He came here with such promise.  The Reds signed a superstar!!!! But old age and injuries caught up with him from the moment he got done signing the contract that brought him to Cincinnati.  Unfortunately, he never did show the youthful exuberance of his days in Seattle.  Sure, he had his moments:  A great catch here, a big hit there....but the FIRE was gone.

And if there is one thing this city feeds off of, it's FIRE.  Show some heart, we'll love you.  At the same time, show us you don't give a damn - and we'll return it ten-fold.  I've grown tired of seeing flyballs drop where they should have been caught, and I've never been a fan of 308' singles. 

Hustle.  Act like you give a damn.

Honestly, I wish Jr well.  I hope he gets his ring.  While he didn't play well enough to get a shot at a ring with the Reds, he did play well enough to earn one when he was with the Mariners.  Neither organization was even close to being good enough to get him a shot at the World Series, so I am hopeful he can get one via a traded-at-the-deadline acquisition.

With all the talk of instant replay being introduced to baseball which will undoubtedly make the games even longer, it got me thinking about other changes I'd like to see in the game.

The NL should adopt the DH
Purists be damned.  It's time for the pitchers to just pitch.  They aren't in the major leagues because they can hit - they are there because they can pitch.  At a professional level, I don't care to see someone who has about as much chance as I would of getting a hit.  90% of the time they look foolish and it's a complete waste of time.

Intentional Walks - Just take your base.
Why do we need to see 4 balls thrown 4' wide of the plate in order for the at bat to be complete?  Yeah, yeah....you never know what's going to happen.  The catcher could miss the ball.  The batter could reach across the plate and hit a homer like Kelly Leak did in the Bad News Bears.  We all know the chances of that happening are somewhere between slim and none.  Just take your base.

No more arguing calls in the field of play. 
If a manager runs out of the dugout to argue a call he should be ejected.  The call isn't going to be reversed, so all that's being accomplished is some grandstanding, and the guilty pleasure of watching two adults argue it out nose to nose.  It doesn't have any bearing on the game so get rid of it.  You don't see any other sport where the coach or manager is allowed to enter the field of play - baseball shouldn't be any different.

It's time for a Pitch Clock.
Basketball has the shot clock.  Football has the play clock.  Baseball needs a pitch clock.  From the time the pitcher catches the ball for the next pitch, he would be "on the clock".  I don't know what the time limit should be - let's say 25 seconds.  If he doesn't pitch the ball in 25 seconds, it's a ball.  If the batter isn't ready when it's pitched, it's a strike.

No more "time outs"
Having a pitch clock would be meaningless if you still allowed catchers and batters to call time whenever they wanted - so that's out.  Unless the batter or catcher (or anyone else for that matter) has a damn good reason for play to be stopped (dirt in the eye, etc) - I'd like to see this meaningless habit stopped.  Griffey Jr does it nearly every at bat, supposedly to throw the pitcher off his timing.  Whatever.  No more.  You've got 25 seconds to get ready for your next pitch.

Bring back the golf carts
During a pitching change, why do we have to wait for the pitcher to walk from the outfield to the mound before he starts his warm up tosses?  Golf carts don't cost that much - use them to transport the new pitcher to the mound when the bullpens are in the outfield.  You can even decorate them up in team colors and have the mascot drive.  I don't care - just get him out there so we can get on with the game.

I know the purists will balk at most of these suggestions.  I also know that baseball prides itself on being basically unchanged for 100s of years.  The original rules were in place before TV or radio, and now the one major rule they are thinking of changing (instant replay) is one in which will actually slow the game down even more?  That's silly.  I'm not sturgently against replay - I do think it's important to get the calls right so why not use technology to help that happen - but if they are willing to consider this change, I'd like for them to consider making even more.

Remember the last time he faced the Cards?

1.2 innings, 8 hits, 7 runs. 

Ouch.  He's pitched much better of late, winning three in a row and not giving up more than 3 earned runs in his last 5 starts.   Hopefully he can keep that going and shut the Cards down.  Arroyo is slated to pitch BP tomorrow, so the Reds really need to win this one.