I couldn't believe my ears when I heard today that Jay Bruce was going to be called up on Tuesday!  I couldn't have picked a better Mud Hens game to go to last night, as it was Louisville's last night in town.  After losing the first three games here in Toledo, the Bats' bats finally woke up for a 10-4 drubbing of the Mud Hens.  Now don't get me wrong, I love my adopted hometown team, but my loyalties lie with the Reds and therefore, I wil ALWAYS root for Louisville as long as they are affiliated with Cincinnati.  It was such a treat to get to see the game yesterday. 

 I work at a restaurant here in Toledo, and as luck would have it,  I got to serve popular Mud Hen third basemen, Mike Hessman, on Thursday, and then Mud Hens pitcher Francis Beltran came in also with his wife and young son.  Both of them are really nice guys and were a treat to be able to wait on.  I kind of felt bad because I told them that although I am a big Mud Hens fan, I just had to root for the Bats.  The life of a fan is so hard, you know?  They understood and were gracious guests.  Beltran's wife reminded me that it was just a game.  I caught a glimpse of the dichotomy of the mind of a fan as opposed to the mindset of one who plays the game for a living.  For them it is a job, a livelihood; for us fans, the game is what we eat, breathe, live and die by.  I was reminded of that scene in Fever Pitch with the Red Sox players in the restaurant having dinner after having been thouroughly clobbered by the Yankees in game 3 of the ALCS and Jimmy Fallon's character has his epiphany.  Anyway, it was pretty cool.  Later in the night, the bartender came down and told me that there was a player from the Louisville Bats sitting up at the bar.  When I had the chance a little bit later, I went up an talked to the unassuming guy drinking Blue Moon at the bar.  Since the game was a school day special on Thursday, it began at 10:30 am and was over quite early so the kids could get back to school.  Knowing the guy at the bar was a Bat, but not knowing who he was (I knew his name was Jim),  I politey interceded into his conversation with another guest at the bar about playing those early games.  I asked if they had those school day specials down in Louisville, and I learned that they are played all over.  It is a pretty cool promotion that they should have everywhere, especially in Cincinnati.  Basically it is a school chaperoned field trip.  I wish they had those when I was a kid.   So anyway, I told him I was from Cincinnati, a big Reds fan and was at the big Cliff Lee / Edinson Volquez matchup.  Jim said if I think Volquez is something, just wait and see the other guy that was part of the Hamilton deal.  "Danny Herrera!" I said, showing off my knowledge of all things Reds, "he's with the Bats?" I said, showing off my lack of knowledge of all things down on the farm.  Jim said Herrera will surprise a lot of people and that he has some good stuff packed into his small frame.  In the few minutes that I got to talk to Jim, we discussed Homer Bailey and, of course, Jay Bruce.  Jim told me that he invited Jay Bruce to come out with him that night, but he opted to go see Iron Man instead.   When I got home from work that night, I looked up the Bats roster and saw that the guy I was talking to was Jim Brower.  He took the loss for Homer Bailey in Thursday's game.  You'd never know it just by talking to him.  Jim was just another unassuming, unpretentious regular guy out having a beer who happened to play baseball for a living.  Yeah, it is their life, but not like it is for us fans.  Pretty cool.

Sunday finally came around and I had a chance to go to the game.  I've had my tickets to that game for almost a month.  For that month, I heard the cries to call up Jay Bruce to the big show get louder and louder.  I hoped that wouldn't happen until today.  I joked about it.  "The Reds need Bruce, but not until after I get to see him play here in Toledo, call him up on the 26th!"  No matter what happened with the Reds, I wanted my chance to see him here.  I got to see Joey Votto and Encarnacion last year.  I wanted to see Bruce this year.  So I did, and what a game it was. 

It's a bummer about the rainout.  I'm not a real big believer in momentum but I was hoping that the Reds could carry their winning streak into tonight.  At least the bullpen could get some rest.  Even if the Reds did play tonight, I wonder how many people would have even bothered to show up to see the team with the longest current winning streak in the NL (the Reds).    As I type this, I have the D-Backs game on and it seems as if there are more and more people out in the desert going to see their team this season, and they are vocal this year.  Maybe if the Reds had the best record in baseball the people would be coming out to the Great American Ballpark, am I right?  Well, win or lose, the Reds still have an exciting young team and have been playing some good ball as of late.  But where are all the fans?  It's pretty sad when there are plenty of minor league teams that out-draw the majors.  Now I admit, I didn't really go to as many games as I should've before I moved away from Cincinnati, but in my defense, I worked two jobs, six days a week, and didn't have a car the last year that I lived in town.   That and I was saving my money to go to Europe and continue my travels.  That seems like such a long time ago.  I have been in Toledo now for six years this coming July and I go "home" to see the Reds as much as I can.  What used to be once a year if I was lucky turned into six trips last season, and I will probably make just as many this season.  I guess it is true that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone (in my case,  'til I'm gone).  I miss the days of winning seasons for the Redlegs.  This decade has not been kind to us fans, but WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME WE WERE KIND TO OUR TEAM?  It makes me really sick when I listen to a game and the fans are cheering louder for the visiting team than our own.  Cincinnati is supposed to be a baseball town but you'd never know it if you go to a game.  It's time for Reds fans to get off of their collective **** and bring them down to support the team.  Maybe they'll win a few more games knowing we've got their backs and are behind them 100% 24-7, win or lose.  Just a thought.