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Rank Relief: Anything you can do, I can do worse.

May 9, 2013 by Leave a Comment
rank relief 5.8-1

Sergio Romo watches Delmon Young hit a game tying sac fly.

The Phillies have had a bit of a rough season what with Roy Halladay crashing to earth and…well…just employing Delmon Young.  But they were fighting hard on the west cost today.  Sergio Romo came in to shut down the Phillies offense but ended up blowing his second save of the season.  He wasn’t dominated but two runs are two runs.

rank relief 5.8-4

The damage:  2 hits, 1 walk, 2 runs.  Fortunately for Romo, he got out of the inning with the score only tied at 3-3.  The Giants couldn’t do anymore damage in the bottom of the 9th, but in the 10th Anthony Bastardo decided to do his best Sergio Romo impression.  Same deal.  Nothing spectacular but when you just need a run to win this is all you have to do:

rank relief 5.8-3

Here we have 2 hits, one walk, one wild pitch, and one run.  Game over.  This is what Anthony Bastardo looks like when Anthony Bastardo gives up a game winning single.

rank relief 5.8-2

There it is Anthony, to your left. Right over Chase Utley’s head.

 

Filed Under: Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants Tagged With: , ,

Rank Relief: A double dose at Wrigley

April 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Rank Relief 4.12.13

When you see a rank relief post you always have a good chance of the Cubs being involved – usually the bad side.  Well today they played both parts.  The Cubs were looking at a 2-0 victory if they could hold off the Giants in the top of the 9th.  Well Kyuji Fujikawa would have none of that.  Cubs fans may have thought they got rid of this kind of thing with Carlos Marmol.  History and a goat’s head says otherwise.  Here’s what Fujikawa did:

Rank Relief2 4.12.13

One inning, 3 runs.  Not what you want out of your new closer.

But remember this is a double dose of rank relief.  Sergio Romo was also feeling generous today.  Trying to capitalize on the second save chance of the game he entered in the bottom of the 9th.

Rank Relief3 4.12.13

Details of how Romo gave up the save and the win and moved Fujikawa from the loss to the win column.  The best part is giving up a home run to Dioner Navarro.  Baseball is funny sometimes.

Rank Relief4 4.12.13

Filed Under: Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants Tagged With: , ,

San Francisco Giants 2013 Team Preview

February 25, 2013 by Leave a Comment

giantstitle

The San Francisco Giants caught lightning in a bottle for the second time in three years last season in winning the World Series. They parlayed a ragamuffin lineup and a makeshift pitching staff with a couple aging former stars into a title. They’ve been spoiled. There were about a four other teams last year that entered the postseason looking better on paper than the Giants.

And I’ll admit, I’ve got a little bit of a sore spot because they took the title that should have belonged to my Cincinnati Reds. At least, the NL title should have belonged to Cincinnati. We had them down two games to zero and heading back to Cincinnati for three. And then it all fell apart. Or it all came together if you’re looking at it from the San Francisco viewpoint.

They had a quiet, Giants-like offseason. They’ll be there all season long, pesky and ready to slip in and steal another title that should belong to another team and another fan base.

Major offseason moves:

  • Re-signed Angel Pagan to a 4-year, $40 million dollar contract
  • Re-signed Marco Scutaro to a 3-year, $20 million dollar contract
  • Re-signed Santiago Casilla to a 3-year, $15 million dollar contract
  • Re-signed Jeremy Affeldt to a 3-year, $18 million dollar contract

Really, the Giants offseason consisted of retention of the key components of their title run in 2012. There are few teams in baseball that underwent less change than the Giants this past offseason. This roster of familiar faces will remain competitive but will fail to capture another championship in 2013. No one can be that lucky.

Let’s look at the Giants in-depth after the jump.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: 2013 Diamond Hoggers Season Previews, San Francisco Giants Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Yes, You Choked; Yes, I’m Still Proud of You

October 12, 2012 by Leave a Comment

This was the toughest loss I’ve ever had to swallow in baseball; or in sports.

For as long as I live, I’ll never forget this. I’ll never get over it. It will never be easier to accept. It will always sting. It now exists as a spot place-marked forever in my life; an irreversible eternity. Never again in my life will I allow myself to think “hey, we might really have a shot to win the whole damn thing”. Not after this. If this team couldn’t do it, I’ll never be sold again.

The Reds made the kind of history you do not want to make yesterday afternoon in Cincinnati in losing 6-4 to the San Francisco Giants.

Sometimes in loss we learn the most about ourselves.

I have never in my life seen a team scratch, claw, and fight with such life or death desperation as the Reds did after getting down 6-0 yesterday. The image that will forever stick with me yesterday was Ryan Hanigan immediately when Buster Posey connected with his grand slam home run. Don’t watch Latos. Don’t watch the crowd behind him. Don’t look at the hitter or the ball’s flight. Watch Hanigan.

I have never seen a catcher react that way to a ball in play in all my years watching the game. Hanigan turns in immediate pain, anguish, and disgust and swings his arm in angst. He knows when Posey connects that it was the kill shot. The Reds at that moment probably knew they were dead. But like a cowboy in an old Western whose gut-shot, they kept shooting until they drew their last breath.

For instance; when Jay Bruce got down 0-2 in the ninth inning, he decides that even in defeat; he’s going to make the Giants closer earn it.

What ensues after Bruce gets down 0-2 in the last frame of the game and the Reds down to their final two outs of the season, was one of the gutsiest things I’ve ever seen in watching sports my entire life.

Bruce proceeds to battle Sergio Romo for 12 pitches in total as if he’s battling a damn lion or dragon. He stubbornly fouls off pitch after pitch, laying off many off-speed pitches that have long been to Bruce’s liking. As the at-bat wears onward, you realize Bruce is doing more than just trying to come up with a big swing that will result in a 3-run homer. He’s battling for himself, for his teammates, for all of us fans, and for what might have been his manager’s swansong. I don’t know what Bruce was thinking during the course of that at-bat where the Giants continually stayed away from his big time power to right field. I can only think he knew he owed it to everyone who hadn’t lost hope.

Bruce eventually flies out to right field, and the Reds came up short. But I had chills for much of that at-bat. It was a moment based on sheer will and determination. It was what baseball was all about. One man competing against another, knowing his probable fate but refusing to just roll over and die.

Forever etched in our memories is something different. I will never forget the hurt of this series collapse, but I’ll always know that the team I rooted the hardest for and held the closest to my heart fought like Hell for a different outcome, even when it would have been easiest to quit.

Like often the man who spends his days writing about them and living and dying with them, they just came up tragically short.

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, League Division Series, MLB Playoffs, San Francisco Giants Tagged With: , , , ,

Slaying the Giant Once and For All

October 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Cincinnati: All the scores I’ll never settle, all the debts I can’t repay, all my ghosts await me here.

This post was supposed to be about my team and maybe your team and how they were choking it all away. It was supposed to be about how tomorrow I would go into work depressed and worried. And then slumber home to my couch to see the Reds squander away things in historic fashion.

Instead, I’m getting up tomorrow and using the power of my mind to focus on positive thought. The sun will rise tomorrow, and I believe it will shine just a little bit brighter upon the Reds. And I hope this post, more than any I’ve written before brings positive karma from all things and to all things surrounding the Cincinnati Reds.

What works out to be a legacy game for Dusty Baker in a Reds uniform also will work it’s way into the connected career vines of the names that dot this roster. Legacies will gain some of their definition tomorrow. That’s a certainty. And that’s why I have to say I was there at game five in 2012. That’s why I have to see it with my own eyes. It might be to say goodbye and it might be to celebrate it. But I have to finish what I started back on what ended up the most magical Opening Day in Cincinnati that I’ve ever been a part of. I have to see this thing through. It’s the only way.

Too many times in my life I’ve just talked myself out of going for it. I’m going for it tomorrow. Even if it’s by myself. I’ll be in the stands. And I’ll be rooting with everything I have inside me for Dusty and the boys. Because I do love them. Because they are family.

Tomorrow morning I’ll set foot down in the Queen City, and I’ll try to summon the ghosts of many nights and many friends gone by. And I’ll try and reflect on all the intrinsic value that is in that town for me surrounding that team dating back to when I was just a kid listening to 700 while I fell asleep at night. I’ve been waiting for tomorrow since I was just a little kid with so many big dreams.

Cain. Latos. For all the marbles. One last time. Someone draws their last breath. On an October 11th day in 2012 at 1300 hours, someone’s fate gets decided forever. I want to say I was part of it, regardless of how the end of the chapter will read.

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, Game 5s, MLB Playoffs, San Francisco Giants Tagged With: , ,

Get me (us) this game today, and I’ll never speak ill of you again

October 10, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Mike Leake firmly entrenched himself on my shit list long ago. Mistreatment of the fan base, flippant attitude, and then the whole stealing merchandise from Macy’s incident helped to earn him the coveted spot as my least favorite Cincinnati Red. Not to mention he’s the only pro athlete who has ever actually blocked me on twitter!

But I come offering an olive branch of sorts. I’m willing to forever bury the hatchet. If Mike Leake can just win today’s game–you all have my WORD (strong as an oak) that I’ll never say another bad word about the guy for as long as I live.

Save us from a game five; Mike. Save me from another sleepless night. I need you right now. We all need you. Get this game for us today, and all is forever forgiven old buddy.

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, League Division Series, San Francisco Giants Tagged With:

Talk Me Down From The Ledge

October 10, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Last night was as it should have been. Homer Bailey was as dominant as a pitcher has ever been in the postseason.

According to Elias Sports Bureau, last night Homer Bailey became only the fourth pitcher in Major League Postseason history to allow 1 or fewer hits while striking out least 10 batters and throwing at least 7.0 innings…he joins Bal’s Mike Mussina (1997 ALCS vs Cle, 8ip, 1h, 10k), NYY’s Orlando Hernandez (1999 World Series vs Atl, 7ip, 1h, 10k) and NYY’s Roger Clemens (2000 ALCS vs Sea, 9ip, 1h, 15k).

Yet, the Reds drop this one 2-1 in 10 innings in front of the second largest crowd ever on hand at Great American Ballpark. Today, it’s Mike Leake pitching the biggest game of the Reds’ season. Johnny Cueto is done for the NLDS and the NLCS. Just terrific.

If the Reds bats awaken, they’ll move on to the NLCS. If they don’t, we’re going to lose this series in five game in a national embarrassment. If I’m completely honest with everyone that reads this blog; I’m not really satisfied with simply getting to the NLDS and winning a few playoff games. I want this damn series. I don’t care that Johnny Cueto and the team was dealt a really poor hand–and that’s what it was. When Homer Bailey pitches his ass off for you in an effort to keep you free from a lot of headaches, get more than four hits (three of which came in the first inning of the ballgame).

I now have a rotten feeling in my core I can’t seem to shake. That’s my thoughts on this early afternoon of what will be game four of the NLDS between the Giants and the Reds.

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, MLB Playoffs, San Francisco Giants Tagged With: , ,

Unchartered Territory: Reds win NLDS Game Two, Take 2-0 Series Lead

October 9, 2012 by Leave a Comment

[NLDS Game Two Box Score]

[Cincinnati.com]

The Cincinnati Reds are locked in.

That was as good as you can see Bronson Arroyo look. It was his crowning moment in his Reds career. Maybe except for this commercial that I caught last night shortly after Cincinnati grabbed a 1-0 lead on Ryan Ludwick’s solo home run:

The Reds continued to play sound defense and add-on in the top frames until the game was through.

As we sit here on the eve of only the second postseason baseball game in Cincinnati in 17+ years, I hope the Reds realize they haven’t won anything yet. I hope they realize that the journey is still long. Two wins out West is very special, and it’s the hallmark of a team that means business. But the Giants could easily come back and win this series. This was just the first two dominoes that needed to fall in order to do something in this postseason. If the Reds come out flat tomorrow night, things can snowball in a hurry and this can quickly become the worst dogfight they’ve ever been involved in.

If you want my opinion, the Reds get the match-up they need tomorrow night. I don’t want them to face Matt Cain again. And I still think they’re damn lucky to have had such an easy time with Madison Bumgarner (though I’ll say it’s a misconception that I fall victim to in thinking that this roster of Reds struggles against LHP).

Tomorrow around dinner time, the Reds will face Ryan Vogelsong. He’s a good, solid big league starter. But he’s the kind of righty that the Reds should want to advance against in that park. He’s not Matt Cain, and he’s not Bumgarner.

Go ahead and move on in front of your fans on Tuesday night boys, and let the Cardinals and Nationals slug things out for a few more days. I have to admit, I want the Reds to just keep playing at this point. The worst thing that could happen was to give them a day off and a day to even think about what they’re doing. They’re going so good right now that you just hope they can get back out there on a diamond as soon as possible and keep rolling.

Part of how this team has already been able to do what they’re doing is I don’t even think they realize fully what they’re doing. They’re like a fearless teenager who takes a lot of risks because they don’t know how fragile life is at that age; the Reds still don’t grasp how delicate every single moment is in this postseason. And that allows them to be dangerous in this situation.

Tomorrow I’ll come home from work. I’ll slip on the #32 Bruce jersey (he got another big knock last night). I’ll hopefully see my team advance to the NLCS, making the vision I had back in 2010 the night we were eliminated from the NLDS a reality. To this point, I could not be more proud of how they’ve performed. I can’t even believe this is really happening.

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, League Division Series, MLB Playoffs, Postseason, San Francisco Giants Tagged With: , , , , ,

Cincinnati Reds win their first postseason game in 17 years

October 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment

[Box Score]

[Cincinnati.com] [ESPN SweetSpot] [HardballTalk] [Lance Mcalister] [The Splash] [Giants Extra]

Someone pinch me, I’m dreaming.

Did my team really just beat Matt Cain on the road out west after losing Johnny Cueto (the ace of the staff) after he recorded just one out? I have to be dreaming. This has happened to me a million times. I wake up, and it all goes away. After all, it has been 6,210 days since the Reds franchise won a postseason game (1995 against the Dodgers for those wondering).

Brandon Phillips was balling out of his mind last night. He got scoring started with a two-run home run to left field. He made a few barehand plays. He made an unreal back up play over at first base on a bunt single that kept the runner on first. He singled home an insurance run. Thank you for playing this way DatDude.

Jay Bruce continued his postseason hitting success.

Matt Cain was cruising through the first four hitters in the Reds lineup when Bruce doubled down the right field line for the Reds first hit. There would be no perfect game in this one against the Reds.

And then there was Bruce’s home run into a spot of AT&T Park where home runs aren’t typically hit:

Not sure I’ve ever gone more nuts when a couple of home runs left the yard than when I did for Phillips and Bruce going deep.

There were just so many efforts that contributed to this game. There was no one story. It was a gritty team effort comprised of Bruce, Phillips, Mat Latos, Sam LeCure (getting five outs as a pinch-hit reliever), and the Reds bullpen working out of tight spots late in the game that had me holding my breath.

The first domino has fallen, and the Reds need just ten more wins to claim a World Series title and six more to reach the fall classic. Last night was another memorable, improbable, and high-character moment from a team that has already provided a full season’s worth of them.

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, League Division Series, MLB Playoffs, San Francisco Giants Tagged With: , , , , ,

2012 NLDS San Francisco Giants vs. Cincinnati Reds Preview Post (and Prediction)

October 6, 2012 by Leave a Comment

A series this important and monumental for my favorite professional sports franchise leaves me struggling to find the words on the eve of it’s beginning.

There isn’t enough I can say about the 2012 Cincinnati Reds or the special place that they hold in my heart. When this season began, I had a vision that this team’s destiny ended up somewhere in the NLCS. I didn’t know what it held from it’s beginning to it’s end, but it’s one of those visions I’ve rarely had in all of my life watching sports. It came to me originally in the 2010 NLDS, it was the 6th or 7th inning. I knew that door was closing. But I knew if I could just live long enough the Reds would be back and they would make a run. I knew 2012 was that year.

This post is more about their opponent that stands in their way. Based on a few factors, the Giants are the toughest opponent that the Reds could have drawn to open up their postseason. After the initial reaction which was fear came some acceptance on my behalf. Then came the simple fact that if this team is going to win the National League pennant, there shouldn’t be any desires for them to dodge anyone. Lay it all on the line and carve out your legacy. Go through an NL West team. Be the team that knocks off the recent World Champions.

I know these guys know what’s at stake; and I know they’re going to fight hard. There are certain things I have gut feelings about in this series. I would bet my life that the Reds don’t get swept. Not this time. I would also wager that the Reds are confident in winning this series. They aren’t scared. They think they’re the NL’s best team. I have a feeling Joey Votto hits two home runs at some point in this series in the same game. If the Reds lose, I predict that Dusty Baker will retire with the looming health problems and tepid contract situation on the forefront.

If the Reds can find a way to get through Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, Buster Posey, Hunter Pence and company; I predict they’ll represent the National League in the World Series. No one else would be a tougher opponent for the Reds. There are no West Coast trips remaining in the rest possible paths to the pennant. This is the biggest obstacle, and the way through it must be passed first.

But there was something else about my vision of the Reds magical run; and I need to mention that they were probably baseball’s best and most balanced team in the 2012 regular season. If it does end here, we’ve been given a great team that I just knew would deliver up to this point.

The other part of the vision that I had–and I don’t know why–was the Reds season ending at the hands of an NL West team. I felt strongly about it.

I love this team and I’m so proud of them. I’ll lose a part of me during this series win or lose. I know they’re going to fight like Hell to advance. I think we’re in for the ride of our lives these next few days, and if the journey doesn’t end prematurely; some doors will open up with illusions we could only dream of behind them.

Enjoy this series Reds fans. When Johnny Cueto throws the first pitch tomorrow evening, it will have been exactly 18 years to the date since the Reds have won a postseason game. Think about that for a moment. It has spanned careers, lifetimes, relationships, hallmark events in your life.

My heart says one thing, while my head as a baseball fan says another. I’m going with what my head tells me on this.

Prediction: San Francisco Giants over Cincinnati Reds in Five Games

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, League Division Series, Postseason, Predictions, San Francisco Giants

The Bull We Didn’t Want to Draw

October 3, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Let it be said, let it be written. The Reds path with destiny will go through San Francisco.

Before the season began, I had a premonition that the Reds would make the NLCS. Early in the season, I had the Reds losing to an NL West team (Giants or Dodgers, and I eventually decided on the Giants) in the NLCS. Today I sat in my office and I thought long and hard about how my premonition was almost correct but won’t quite be able to jive.

As much as I didn’t want to see the Reds head out west to play a couple against the likes of Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner, there’s no other way. And in a weird and twisted way, this was part of the destiny all along.

This is; in my opinion; Dusty Baker’s final ride. This is Dusty Baker riding the bad bull that broke his face Tuff Hedeman-style one last time. Dusty gets a final crack at the team he gained so much fame with. A team that he was a game away from winning a World Series with. Maybe my intuitions I felt so strongly about weren’t that far from being correct, they were just a bit tweaked.

If the Reds are going to win a World Series, they’re going to have to face and conquer their fears. They’ll need to be better than the best the big leagues have to offer, and for a couple week period. I’ve been thinking about that for the last several weeks.

Whether it’s going to be the Cardinals, or a West Coast trip; there is no backing your way into a World Series. There are no easy match-ups right now (though I think the Reds would have taken Atlanta out behind the woodshed). The only way out, is going directly through it all.

We’ll have more on this series in a full preview edition before Saturday night’s game. For now, just enjoy the oldie.

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, League Division Series, San Francisco Giants Tagged With: , ,

These guys are Awesome

July 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Yesterday was pretty much the ideal 4th of July, other than I had to return to work today. And I didn’t have even a drop of alcohol.

One of the things that made it perfect was there was baseball on starting at 11:00 AM ET in the nation’s capital. Bryce Harper, Mike Morse, Ryan Zimmerman (all fantasy teamers of mine) were destroying Madison Bumgarner (fantasy teamer I cut prematurely last season) during the brunch hour.

The monster that is Mike Morse took a destroyed Mad Bum fastball out backside. Washington ended up winning the game 9-4, which was Washington’s third straight victory. Because the game started at 11:00, by the time it ended there was still an entire day to enjoy the holiday and the 95 degree heat. I’m a proponent of more 11:00 AM start times on weekends and holidays.

Not sure what made baseball’s schedule makers get creative and try this yesterday, but I loved it. Along with Washington kicking off my 4th of July on the right note, I’m loving their young nucleus along with red-assed Davey.

Long live the Nationals!

Filed Under: 4th of July, San Francisco Giants, Washington Nationals Tagged With: , ,

Big Folly Caps Off Up and Down Weekend

July 2, 2012 by Leave a Comment

The whole weekend got off to the wrong foot when I got home Friday evening and the power was out. The Reds were coming off a lifeless 5-0 loss on Thursday night. It was around 95 degrees, and all I wanted to do was have a quiet and boring night in watching baseball (what else is new?). My wife and I had dinner, figuring that we would return home to air conditioning and some semblance of power. Instead, both of our phones died while we were out and when I returned and charged mine I got a text from a friend who lives nearby saying that it could be a week before power was restored.

Even though it was after 10 PM, it was still between 90 and 95 degrees. My wife went to bed in a salty mood. I climbed in my truck and began charging my phone, with Marty and Cowboy streaming through the MLB At Bat app. When I got my phone half charged I came in and collapsed on the couch. I fell asleep listening to baseball for one of the first times since I was a little kid. Jay Bruce went 4 for 4 off Matt Cain. The Reds won 5-1. It was only Friday night. Hopefully when I awoke the power would be back on and we could get on with our lives.

It wasn’t. At least not initially. Mat Latos threw a gem though and the Reds were rolling again. All was right with the baseball world. And then my wife made me go see Magic Mike in the theater. As much as I love Boogie Nights (all-time top five movie for me), this was no Boogie Nights. Though my buddy and I got a few laughs out of the Kevin Nash cameo, the highpoint ended there.

And then Sunday. Power restored, life is once again whole. The Reds need a win to take 3 out of 4 to begin a brutal West Coast road trip. As usual, it was a complete struggle and we would learn that it was entirely not meant to be. The Reds struggled and slumbered around all day long, only to tie the game at 3-3 in the top of the ninth. Of course, they loaded the bases with no outs and only got one run out of it. And of course, the Giants had something for them in the bottom half of the frame.

Fly ball to right field, and Jay Bruce misplays it. After a clutch single in the top of the 9th to begin the rally and scoring the game’s tying run, Bruce gifted the Giants a walk-off win. It reminded me a lot of NLDS game 2 back in 2010. Nothing else really makes sense other than Bruce was thinking about the moment and what was at stake rather than a routine that he’s performed thousands of times in his life. The moment became too big for him. I’m still riding with Jay Bruce for his whole career. No matter how much he frustrates or runs cold or looks like he’ll never hit again; he’s our guy.

About 98% of people who watch from their couch have never had to make a play on a ball like Bruce had to with the game on the line. It’s really hard. Whether he’s a professional or not I know exactly what happened there, at least I feel like I do.

You can watch the heartbreaking ending of yesterday’s game unfold here. Or don’t. I hate how the Reds do this to me.

Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds, Heartbreak, San Francisco Giants, walk off wins, west coast road trips Tagged With: ,

Matt Cain fires a perfect game

June 14, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Not to be outdone by a knuckle baller or a rookie (Lance Lynn), Matt Cain cemented himself forever amongst the game’s giants.

Cain fired baseball’s 22nd perfect game in history last night in a 10-0 Giants victory against the Houston Astros. You had to figure coming into the year that if anyone was going to get perfect game’d, the Astros were as prime of a candidate as anyone.

Cain is right about where we thought he would be. He’s always had dominant, heavy stuff. He’s San Francisco’s best pitcher this season and there isn’t really a close second.

It was the second perfect-game this season, and since I’ve had this blog in operation there’s actually now been five.

Filed Under: History, Houston Astros, Perfect Games, San Francisco Giants Tagged With:
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