Second Place Wins a Set of Steak Knives, and Third Place is ‘You’re Fired’

Dusty+Baker

Another day, another lackluster performance in which the Reds came out flat against a team that had nothing left to play for, another Reds loss.

And something I see here tonight, is that the Reds clean-up hitter with a hole in his bat has the audacity to call out the fan base. Here’s what Ryan Ludwick had to say after the game:

“Coming over here, I heard about how big a baseball town this is. We’ve put a winning ballclub out there’’ three of the last four years, said Ludwick. “This is a good team. When we went to Pittsburgh, they had an advantage. (Fans) were loud. A playoff atmosphere.’’

Ludwick said he had an epiphany of sorts Wednesday. With two outs in the Reds 9th, he heard a woman in the fifth row behind the home dugout, loudly taking the fans to task. “We have a great team and our fans f—— suck,’’ she said, according to Ludwick.

Well, I can’t speak for my peers; but I know this fan is about to fucking suck, and suck a lot if you don’t get your shit together.

The Reds played the blame game about a year ago, only it came before game five of the NLDS against the Giants. It came mid-collapse. It was when any fan base would have been a little tense. Any fan base that gave a shit, that is.

You won 90 games this year, that’s terrific. Now win something that matters. Don’t lose series to the Cubs, the Brewers, and the Mets; and then you can call yourselves division champions. I’m sorry to say it but at this point with a roster with this much talent on paper, 90 wins means shit. That’s just the reality. You think the great teams in the history of this storied game who went on to raise a trophy and be remembered forever patted themselves on the back when they hit 90 wins? You think they tried to absolve themselves of blame after they shit the bed in a crucial series at home because there weren’t enough people in the stands?

Ryan Ludwick can take his old, crusty, .300 on-base average ass and go play for the fucking White Sox next season. That’s a huge city. You know how many people are in the stands in ChiTown this time of year? About 700.

This has a bad feel to it. My gut tells me that the Reds are entering the most crucial (and final) weekend of the season rather timidly; and they’re going to lose 2 of 3 to the Pirates. And they’re going to Pittsburgh next Tuesday and the curtain falls on our season.

Sack up and beat someone – quit blaming the fans for not being there to see you get shutout by Dice-K Matsuzaka’s ancient ass. That’s on no one but you.

90 wins. Here’s what I think about 90 wins. Alec Baldwin says you’re fired.