Cincinnati Reds leave town with the Ohio Cup! Please take Wedge and Shapiro too! posted by Brad VanFossan

Cleveland Indians vs. Cincinnati Reds

June 28, 2009 - Progressive Field, Cleveland, Ohio

David Huff vs. Micah Owings

Watching the Indians lately is liking going into something knowing in advance it’s going to give you a migraine but you continue with it anyway. With aspirin in hand, I’m ready to watch game three of the “Ohio Cup”. I haven’t heard of a worse cup since the Apple Cup between Washington and Washington State. Today is game one without Mark DeRosa, who was acquired from the Cubs in the off season for three pitchers, then later traded to the Cardinals for a pitcher and a player to be named later? Makes sense when pitching has been the weakest part of your club right?

Some things that caught my script “I”:

-Nice to see Asdrubal Cabrera back in the lineup, and he picks up where he left off with a leadoff single.

-This Reds team has one pretty good hitter, an ok 2nd baseman, a supposed “can’t miss” prospect hitting .213 and a bunch of Triple A filler, and yet they hit around Tribe pitching as if they were the Philadelphia Phillies.

-Other than Fill The House for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the other Fill The House dates for charities, I urge fans not to go see this horrendous team until changes are made, let Dolan sit and spin on that.

-There is no reason Eric Wedge should have a job later tonight or tomorrow morning. I think it’s going to finally happen. Shapiro will probably make it til the end of the year though.

-To all of the Eric Wedge supporters out there, let’s put things in perspective a bit. Ask yourself this…once he’s out of Cleveland, will he ever have another Major League managing job again? I would be willing to bet anything the answer to that question is NO! (rinse and repeat and fill in Mark Shapiro for Wedge)

Reds have the effect of a bad meal, Indians get the runs, win 9-2 posted by Brad VanFossan

Indians vs. Reds

Friday June 26, 2009

Progressive Field - Cleveland, Ohio

Jeremy Sowers vs. Aaron Harang

Interleague foes have led to interleague woes for the Tribe this year. Coming into tonight’s game vs. Cincinnati, the Indians are 4-11 vs. National League opponents. One good thing going into tonight, this Reds lineup doesn’t look the least intimidating on paper, minus Joey Votto, it’s nothing to write home about. Then again, neither is ours!

Some things that caught my script “I” during the game, today, or from recent happenings:

-If you’ve gotten a negative vibe in my writing lately, you’re correct. I really don’t have too much good to say about the Indians and I probably won’t until there are upper and field level management changes, but I will still give credit where credit is due to individual players and I still want to see this team win games.

-Brandon Phillips is on pace for 100 RBI’s this year. (See http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=89823427695&ref=ts)

-One commercial that’s gotten on my nerves for awhile now that finally needs mentioning is the Continental Airlines one where they compare adding new planes to their fleet as if they were newborn babies. And not to mention the woman saying it is almost as annoying as Flo from Progressive.

-Announcer goof of the night: In the top of the 2nd when Johnny Gomes was on second, Rick Manning mentioned that Gomes wouldn’t be running and on the very next pitch he took off on a hit and run (no harm done, it was just funny, see http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=96108064818)

How are the Reds doing? Better than my fantasy team... posted by Matthew Deitner

Here we are at a little over two months into the baseball season; far enough in to create speculation and make predictions, but not too far in as to be entirely right in those predictions. So far I see the predictions made about the Reds to be correct. Good pitching, but the hitting is lacking. It's better than I thought it would be, but still lacking. Votto has been amazing until he started having the dizzy spells, Nix has been a great find in left field, and it may be too early to tell, but Gomes may just be worth more than we think he is.

     None of the pre-season predictions had the Reds this close to the top at this point in the season. After the loss to the Cards tonight they are only 2.5 games out of first, behind the Brewers and the Cards, ahead of Chicago. They seem to be holding their own against these division rivals too, taking 2 of 4 from the Cards in St. Louis, although they did falter a bit against the Brew Crew last weekend. The weekend series against the Cubs will be crucial in deciding where their season goes from here.

      If they are to stay in this then they obviously need some key players to stay healthy. Votto is having a little trouble and it seems like his situation is a bit different. Let's all hope that he can come back focused. Volquez is another piece that needs to get well soon. Unless Maloney comes up and throws a no hitter, Volquez's arm will be a deciding factor down the stretch. I know Encarnacion is on the DL as well, but I'm not convinced that we're a better team with him activated. Management seems to think so, but with him out Hairston is getting more playing time, which I think is a good thing, we need him at the top of the lineup.

My Brief Thoughts on Replay posted by Robert Shatzkin

I don’t like where this is going.

One of the chief criticisms of baseball is that it puts people to sleep. It’s slow, it’s boring, nothing happens and the games last forever. That’s what foreigners and Communists say at least - and those people who don’t understand the tension and the passion of a well pitched game. Well here’s a brilliant plan – let’s create a situation where everybody stands around while a group of umpires disappear for ten minutes to watch replays of a disputable home run. So instead of a game taking three and a half hours, by the time everything gets sorted out and play resumes it now takes three hours and forty five minutes. Not what I’d call an effective strategy for speeding up games. I’ve got plenty of ideas for picking up the pace and that’s definitely not one of them.

Now don’t get me wrong, I actually like the idea of getting the call right. I think it’s insane to expect umpires to make a call correctly in seconds from hundreds of feet away watching a tiny white sphere vanish into a sea of thousands of different colored fans. That is expecting way too much when they can barely see things happening right in front of them. I also realize that the system is brand new, so there are going to be kinks to work out. But when we already have to listen to one jerk (in this case the Yankees’ Brian Bruney) accuse the replay process of CAUSING his injury (by forcing him to throw warm up pitch after warm up pitch) it seems like MLB is asking for trouble. I also get a little nervous when I see the Mets involved in replays in three straight games. Is this going to become so common that we see it every day? Do umpires really get these calls wrong that often? I guess I never noticed.
Continue reading "My Brief Thoughts on Replay"

Alex Gonzalez, Reds make the Memorial Day weekend a memory the Tribe would rather forget posted by Brad VanFossan

Cleveland Indians @ Cincinnati Reds Sunday May 24th, 2009 I wasn’t able to catch all of yesterday’s game, so I didn’t write about it, but I was able to catch a good deal of it here and there. It was good to see the Tribe come back and win 7-6, but not so good to see David Huff struggle mightily again. Today it’s Cliff Lee vs. Johnny Cueto with the Tribe looking to take their second consecutive series for the first time all this year. The Indians need to take advantage of Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips being out of the Reds lineup today. This should be a good pitching matchup, and I like the Indians to take the game, and the series, winning today 4-3. Here are some things of note from the game and or other things I found interesting from life in general: -Asdubal Cabrera had yet another leadoff hit to start the game off. -Jerry Hairston Jr. homers for the Reds to give them the 1-0 lead doing just the opposite of what I felt the Indians needed to do which was to jump to an early lead on this Reds club missing a couple of their starters today, while having their best pitcher on the mound in Cliff Lee. Hairston is in for Phillips today, Phillips has a hairline fracture in his thumb -To continue with the above paragraph, I guess maybe I’m having a flashback to Friday, thinking the Indians were going to open up the floodgates after Grady’s home run in the first, but that was the first and only run for the Tribe that night. The Reds getting the lead might not be as big a deal as I think it could be, but going against Cueto maybe my concernContinue reading "Alex Gonzalez, Reds make the Memorial ..."

Arroyo sharp, Tribe bats dull. Cincinnati Reds 3, Cleveland Indians 1 posted by Brad VanFossan

Indians @ Reds Recap Friday May 22, 2009

It looks like Grady read my preview earlier today as he hit a blast to right field in his first at-bat tonight. It’s hard to not type lead off the game. It’s like those first couple documents or checks you have to date on January 1st every new year. Here are some things that caught my “I” today:

-It looks like even fans in Cincinnati either stayed home or went somewhere to watch the Cavs game tonight.

-Anthony Reyes is turning into the pitching version of Rick Ankiel in the first inning.

-Three batters into the bottom of the first and Rick Manning is irritated, as am I. What time is the Cavs game?

-There are Indians fans out there who are still bitter about the Brandon Phillips trade hoping he hit’s a grand slam right now. Actual result: Phillips hits a sacrifice fly to left, 1-0 Reds. Phillips RBI count for the series stands at 1.

-Jensen Lewis is warming up in the bullpen. That would be like Chris Dudley being brought in to shoot Shaq’s free throws.

-Luckily for the Indians and Reyes, the Reds lineup is full of pus, and they were only able to muster one run after having the bases loaded with no outs.

-Arroyo’s pitches had good movement on them in the second, we’ll see if that continues.

-Ben Francisco’s leadoff double goes for naught as Anthony Reyes bunts down the first base line, allowing Adam Rosales to throw Francisco out at third. Asdrubal Cabrera then hit into a double play to end the inning.
Continue reading "Arroyo sharp, Tribe bats dull. Cincinnati ..."

Cleveland Indians at Cincinnati Reds Preview - Bronson Arroyo looks to rock out some killer whiffs. posted by Brad VanFossan

Cleveland Indians @ Cincinnati Reds, Friday May 22, 2009

Reyes (1-1, 6.88) vs. Arroyo (5-3, 6.56)

Interleague play is back. I personally don’t have a problem with it. It’s lost it’s luster for sure, but I don’t mind the change of pace for a handful of series during the year. At the same time if they got rid of it tomorrow, it wouldn’t bother me either. One thing that I’ll never feel different about is that I don’t see the Reds as a rival to the Indians. I would prefer to play the Pirates every year if we must do this interleague thing. This year the Indians do play Pittsburgh, but it’s been the Reds who are the annual National League opponent. Plus, it gives Cleveland fans at least one opportunity to say one of our teams beat a Pittsburgh team. I wish that I could say I was being sarcastic.

So we have a match up of two starters with ERA’s over six in a ballpark where the balls are prone to carry. This might not be as much of a factor as it was a few years ago when Travis Hafner was in his prime and Adam Dunn was still with the Reds, but look for Victor Martinez, Grady Sizemore, and Jay Bruce to find their power stroke during this series. And you can’t forget Brandon Phillips, I’m sure he will be swinging for the fences, and is always well aware of this series being on the horizon. Heck, at this point it might not be a bad thing for Grady to swing for the fences, connect on a couple at Great American Ballpark and get some confidence back. I mean how much more messed up at the plate could doing anything else get him? If you’re going to strikeout a lot, you might as well have the home runs to go with it.

Washington based trainer Craig Roberts passes away posted by Jan Hoadley

Longtime Washington based horseman Craig Roberts has passed away. He had contracted pneumonia while recovering from a pair of strokes suffered last winter. Craig Roberts was a successful trainer at Longacres for years then later at Emerald Downs. He first got his trainers license in 1965 and developed one of the most dominant racing stables in the northwest. The dressing the part has been mentioned but I recall people holding him by a higher description - that of a horseman. One that looked for the good of the horse, able to get along with difficult horses and find a way to bring out the good in a horse.

 During the off season in Washington he'd move horses to Bay Meadows and Golden Gate. He was the only Washington based trainer to saddle a Grade I winner. He amassed 39 stakes wins at Longacres, 5th all time, and 8 stakes wins at Emerald Downs.

That Grade I winner was a most unlikely, prospect. While Slewacide is a respected sire few people seriously look at Tennessee bred Thoroughbreds. Claimed and set on another course, the fiery tempered gelding rose through the ranks. His name was Slew of Damascus, winner of 16 races from 48 starts, $1,420,353 and winner of the 1994 Hollywood Gold Cup at Hollywood Park. The gelding also set records at Yakima Meadows and Del Mar and still is tied with Sky Jack fr the Washington state record of 1:33 for a dirt mile. The gelding had his final win in the 1997 FSN Handicap at Emerald Downs.

 Before then he campaigned Rock Bath, 1971 Washington bred Horse of the Year and Dave's REality, winner of the first WTBA Lads Stakes in 1982. The 2002 Gottstein Futurity at Emerald Downs win with Condotierri showed he still knew how to produce a winner, with 15 horses in training including the 2007 Sprinter of the meet Westsideclde and Exclusive Eagle.

MLBTV Brings the Old Games to Life - 1975 World Series Cincinnati Reds vs. Boston Red Sox posted by Matt Harrington

If you don't have MLBTV as part of your cable or satellite system, you're missing out.

 I'm currently watching Game 6 of the 1975 World Series - the classic between the Reds and the Red Sox.  For a guy who was born in 1977 and grew up a Sox fan, I've of course heard and read all about the 75 season and the World Series.  And of course if you tune into ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball, Joe Morgan will remind you every 10 minutes that he played in it as part of the "Big Red Machine."

But until today, I'd never had a chance to watch this classic (by the way, is there much better than a lazy Saturday on the couch in the late spring watching baseball?  OK, maybe March Madness, the playoffs, etc., but you know what I'm saying).

As I write this, Pete Rose just got was ruled to be hit by a pitch in the top of the 11th and Carlton Fisk erupted behind the plate.  It actually follows earlier in the game Johnny Bench turning around to give the ump a few choice words when he didn't get a called third strike.  I wonder if umps had a little more leniency back then.

 And Fisk makes an incredible play on a bunt by Ken Griffey (Sr.) to throw Rose out at second.  And I know what's coming up ... Dwight Evans' ridiculous catch on the run against the right field wall to start a double play.

This is just a great, great game.  Fred Lynn crashing into the wall (by the way, Rookie of the Year and MVP in 75 - first player to ever do that).  A couple of huge clutch home runs.  Just classic baseball.

 For all you youngsters out there who love the game, take a look at some of these classics when you get the time.  I'm not going to say that "things were better back then," but you have to appreciate the fact that baseball was just as great back then.  So many sports evolve drastically over the years, but baseball has remained the same.  Sure, we may have a few more home runs, and we've got the steroid scandal, but at its core, baseball is baseball.

Manny Ramirez has now tested positive for illegal substance, how far will the media go this time? posted by Eric Reyes

As you all now by now, thanks to the media, Manny Ramirez tested positive for an illegal substance last week and was suspended for fifty games. The MLB's suspension was understandable remembering what they are trying to accomplish and that is a clean league. What blows me away is the repetitiveness of news on this case.  Hundreds of thousands heard you all the first time, no one really cares about what his parents had for lunch and such. Who knows what is going to happen next but we can't assume the worst starting off. Maybe the guy really had the substance prescribed to him. Regardless there has been so much news and so much publicity with these current cases. A few months ago the same happened with A-Rod and he came out and confessed. Now look at what is going on with him, someone has written a book about him and people are reading over it with a fine pick comb.

All that publicity only ruins these guys. Yes they are cheaters but they are still amazing baseball players and probably would've been without these substances. Crazy thing is no one is 100% sure on any of these past few cases, the fact that steroids even came up in there career is what tarnishes them. Everyone hated A-Rod and they still do but he wins games. Obviously he's clean and has been clean for a while now. He has maintained himself and his best season was in 2007, after being clean for years. Yankees fans sure did appreciate his first home-run this season, not to mention it was the first pitch thrown to him this season. Most now are against steroids, but back when these prime players got there start steroids were the thing to do. Back then no one cared what it took, as long as they were amazing on the field. Now that everyone in the world calls baseball the steroid sport MLB had to start cleaning up. Many big time athletes are still on "THE LIST" and who knows who they get next but we all know that we will hear about it around the clock and another athletes shot at Cooperstown will be ruined.