Reds lose 2008 season-opener 4-2.

Time to panic.

Alyssa Milano says…

L E T ‘ S  G O  R E D S ! 

CINCINNATI REDS vs. ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS 

Corey Patterson CF
Jeff Keppinger SS
Ken Griffey Jr. RF
Brandon Phillips 2B
Adam Dunn LF
Edwin Encarnacion 3B
Scott Hatteberg 1B
Javier Valentin C

Since I’m in Chicago, I have to watch the game on Slingbox.  Could someone please leave a comment and let me know what channel the game is on in Cincinnati?

So, here we are, just one day away from Opening Day.  The one day of the year when all baseball fans can stand up and say, “This is our year!”  Well, except Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals fans. 

I realize that Cubs fans stand up all the time and declare, “This is our year!” but we all know that’s just plain silly.

I’ve been a Reds fan for a long time, and I can honestly say that this is the first time since 2000 I really believe that the Cincinnati Reds stepping on the field on Monday afternoon have a chance of doing something this season.

“Something” – could I be any more vague?

The 2007 season was a season that Cincinnati Reds fans would like to forget.

None of us need to be reminded about how brutal and painful the Reds bullpen was last year, but last week ESPN’s Jayson Stark did a great job of illustrating just how much of last season’s woes can be blamed on that very brutal, painful bullpen. 

Here are a few things Stark mentioned:

• This is a team that got outscored by 71 runs after the seventh inning last season and by 92 runs after the sixth.

• And this is a team that was last in the National League in bullpen ERA (5.13) — and allowed the highest opponent batting average (.282), on-base percentage (.360) and OPS (.807) of any bullpen in the league.

Like I said – brutal, painful

I’ll preface everything that I’m about to say with the fact that the Reds play in the NL Central.  Not exactly a powerhouse division.  The Cubs will most likely win the division this season (by default), the Brewers have a chance to compete (but probably won’t), the Astros might hang around for a while (unlikely), the Cardinals will probably be a non-factor (guaranteed), and the Pirates… well, they’ll be the Pirates.

Let’s take a look at the 2008 Cincinnati Reds:

Starting Lineup

Corey Patterson CF 
Jeff Keppinger SS 
Ken Griffey Jr. RF 
Brandon Phillips 2B 
Adam Dunn LF
Edwin Encarnacion 3B 
Joey Votto 1B 
Paul Bako/Javy Valentin C

My biggest concerns continue to be Corey Patterson and the catcher position.  Valentin has his moments, but he’s not an every day catcher.  David Ross’ big season in 2006 appears to be a fluke, and Paul Bako… well, he’s Paul Bako.

I’m not even going to waste my time talking about Patterson.  I don’t care what he did in Spring Training, he has no right being the starting CF on this team.  Period.

Brandon Phillips is a stud, but I’m always fearful of players who just got their first big contract.  The clock is officially ticking on the Edwin Encarnacion experiment.  At times he shows glimpses of the player everyone thinks he can be, but until he puts together a complete season, how much longer can we say that he’s due to breakout this season before we accept that this is all we’re going to get?

This could be the last Opening Day we’ll see Ken Griffey, Jr. in a Reds uniform.  And if Reds management doesn’t wise up, it could be the last time we see Adam Dunn, too, so enjoy it while you still can.

Starting Rotation

Aaron Harang
Bronson Arroyo
Johnny Cueto
Josh Fogg
Edinson Volquez

Cueto and Volquez are young, and Fogg is a question mark, but one very important thing to realize is that none of the aforementioned pitchers are named Eric Milton.  That’s so cool.

Bullpen

Francisco Cordero
David Weathers
Todd Coffey
Kent Mercker
Jared Burton
Jeremy Affeldt
Mike Lincoln

Ah, yes… the alleged much-improved bullpen.  That’s not really saying much when you realize that it’s virtually impossible for this year’s bullpen to be worse than last year’s.  I would hope it’s improved. 

I refuse to jump on the Francisco Cordero bandwagon.  The Reds invested a lot of money in this guy – granted, for a problem-position they absolutely had to address – but $46 million is a lot of clams for a closer.  Not to mention that closers scare the crap out of me.  It’s rare that a dominant closer from one season continues to be a dominant closer the next – especially after switching teams.  I hope I’m wrong, but I feel better letting everyone know that I don’t think Francisco Cordero is going to be the savior (no pun intended) that everyone thinks he’ll be.

I have no delusions of grandeur, and I will not qualify my prediction with any “if Griffey stays healthy” or “if Dunn hits 50+ HRs,” but I do believe that the Reds have enough offense and young pitching talent to compete in the NL Central. 

That’s why I’m predicting that, this season, the Cincinnati Reds will break their 14-year (*gulp*) playoff drought and win the NL Wild Card.

2008 Cincinnati Reds Prediction: Second Place (89-73)

You heard it here first, folks.

However, if the Reds end up having a horrible season, please forget I said anything, okay?

Game 7

The announcers keep talking about how “great” Carlton Fisk’s homerun was in Game 6, and how it will go down as one of the best moments in World Series history.  Blah-blah-blah.  Am I the only one that remembers the 1990 World Series when Glenn Braggs swung and missed at a ball and the bat broke in half when it hit his back?  Glenn Braggs is strong.  Much stronger that Carlton Fisk.

Don Gullett is a little shaky in the 1st and 2nd innings, but manages to get out of any trouble.  Carl Yastrzemski has an RBI single in the bottom of the 3rd, Gullett loads the bases and proceeds to walk in two more runs.

Somewhere, a young Gary Majewski is screaming at the TV, “See!  It’s not just me!”

The Red Sox have an early 3-0 lead.

Announcers at Fenway Park can look at any of the two television sets (one for each camera NBC has at the game) in the booth to get a closer look at the action on the field:

We move to the top of the 6th – with a runner on, Bill Lee throws his ridiculous 40 MPH “space ball” pitch (think: Majewski fastball), but Tony Perez isn’t going to be fooled by that junk and he hits the ball so far over the Green Monster the cameraman can’t even find it.

3-2 Boston.

Pete Rose singles home Ken Griffey in the 7th to tie the game. 

Top of the 9th – Griffey leads off the inning with a walk, and eventually ends up on third base thanks to some charitable work by his kind teammates.  Joe Morgan is at the plate.  He’s had a rough World Series, going 6-26 so far.  Foreshadowing?

Griffey at third, Rose at first, two out.  Morgan and his twitchy elbow knocks a base hit into shallow centerfield.  Griffey scores, the Reds take a 4-3 lead!  The last time I heard Fenway Park this quiet was when Fred Lynn was seeing purple elephants while laying at the bottom of the Green Monster in Game 6.

The lethal trio of Juan Beniquez, Denny Doyle and Carl Yastrzemski are the Red Sox (Sox’s?) last hope in the bottom of the 9th.  Will McEnaney on the mound to close things out.  McEnaney is a licensed pilot and a model train enthusiast.

Beniquez flies out to Griffey in right.  One out.

Doyle grounds to Concepcion, who throws to Perez.  Two out.

It all comes down to Yastrzemski.  The Boston faithful greet him with a round of applause.  Yastrezemski repays the favor by hitting a high fly ball… should be all over… Cesar GERONIMO! is under it in centerfield…

…and this one belongs to the Reds!

Pete Rose is the MVP of the 1975 World Series.  This guy has a real career ahead him.  I think he’s got a chance at getting 3,000 hits.  Hell, I’ll go out on a limb and say he has a chance of getting 4,000 hits. 

You heard it here first.

Clay Carroll:

“This is for all the Cincinnat-uh people, they’ve been behind us all year, and we finally gave it to them. We’re #1!  I want some champagne!

For winning the World Series each player on the Cincinnati Reds received a check for $19,060.  Is it too early to start the, “baseball players are overpaid” discussion?

An ecstatic Pete Rose had this to say after the game:

“We did it!  We won the World Series!  The only thing that will top this feeling is when I get my 3,000th hit. Or when I’m elected to the Hall of Fame.  Man, that’s going to be a sweet day!  There is an old saying that money can’t buy happiness. If it could, I would buy myself four hits every game.“

Reds win the World Series 4-3

Game 6

This World Series has been pretty dull so far.  I hope Game 6 is fun to watch. 

It rained in Boston for the last three days, so that’s why it’s been five days since Game 5.  Unfortunately, that means Luis Tiant (the same guy who has thrown two complete games in the World Series so far) is rested and ready to go. 

If you’ve ever wondered what Luis Tiant’s dad looks like, now you know:

While I’m at it, here’s a picture of Luis Tiant’s mother (and her giant thumb):

Gary Nolan may have won 15 games in ‘75, but he’s getting rocked in the bottom of the 1st inning, giving up a towering 3-run shot to Fred Lynn to give the Red Sox a 3-0 lead.

All is quiet on the western front until the 5th inning.

With two on, Ken Griffey hits a deep shot to centerfield that should’ve been caught, but the inept Red Sox outfielder can’t make the catch and Griffey ends up with a triple. 

Please forgive me for that ”inept” comment I just made.  While trying to make the catch, Red Sox (Sock?) centerfielder Fred Lynn splatted against the wall and didn’t move for a couple of minutes.  If I didn’t already know that he wasn’t dead, I would’ve been concerned, but he’s not dead, so I’m not concerned. 

I imagine it was pretty scary at the time, though.

See… it looks like Jason Voorhees already got to him:

Fred Lynn ends up with a rib injury, but stays in the game to impress the girls in the crowd.  Johnny Bench then singles home Griffey to tie the game at 3-3.  Luis Tiant is mortal.

The Reds add two more in the top of the 7th and one more in the top of the 8th to give the Reds a comfortable 6-3.  The Big Red Machine is just six outs away from winning the World Series.  Trust me, folks… this one is O-V-E-R.

Bottom of the 8th, Pedro Borbon on the mound for the Reds.  Fred Lynn hits one back to Borbon, but he can’t handle it and Lynn is on base.  I guess Lynn’s ribs are okay.  Big faker.  Borbon walks Rico Petrocelli (he has an inner-ear problem).  Borbon is done, here comes Rawly Eastwick.

Eastwick makes quick work of the next two batters – two out, still two on.  The Reds are four outs away from winning the World Series.  Put a fork in the Red Sox, they are D-O-N-E.

Some guy with the unfortunate name of Bernie Carbo pinch hits for Roger Moret.  Carbo looks lost at the plate, like he has no business being on the team.  He then hits a no-doubter into the right-centerfield seats, tying the game (6-6).

Bernie “Bleeping” Carbo. 

Ouch.

The Red Sox would load the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the 9th, but this isn’t the 2007 Cincinnati Reds bullpen, so they manage to pitch out of it without giving up any runs.  The score remains tied and we’re going to extra innings. 

My guess is this game is going to end in anti-climatic fashion.

The Reds threaten in the 11th, and again in the 12th, but it’s all for naught.

Bottom of the 12th, Carlton Fisk at the plate.  He’s running out of time to hit that “dramatic homerun” that Pete Rose predicted at the end of Game 1.  Pat Darcy on the mound.

First pitch is a ball.  Fisk hits the second pitch down the leftfield line… it looks like a foul ball… it’s pretty deep, but it has to be foul… no way this one goes fair… it’s definitely got the distance, though… it ricochets off the leftfield foul pole. 

Homerun!  Homerun!  Homerun! 

Game over. 

Crap.

Red Sox win. 

I need a beer.

Fisk is mobbed by the entire Red Sox organization (and two dozen drunk Bostonites that jumped out of the stands and made it on the field).

Oh, how I wish Fisk had followed through with the shoulder-to-the-face on this guy, but it wasn’t to be:

I knew Fisk was going to hit a homerun here (sorry, I read about the game before I watched the DVD) and I still got the goosebumps when it happened.  It’s an amazing moment in baseball history – one of the best – and it was so nice to not have it ruined by the inane commentary of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver. 

A devastated Pete Rose had this to say after the game:

“What did I tell you about Fisk hitting a homerun?  With predictions like that I should really start betting on the… never mind.  It all comes down to Game 7.  Somebody’s gotta win and somebody’s gotta lose, and I believe in letting the other guy lose.”

World Series tied 3-3

Game 5

The 56,393 in attendance for Game 5 was the largest crowd to ever see a baseball game at Riverfront Stadium (and 54,000 larger than the crowds that came to see the Bengals play in the 1990’s).

At the top of the 1st inning the Red Sox drew first blood and took an early 1-0 lead.  In the bottom of the inning the Reds had runners at 2nd and 3rd with nobody out, but weren’t able to score. 

Umpires had funny uniforms in 1975: 

Now is probably a good time to mention that Tony Perez is 0-15 in the World Series so far.  Hmm… foreshadowing?

Bottom of the 4th… Tony Perez at bat… the pitch… the swing… Perez hits a shot over the left-centerfield fence for a game tying homerun (1-1).

Sign-making hadn’t reached its creative peak yet in 1975:

The Reds add a run in the bottom of the 5th, and three more runs in the 6th thanks to Tony Perez’s second homer of the game (I think his slump is over – 2 HR, 4 RBI), giving them a 6-1 lead over the Red Sox.

Gullett threw only 54 pitches in the first six innings, and the announcer adds, “he’s young and he should be fresh and strong.”  Yet another thing you can’t say on TV today.

Even 1970’s-era Mr. Red is better than Gapper:

The Red Sox will add a run in the top of the 9th, but it’s not enough…

…and this one belongs to the Reds!

A giddy Pete Rose had this to say after the game:

“One more game, baby!  Woo-hoo!  Sliding head-first is the safest way to get to the next base, I think, and the fastest.  You don’t lose your momentum, and there’s one more important reason I slide head-first – it gets my picture in the paper.”

Reds lead World Series 3-2

Game 4

The 1975 World Series might be considered the Second Best World Series ever, but Game 4 was a real snoozer.  Even the announcers seem bored, with many (too many) conversations focusing on which camera angles they like best. 

The Cincinnati Reds kick off the scoring in the bottom of the 1st when Pete Rose singles, Ken Griffey doubles (but gets thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple) – scoring Rose – and Johnny Bench doubles in Joe Morgan.

At the end of the 1st, Reds lead 2-o.

The Red Sox respond with five runs in the top of the 4th, just minutes after Marty Brennaman says that Sparky Anderson really needs starting pitcher Fred Norman to go at least six innings so he can rest his bullpen.

Fred Norman would last 3.1 innings.

The Reds managed to knock in a couple of runs in the bottom of the inning to get within one of the Red Sox (5-4), but that’s as close as they would get until the 9th inning.

Coming up later this week on NBC Sports:

• The Baseball World of Joe Garagiola
• World Series Game #7 (if necessary)
• Grandstand
• NFL Football (Dolphins vs. Jets / Raiders vs. Bengals)

Bottom of the 9th, two on, one out, Ken Griffey at the plate.  He hits a drive… to deep centerfield… but some guy on the Red Sox named Fred Lynn robs (ROBS!) Griffey of a hit with a great catch, preventing the runs from scoring.  Joe Morgan popped out to end the game.

Luis Tiant pitched his second complete game of the World Series, throwing an impressive 163 pitches (Do you hear that Mark Prior?  Kerry Wood?) and getting the win.

A frustrated Pete Rose had this to say after the game:

“Tough loss tonight… tough loss.  Doctors tell me I have the body of a thirty year old. I know I have the brain of a fifteen year old. If you’ve got both, you can play baseball.”

Boston ties the World Series 2-2

Game 3

After playing the first two games at boring Fenway Park, Game 3 moves to the beautiful, charming, full-of-character, and round Riverfront Stadium.

Prior to the game Sparky Anderson had this to say about Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Gary Nolan:

On February 20th I didn’t even consider Gary on our roster, he wasn’t even figured as one of our pitchers. 

It’s clear that Sparky didn’t go to the General Patton School of Motivational Speaking.

Former Reds GM Warren Giles throws out the ceremonial first pitch – from the stands – to Johnny Bench.  The crowd goes… well, they don’t really react until they see that Hank Aaron is sitting behind him. 

The announcer wonders if Pete Rose will ever get to 3,000 hits.  He thinks he has a pretty good chance.  We’ll see.

It was a quiet 1st inning, but in the top of the 2nd Gary Nolan throws a meatball across the plate and Carlton Fisk hits a monstrous homerun (no, not that homerun) into the green seats in left field.  Red Sox lead 1-0. 

I used to sit in those same green seats at Riverfront Stadium and tell Barry Bonds how much of a bum he was/is.

Back to the game…

Nothing of importance happens in the 3rd inning, other than the fact that I’d forgotten just how high the outfield wall used to be at Riverfront Stadium.

According to the announcer, Pete Rose has a “video tape machine” at home that allows him to tape the games so his kids can watch.  Those rich baseball players have all the cool toys.

In the bottom of the 4th Tony Perez walks, steals second base, and Johnny Bench hits a towering shot to left field to give the Reds a 2-1 lead.

Reds pitcher Gary Nolan leaves the game after four innings with stiffness in his neck.  Or maybe he just heard Sparky Anderson’s pre-game comments.  We’ll never know.

Here’s a story… of a man named Sparky…

Marty Brennaman takes over the announcing duties in the bottom of the 5th inning.  Is there anyone better?  He has a voice made for baseball.  The Reds should really look into signing this guy up to a long-term deal.

Davey Concepcion leads off the bottom of the 5th by taking Rick Wise downtown with a shot to left-center.  3-1 Reds.  Cesar GERONIMO! goes back-to-back and creams one to right field to extend the Reds lead to 4-1.  A sac fly by Joe Morgan (that ESPN guy) scores Rose from third base and the Reds now have a comfortable 5-1 lead.

Marty in the booth seems to be the good luck charm. 

Pitcher Pat Darcy strikes out and the crowd boos him for being such a non-homerun hitting bum.

Pete Rose hits a ball over an incompetent Red Sox (Sock?) centerfielder’s head and stretches it into a triple.  The way Rose was hustling around the bases someone should really come up with a nickname for him that includes the word “hustle.”  Pete Hustle? 

Nah!  Needs some work.

The Red Sox score a run in the top of the 6th and 7th innings to inch closer to the Reds (5-3), then Rawly Eastwick gives up a game-tying two-run homer by Dwight Evans in the top of the 9th.  We’re going to extra innings.

In the 10th inning Carl Yastrzemski (he’s a “climax player”) hits one to the wall in deep, deep centerfield, but Cesar GERONIMO! is there to make the catch.

GERONIMO! leads off the bottom of the 10th with a hit, eventually advancing to third on an errant pick-off attempt at 2nd base.  But wait!  Red Sox manager Darrell Johnson and Carlton Fisk are complaining that the Reds Ed Armbrister interfered at home plate.  After looking at the replay, it turns out Armbrister did interfere with Fisk’s throw to second base, but the umpires saw it differently.  Phew!  Fisk is pissed.

Joe Morgan hits a fly ball… to deep center field… but the infield is drawn in…  GERONIMO! scores the winning run from third…

…and this one belongs to the Reds!

It’s just a hunch, but I think this one is going to seven games. 

A jubilant Pete Rose had this to say after the game:

“That’s two games in a row for us.  Two more and we’re the champs.  If I was a betting ma… never mind.  Some players you pat their butts, some players you kick their butts, some players you leave alone.”

Cincinnati Reds lead World Series 2-1

Game 2

In a pregame interview we learn that Red Sox manager Darrell Johnson pronounces Cincinnati, “cincinnat-uh.”  The Big Red Machine will use this as inspiration going into Game 2.

Just as the game begins the cameraman spots Ted Kennedy and Henry Kissinger in the crowd.  The announcer sees this and responds, “that’s what baseball is all about, folks.”  Substitute Kennedy and Kissinger today for Damon and Affleck and the same statement rings true.

Reds pitcher Jack Billingham does his best Gary Majewski impression in the bottom of the 1st inning, but manages to only give up a very un-Majewski-like one run.  Red Sox lead 1-0.

The announcer says that Carl Yastrzemski is a “climax player” – something else you couldn’t get away with saying on TV today.

In the top of the 4th inning Tony Perez scores Joe Morgan on a force out, tying the game 1-1.  Meanwhile, Perez’s 6-year-old son Eduardo sees his daddy drive in the run and says, “I can do that,” and dreams one day of being a Major League Baseball player.

Unfortunately, young Perez doesn’t say, “I wish to be as good as my daddy someday,” so Eduardo’s career turns out to be very unspectacular.

Here’s another picture of Sherlock Holmes in front of a green screen that makes the final scene from The Hunt From Red October look good:

We learn that Boston Red Sox (Sock?) Rico Petrocelli has an inner ear problem that almost ended his career, but he’s on medication now and he’ll have it checked out after the season is over.  Keep him in your thoughts and prayers.  

Boston takes the lead 2-1 in the bottom of the 6th inning.

*RAIN DELAY*

Stay tuned after the game for Grandstand where they’ll be discussing the upset-in-the-making of the Baltimore Colts over the O.J. Simpson-led Buffalo Bills (Colts lead 21-17 at the end of the 3rd quarter). 

Top of the 9th inning.  Johnny Bench leads off with a double, Perez and George Foster get out.  Two down, the crowd is on their feet at Fenway.  Up comes Davey Concepcion, he singles, scoring Bench.  The crowd returns to their seats.  Game is tied 2-2.  Ken Griffey doubles with two outs to score Concepcion – Reds lead 3-2.

Bottom of the 9th, Rawly “The Witches of” Eastwick comes in for the 1-2-3 inning…

…and this one belongs to the Reds!

A happy Pete Rose had this to say after the game:

I told you we’d win four games in this World Series.  We won the game today, so that means if we win three more my prediction will come true.  I was born on the day Lincoln was shot and the Titanic sank.

World Series tied 1-1

Having been born in April of 1975 I was a little too young to remember the 1975 World Series between the Cincinnati Reds (YAY!) and the Boston Red Sox (BOOO!).  ESPN recently called the ‘75 Series the second greatest World Series of all time (the #1 spot is indefinitely reserved for the next time the Cubs win the World Series).

Most people remember the ‘75 World Series for Carlton Fisk’s famous homerun from Game 6 (if you haven’t seen that by now, the terrorists have won), but Reds fans prefer to remember the ‘75 World Series as that time the The Big Red Machine beat the Boston Red Sox 4 games to 3, becoming Major League Baseball’s Greatest Super Champions of the Universe.

I hope I didn’t ruin anything there.

Excluding the Fisk homerun and a handful of other highlights, I’ve never seen any of the games before.

Until now.

Thanks to a wonderful new technology called a “DVD” (Digital Video Disc), I was able to watch the original broadcasts of all seven games from the 1975 World Series.

Game 1

The ceremonial first pitch was thrown out by Secretary of Treasury, William E. Simon, who was booed mightily by the Boston crowd because, at the time, New England had some of the highest oil prices in the country.  Or maybe they booed because they’re Red Sox fans and Red Sox fans will boo anything that isn’t directly related to the Red Sox.

1975 was a glorious time for baseball.  Pete Rose was in his prime, Johnny Bench was behind the plate, and TV color commentators could get away with saying things like, “He got him with the high, hard one” without getting fined by the FCC.

For some reason, back in 1975, American League teams played by National League rules in the World Series (i.e., no designated hitter).  I never knew this was the case (or when it changed), so if anyone can shed some light on this in the comments, I’d appreciate it.

Here’s a picture of Marty Brennaman and Sherlock Holmes calling the game:

If you love a good pitcher’s duel, then Game 1 was for you.  Red Sox starter Luis Tiant was nasty, pitching a complete game, five-hit shutout.  Don Gullett, coming off a 15-win season in ‘75 (despite breaking his thumb during the season) was sloppy at times, but managed to get out of trouble in every inning until the 7th inning when the wheels came off.  A combination of Reds pitchers manged to give up six runs in the 7th, and with Luis Tiant being Luis Tiant, the game was essentially over.

Red Sox win: 6-0 

A disappointed Pete Rose had this to say after the game: