Game 16, 2011: Pirates 9, Reds 3

[Box Score]

I would rather buy a shirt from Mike Leake, than have had to sit through this game at the stadium tonight. Thank goodness I wasn’t on hand.

Here’s the official police report from the incident. I honestly don’t care if this little dickhead wins us game seven of the World Series someday down the road. I don’t like him, I have no use for him, and I would take my chances for Sam Lecure. There’s no excuse for someone who is a millionaire and who has been making $400,000 since to steal a couple of shirts.

I hate the fact that I’m writing about it instead of what happened on the field. But no matter what beat writer tells you that it is absolutely not a distraction, I disagree. It’s a little thing that detracts the focus away from winning. How do I know that? Because I’ve had teammates before and if one of them did something like that out in the community, I would be thinking about it whether I stood behind him or not.

The Reds fill their organization with classy people. I’ve seen it firsthand many times. This contradicts not only that but all the notions we hear about Mike Leake being a shining ball of maturity. I knew some ballplayers who stole some stuff once. They were my teammates, on spring break our senior year in high school. I honestly would love to see Mike Leake sent down to Single A Bakersfield for the rest of the year and rot there. I wonder how many times Nolan Ryan was caught stealing flannels from JC Penny out in Texas? You think any of the great ones tried to steal something? How about Greg Maddux? Nope. This kid doesn’t have it. And I’ve now got a new reason to root for Homer Bailey, because if Bailey and Cueto come back and pitch well enough and stay healthy, Leake won’t get another shot.

Mike Leake is a cocky little punk who doesn’t appreciate the blessings in his own life–and doesn’t realize that people like you and me who take a decade to make as much as he makes in one single year–wouldn’t resort to stealing.

When Dusty Baker double-switched Jay Bruce out of the game last night for Jeremy Hermida in the 4th inning, I turned the game off (why would you do that with Bruce appearing to come out of his funk?) . I don’t want to talk about the game. The Reds aren’t playing well and I’m in a foul mood about it. There’s no excuse for losing 3 of 4 to Pittsburgh. That team is improved but the Reds need to get it together the rest of the week.

This brand of baseball is unacceptable in Cincinnati now.