic!) made and offer my own opinion, but why bother? I know what I know, I know that Daedalus already ripped him a new one, and I know that I can back up my not-so-glowing opinion of Narron with any number of W T F!? moves from many games throughout the season.

I think the bottom line is that Mr. "Who?" missed the point: He could have taken his column and written a beautiful piece on how excited/thrilled/hopeful the Reds fans are that are out there to see their team making a run for the postseason. Instead, he took shots at those of us who nickname players (ESPN analysts call Dunn the "Big Donkey" for chrissakes!), and those of us who spend our time filling blogs with our "juvenile" thoughts and opinions. Yes, Jerry Narron is the manager of a team that has done much better than expected, but he isn't responsible for the mostly wonderful year being had by Aaron Harang, the hot start by Bronson Arroyo, etc. I shudder to think where this team might be if Edwin's bat had been in the lineup as opposed to Royce Clayton's. The recent overuse of Ryan Franklin is the latest in a long line of managerial blunders courtesy of Mr. Narron, whose Reds might just be winning in spite of his management, instead of because of it.

So, good job, Mr. "Who?" - you've made an army of enemies out of people who love the Reds. I do have to feature one of your quotes:

There's a pretty good chance the Reds are doing better than their critics.

Surely by critics, you don't mean us. I am sometimes critcal, but never a critic. I am first and foremost a fan. What kind of a fan would I be if I never showed my displeasure with a decision here, a roster move there?

This blog would make for a boring read, no?

As ever, go Redlegs. Hopefully Jerry'll leave his boy Franklin out of the next couple of games...

7:00 am. I'm awake, not after a good night's sleep, but still awake from the day before. The Reds have been on my mind a lot lately, not to the point that this is what is keeping me up at night - blame my bizarre work schedule on that one - but I do find myself thinking about the Reds in the wee hours of the morning when I still happen to be awake. I was prompted to writing this morning thanks to Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer. He's not someone whose opinion I normally look forward to hearing (well, you know, reading), but I did like his column in this morning's edition. He talks about Junior and how he was told by ownership and management that he'd have a winning team built around him when he came to join the Reds. Daugherty, putting it succinctly, says that "{t}hey lied. Until now."

I like Griffey. I like Junior even when he is in the throes of a terrible .180-post-All-Star slump. I want to see him win, not only because he is a Cincinnati Red, but because he seems to be such a wonderful human, and such a wonderful athlete. Daugherty notes that "Ken Griffey Jr. finally is in a playoff race as a Red." And here I wonder, the morning after a 10-4 loss at the hands of the Dodgers, is this really a playoff-caliber team? Buster Olney and Steve Phillips ::shudder:: say so. Paul Daugherty, who, it seems to me, is always and forever down on the Reds, seems to think so. I don't know what to think anymore.

At the beginning of the season I said I'd be happy to see this team finish at .500 this season - that was before Wily Mo for Bronson, before a team-record number of wins in April... before The Trade. At the beginning of the season, Sports Illustrated projected the Reds to finish last in the National League Central, the 28th ranked team in all of baseball. Booyah. So what does all of that mean here on August 2nd? Absolutely nothing. In a weakened NL, the Reds are the current Wild Card, 1 game ahead of the Arizona Dimaondbacks. As for the NL Central, we're 3 1/2 back of a Cardinals team that made no significant deadline deals, unless you count the acquisition of Ronnie Belliard.

Back to the question I posed earlier: Is this really a playoff-caliber team?
I think it can be, but some things need to change if we're going to have a legitimate shot.

• Edwin Encarnacion needs to play every day.
• Royce McClayton needs to not play every day. And if he is playing, he needs to bat 8th. No exceptions.
• Someone needs to do some tinkering to the 25-man roster. This whole 3-catcher, 4-outfielder setup is going to bite us in the butt one of these days.
• Maj needs rest, apparently. Let him have it.
• Stop it with the Joe Mays, Esteban Yan, Lohse-type reclamation projects.
• Jerry needs to stop managing with his heart. Good lord, man, use your brain.
• Limit the defensive damage. Extra outs, errors... These kill.
• Either Eric Milton or Brandon Claussen (or both!!) need to step it up and pitch some good baseball.
• Junior needs to de-slump. Now. (I know he will.)

That isn't in any particular order, but freeing Edwin and getting Junior back on track are #1 and #2 in my book.

Looking at that list kinda frightens me. If that's what my sleep-deprived mind could list without too much careful planning, imagine what I've forgotten...

So, anyway, that is how I'm looking at things. My favorite sports team would make the playoffs if the season ended today. That is awesome considering it's August. Then again, it's August. There are two months of play left, and I can honestly say that with this streaky team, I have no idea what is going to happen.

"Until now."  -  I certainly hope so, Paul.