The World Has Turned and Left Me Here
A year ago today I was making a spontaneous trip to Cincinnati so I could attend a Reds Tweetup at Great American Ball Park. As luck would have it, the Reds had the opportunity to clinch the NL Central that night (either with a Reds win or a Cardinals loss).
I think we know how that turned out…
Exactly one year year later the Reds wrap up the season four games under .500 and at least 17 games out of first place. Meanwhile, the Cardinals’ playoff hopes come came down to the final game of the season (and possibly a play-in game tomorrow).
What a difference a year makes.
The season is far too long–and I’m way too lazy–to go back and evaluate the entire season, but can I think of 17 games that the Reds could’ve/should’ve won this year? Absolutely. Does it do us any good to dwell on how those 16 games could’ve been played differently? Not one bit.
The only thing that can be said about the 2011 season is that it wasn’t much fun. Expectations were high (probably too high), but I didn’t expect the team to drop off this much from 2010 to 2011. There was an incredibly long stretch of the season where the Reds were incapable of winning two games in a row.
We’ll have plenty of things to talk about this off-season. And if I feel like it, I might even come out of hibernation to write about it.
Was today Joey Votto’s last game as a Cincinnati Red? The possibility is greater than you think it is.
We know that Brandon Phillips will be back in 2012, but what about beyond that?
Are the Reds really going to rely on Scott Rolen to be their everyday third baseman? Again?
Will Francisco Cordero be back at a reduced rate? It sounds like it.
Are we going to have (another) platoon in left field, or will the Reds finally decide on an everyday solution?
Zach Cozart looked good in (very) limited time at shortstop. Is he the answer for the Reds’ shortstop woes? He better be.
And who says nothing happens in the off-season?
The headline for this final post of the 2011 season was brought to you by Weezer.
Do I hate being a Red Sox fan right now? Oh yes. Does this make you feel any better about the choices you’ve made? Hell no. Do I wish I was blasting “It Is Accomplished” right now? Sure I do. See you in March.
i don’t hear much talk about it, but what about Stubbs in centerfield. His low avg. and high strickouts [some very ugly ones at that] seem to negate his speed and occasional power. And even with all that speed he seems to make a few too many base running blunders.
Unless Stubbs suddenly figures it all out…Reds need a better day to day in center if they want to win…obviously left field and shortstop need to be figured out. All this platoon crap is getting old…it reeks of indecision…