There's nothing wrong with having hope about the remainder of this Reds' season. Hope gives the team, and the fans the encouragement to fight on. It's not a false emotion with this team. I don't believe in giving up until the season is over. However, the 2008 Reds can have good starting pitching, offense and bullpen. They've shown that they can beat good teams. It's just they're inconsistent and that's why they're not winning.  They're not out of it yet.

    I've written about the 1973 Reds but I want to remind you that team was almost out of it in July.  It was on July 1, in game one of a doubleheader aganst the hated Dodgers, our rival back then. In danger of falling behind by 12 games to them,  Hal King slammed a three run homer to win the game. That ignited the Reds and they caught the Dodgers and won the division. (NL West)  The Reds list the homer as the number eight moment of all time at Riverfront Stadium.  (Here's the cite.)  

     So is it still possible to get in the playoffs?  Based on the 1973 season, yes.  Also note last year, the Rockies won 14 out of their last 15 games, finishing 20-8 in September to make the playoffs. (They won a one game playoff against the Padres. Here's a wikipedia article on them.)

 Hal King, C.

According to Yahoo, Ichiro has given a profanity laced pep talk to A.L. stars since 2001.  And it works according to David Ortiz. Wait a minute Ichiro speaks english? Why that son of bleep, he was fooling us. (Here's the Yahoo article.)

     I've written that the Reds need a Greg Vaughn like leader. But for this team who gives the pep talk? Brandon Phillips?  Dusty Baker? It's definitely a consideration for next year if the Reds look to free agency to plug holes.

     But for this year, somebody needs to make the speech that losing is not acceptable and that we don't quit.  Someone needs to say, "Bleep those Cub b......ds.  Bleep their whining about 100 years without a title.  Bleep their fans.  They're a bunch of bleeping body orifices.  Bleep the Cards. Bleep the Brewers. I'm sick of hearing about the bleeping Brewers.  Bleep the Mets. Bleep the Phillies.  Bleep the bleeping Red Sox . Bleep the Yankees' bleeping money. "

     Got it Reds?  Let's go and win the whole bleeping thing.

 (Vaughn hits 3 homers against the Cubs. Reds win 10-3, 9-7--99; Cin. Enquirer/AP photo)

Memo to Reds lefthanded hitters. If you show Sabathia that you have trouble with his slider, he's going to throw it over and over and over ... and over. Chris Welsh was predicting the pitch everytime. What to do? It's probably easier said then done but let the slider go. He's not hitting the strike zone with it. Watch the video next time, and you'll see it missing. I would even think about on a two strike count not swinging at the slider even if that means going against the rule to protect the plate.  Again, that's easy to say but if he's got two strikes on you on that slider, he's not coming in. Regardless, force him to throw you strikes.

There's a movement by radio djs to get us to stop criticizing David Weathers. You must look at his stuff not just at numbers.  (Cutman is  the latest to defend him with numbers.)  If you want to look at numbers, fine.  Here's an ugly stat from the Reds themselves.  At home, Stormy has an ERA of a whopping 5.40! On the road, he's got an ERA of 1.93.

     Let's look at his pitching philosophy.  I've written over and over again, he's a pitch to contact guy. That means a pitcher "forces" contact. Get the at bat over with three pitches. But make them hit the ball. This is absolutely the wrong strategy for close games and late innings. It's more suited for starting and long relief.  A set-up pitcher and closer must be able to strike out a batter to get out of trouble.  Weathers is not that guy.  This is why the Reds signed Francisco Cordero.

      What about his stuff?  His sinker and slider are now hanging. In the old days, when he was better, those pitches had bite. Now they just lay there for batters to whack. His fastball ain't going to fool anyone coming in at 85-89 mph. Remember the second Red Sox game where he gave up rockets?  Yesterday, during the Brewers game, there were two rockets. One came off of Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder hit a sharp grounder that was fielded by Brandon Phillips in a good play.  Some players don't make that play and Braun would have scored the tying run.  

     So what do you do with him? Move him to long relief.

Sabermatricians discount strikeouts as just another out..  HERE'S WHY THEY'RE A BUNCH OF BONEHEADS!  In the seventh, Jerry Hariston hits the ball hard that looks like it's going to be caught. However, it's hit hard and Brewers' Mike Cameron loses it  in the lights. The ball rolls to the wall and allows Andy Phillips to score all the way from first.  That was the tying run. PUTTING THE BALL IN PLAY LEADS TO HITS OR ERRORS.  A strikeout does nothing.  Here's the link to the replay.   

    I will talk more about the goofiness of sabermetrics at a later date.  Just note that Josh Fogg had excellent location even if the bullpen was a little shakey tonight.  And will somebody tell Dusty to stop putting in Stormy Weathers in close games. His pitch to contact strategy was lucky today but look out in the future. Late inning pitchers must have the ability to strike out batters.  Regardless, the Reds didn't give up and got an important win over the Brewers. (Here's a picture from the Reds of Fogg in action.)