The Gift That Keeps on Giving

As we turn the calendar to December (and one month closer to pitchers and catchers reporting), the mood shifts toward the holiday season, and toward thoughts of gifts and giving. Whether you’re fighting the crowds at the mall or shopping in your pajamas online, you’re in the midst of the biggest giving time of the year.

Luckily for Reds fans, we’ve been receiving the gift of success since the summer. For us, 2010 was the season that has kept on giving.

For so many years, our optimism as fans couldn’t take us past the All-Star break, with season after season slipping away seemingly as soon as the first pitch was thrown on opening day.

But not this year. This year, we were right in the thick of things. People were talking about the Reds; they were praising the way this team came out every night with a never-say-die attitude, evidenced by their place at the top of the league standings in comeback wins.

I think that for fans of teams like the Reds, a blind giddiness is necessary when success comes their way. For many Cincy fans, this one included, we enjoyed this ride more than any in recent memory. We weren’t counting the days until the playoffs begin; thinking that if they don’t go all the way, the season was waste. No, in my mind, we were the most pure of fans. The ones who are able to sit back and enjoy the ride and not just sit there until it’s over. The ups and downs, the winning streaks when it seems as if they can’t and won’t be beaten to the games when you have flashbacks of the past decade of futility.

Did it sometimes move into an area of overreaction, where the outcome of a midweek game in August felt as if it will determine the season? Of course. But that’s the beauty of a year like this. Personally, I don’t care. I don’t care if my team got to October and then shown the door. After years of being disappointed each time I looked at the standings, or of going to the bottom of the most recent power rankings list, this has been bliss. It was and has continued to be a chance to put all of that behind us, to cleanse ourselves of the also-ran label, to hear all the reasons why this team and this organization can’t win in today’s league. To finally celebrate.

And what makes this season even more special for the longtime fans is that although the season ended rather unceremoniously, the ride didn’t come to a screeching halt for us. There was Joey Votto winning the NL MVP in an landslide (made all the more sweeter by the fact he dominated the vote against Albert Pujos) and Dusty coming oh-so-close to taking home NL Manager of the Year accolades. The success even continued down on the farm, with the Louisville Bats being named the recipients of the 2010 Bob Freitas Award as the “Organization of the Year” at the AAA level.

Throughout the offseason, whenever the media speculated on possible move by the “contenders” in the league, there was that wishbone C right there alongside the perennial powers. After years of misery, seeing a story that hailed the Reds as “a team who is set to be a regular atop the standings” brought an excitement not felt in as long as I can remember. I was 11 years old when the Reds last made the playoffs in 1995, and was just about to turn 16 the last time they were even mentioned in the postseason discussion, so the possibility of having a season like this one repeat itself over and over again in the near future was something I never thought would happen.

So although the snow is falling outside and there isn’t a baseball game to be found on my TV, I’m still receiving the gift of the 2010 Cincinnati Reds. And I can’t wait to see what we get in 2011.

To All The Fans – Let’s Enjoy the Ride

September 28, 2010. Jay Bruce strides to the plate in the bottom of the ninth of a 2-2 ballgame. The Cincinnati Reds were just one win away from clinching the NL Central Division title and advancing to the playoffs for the first time in 15 seasons. The over 30,000 fans in attendance at Great American Ballpark, well at least those who weren’t standing, sat on the edge of their seats waiting for the chance to explode and celebrate.

On the first pitch, Bruce unloaded on a fastball and effectively erased over a decade of misery for Reds fans. When the ball landed in the grass beyond the centerfield wall, Bruce was already in a dead sprint around the bases with his hand in the air, while the dugout emptied and the players gathered in anticipation around home plate.

The reaction and feelings to this moment deserve their own post, and trust me, I’ve been waiting a LONG time for the chance to sit down and write down what I was feeling last night after the game ended and while watching the scene at GABP. But this post is really a chance to get out ahead of all of the doubters that have surfaced lately, the ones who will jump at any opportunity to rain on our long-awaited parade, and try and bring us down.

Well guess what, it’s not gonna work. We’ve gone too long waiting for a taste of success, watched too many teams bum rush the mound and cover their locker room with champagne. It’s our turn now, and we’re going to enjoy every moment without any reservation.

Yankees fans were grumbling because their team had gone nine years without winning a World Series. Reds fans have gone that long without a WINNING SEASON. So while New Yorkers were whining about their team failing to advance each year in the playoffs, a place they have been with such regularity recently that it seems as if it’s almost their predetermined destiny each spring training, Cincy was just hoping their hometown nine would win more games than they lost for the season. Just a glimmer of hope, something for these long-suffering fans to be excited about, to puff their chests out a little bit.

I think that for teams in this position, a blind giddiness is necessary when success comes their way. For many Reds fans, this one included, we have enjoyed this ride more than any in recent memory. We aren’t counting the days until the playoffs begin; thinking that if they don’t go all the way, the season was waste. No, in my mind, we are the most pure of fans. The ones who are able to sit back and enjoy the ride and not just sit there until it’s over. The ups and downs, the winning streaks when its seems as if they can’t and won’t be beaten to the games when you have flashbacks of the past decade of futility. Does it sometimes move into an area of overreaction, where the outcome of a midweek game in August feels as if it will determine the season? Of course. But that’s the beauty of a year like this. Personally, I don’t care. I don’t care if my team may get to October and get run out of the building. After years of being disappointed each time I looked at the standings, or of going to the bottom of the most recent power rankings list, this is bliss. This is a chance to put all of that behind us, to cleanse ourselves of the also-ran label, to hear all the reasons why this team and this organization can’t win in today’s league. To finally celebrate.

Being a fan isn’t about the Johnny-come-lately’s, the bandwagon jumpers who have the hat of each team in the league and who always seem to be a “fan” of the best of the best. It’s for the ones who have suffered, who have invested their time, money and emotions for their team, no matter what the outcome. And through all of the down times, when they finally get a chance to taste success like Cincinnati fans have this year, it makes it that much sweeter. We haven’t been dulled to the feeling like some, and even those who remember the Big Red Machine are given a chance to relive it all over again as if it were the first time.

So, my fellow members of Redleg Nation, let’s take it in, and let’s just sit back and smile. We’ve earned it.

Here We Go Again…

As I was watching the deja vu-inducing coverage of Brett Favre’s presumed return to the NFL for the upcoming season, I was reminded of a column I wrote back in July of last year, titled “The Brett Favre era in the NFL is over for good… we think.” You can check out the full column here.

Reading through that now untrue column about how Favre was officially hanging up the cleats and calling it a day, I can’t help but laugh at the cat-and-mouse game we have played every offseason these past three years, with a “will he, won’t he” mentality that consumes the nation and probably completly dominates the mindset of the entire state of Minnesota. As I said in the last sentence in July: “To me, the saga of No. 4 is over at just the right time. That is, at least until next offseason.”

Pretty prophetic of me, wouldn’t you say?

These Guys Are Good.

Open letter to the United States Golf Association and The Royal & Ancient

Dear USGA and R&A,

I know you meant well. Let me say that right off the bat. You were legitimately concerned with the rash of low scores that were being carded in your top tournaments, with the golfers showing no fear and gripping-and-ripping your supposedly tough courses to death.

So, of course, you needed to make some changes.

First, in moves that have been going on for a few years, you took the courses that were being bludgeoned the most and altered them in ways meant to halt the scoring trend and better challenge the best golfers in the world week-in and week-out. Tees were moved back, yardages were changed to superhuman lengths (and on many holes, the par was kept the same, in an almost sinister move on your part), greens were made slipperier than ice or with more slope than the Rocky Mountains and you planted enough trees along the fairways to make every day seem like Arbor Day.

Then, prior to this season, you took aim on the rule book, changing the rule concerning the grooves on the irons used in competition, eliminating the squared-off ends of the grooves that helped the club grip the ball, particularly in rough conditions, and impart spin so severe that the players were playing yo-yo with the ball around the green, firing it yards past the hole then watching as the spin would yank it backward, in a move that led to cheers from the crowd and high-fives from the players. Beginning this year, the old, traditional curved, “U”-shaped grooves were made mandatory, harkening back to the days of Palmer and Nicklaus, when players had to make sure their touch on shots to the greens after errant drives was in top shape, or they risked catching a ‘flier’ lie and having the ball soar over the green.

Now, if you ask me, I think those are pretty good moves in trying to slow down this scoring trend. But, that is why I don’t play on the Tour.

The PGA Tour was founded in 1916, and during those 93 years prior to this season, only three players had officially carded a score of 59 during a Tour event, and none since 1999. But now, in the span of 24 days, we have seen two golfers hit the magic number – not to mention three players who came oh-so-close by firing a 60. So in the span of a little over three weeks, we have seen almost half of all the recorded 59′s that have taken place in 94 years.

Oops. Guess somebody (I’m looking at you two organizations) underestimated these guys. I mean, you said it yourself in a recent advertising campaign for the PGA Tour – These Guys Are Good. I mean REALLY good.

But that’s always been the case. For years, the talent level of the professionals was at such a high level that scoring under par was never a problem. But recently, the gap between the guys playing on the pro circuits and the guy down at your local course has widened to unprecedented levels. The difference is that now, the highest level players are treating golf more as a sport than an activity, which was the case for most players in the past. They have the physical and fitness levels more like the guys playing in the NBA than the foursome with the cooler in their cart.

Not to mention the newfound golf entourage that follows many of the players from tournament to tournament. Mental coaches, trainers, nutritionists, swing coaches, the list goes on and on. Where it used to be that Arnold Palmer would light up a cigarette during his round, today’s golfers are snacking on protein bars and sports drinks during play.

Add in the space-age technology that has permeated the equipment world, with everything from hybrid clubs to square- and triangle-shaped drivers to balls that are custom-designed for a player’s swing, and you’ve got a recipe for dominance. You can’t get by on pure talent anymore – it takes a complete package to compete every week, and when the top players find the package that works for them, that spells low scores. As my brother, a student in the PGA Golf Mangement program at NC State, was saying, “To have these guys go out and tear up these courses like they are doing is unbelievable. In order to shoot 10 to 12 under par, you have to be firing on all cylinders, something that is not easy to do.”

So in summary, I say to you two-storied institutions of golf, well played. You’ve given it your best effort so far, but this time, the outcome came down to one thing, and you’ve heard me say it before but I think it deserves repeating, because it’s something that you shouldn’t ever forget. These Guys Are GOOD.

Sincerely,

Your everyday golf fan (who happens to have a blog)

The Year of the No-No

On Monday night, Tampa Bay Ray’s pitcher Matt Garza tossed the first no-hitter in team history, facing the minimum 27 batters in the 5-0 shut out of the Detroit Tigers. Garza walked one batter, but he was erased on an inning-ending double play, an other than that one free pass, Garza defied the baseball odds in putting up zeros across the scoreboard.

However, considering that last night’s no-no was the fifth – read that again, the FIFTH – no-hitter tossed in Major League Baseball this season, can we really still defined this kind of performance as rare and worthy of the awe it has inspired for years?

First off, I think it would be unfortunate and an overreaction to discredit Garza’s performance last night. As many times as we’ve seen it happen this season, it is important to remember that since 1875, there have only been 268 no-hitters thrown in the big leagues, including last night. The most in a single year was eight way back in 1884, during the game’s early “Dead Ball” era. The most in one year in the modern era (since 1901) was seven, which occurred both in 1991 and 1992, before the true impact of performance-enhancing drugs came into effect, at least that we know of (But we’ll get to that point later). Compare those numbers to the fact that in the history of MLB, there have been over 200,000 games played, which means that only 0.1 percent of all the games played in the history of the league ended up being a no-hitter. Think about that. One-tenth of one percent of the total number of games played. That’s unreal. So we must give credit where credit is due. It is still incredibly difficult to go an entire game without allowing one flare to the outfield, one seeing-eye single, one ball that barely escapes the reach of a fielder.

So yes, I thoroughly believe that it is still perfectly acceptable to get all geeked-out over the occurence of a no-hitter. It is one of the most rare sights we have the chance to witness in any sport, and the level of skill, endurance (both mentally and physically) and luck is a perfect storm that should excite any sports fan.

Now, on to my reasoning behind this upswing in the number of no-hitters we’ve seen this season. As I mentioned before, we are just a little past the halfway point of the year and already closing in on the single-season record, complete with a pair of perfect games thrown in. There has to be something going on. This can’t just all be chance, with all of the perfect storm-type games coming together out of some quirk in the universal order of the game.

I think the same “perfect storm” concept that must come together in order for a pitcher to toss a no-no applies to the reasoning behind this upswing in frequency of this achievement.

Going back to my point about how ’91 and ’92 being before steroids and PEDs really took over the game and ushered in an era of unprecedented offensive stats, a turn of events that swung the advantage to the hitter into another level, one that saw such an offensive explosion that it ushered in the timeless “Chicks Dig the Long Ball” ads. Hitters were bigger, stronger, and had almost every advantage imaginable over the poor pitchers of the day. Balls were flying out of the park at an astounding rate, with batters seemingly going up to the plate with the notion that they were going to get a hit, with no doubt in their mind. Another advantage exploited by the hitters of the day was the use of videotape and other forms of scouting. In those days, when you went up to the plate, you know all of the “tells” that a pitcher had - little hitches and unconscious mannerisms that served as a preview of what pitch was coming.

But now, with the league cracking down (as best as it can) on PED users, and pitchers finally grasping the importance of pregame scouting, the pendulum has decidedly swung back toward the middle, which in baseball, means that the pitchers are back on top.

Hitting a baseball, especially at the major league level, has been called the most difficult single task to perform in sports. It says something that when a batter fails 70 percent of the time, he is considered a good hitter, and if he gets his hit rate into the 40 percent range, he moves into an elite and admired group. So it stands to reason that now, with the earlier advantages for the hitters mostly rendered nonexistent, and the pitchers finally gaining ground in this battle, that the no-hitter is back in force, as small of a force as that may be.

This Fan’s Eye View on “The Decision”

Forget how unseemly and cringe-worthy his one-hour, ESPN-driven “The Decision” special was. Forget the level of bad taste it was to announce what was essentially a break-up with the city of Cleveland in this way – akin to dumping someone by having it sky-written over a crowded stadium. Let’s focus on LeBron James’ decision to join the newly-crowned powerhouse team that is the Miami Heat. He is now united with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh to make up a squad that has three of the most coveted players in the NBA, and instantly turned Miami into a title contender.

 I’ve heard all the criticisms, the bashing, the burning of jerseys and “he’s never getting another dollar from me” comments. And, full disclosure, at first I wasn’t too happy with his decision either. Maybe it was the Ohioan in me that wanted to see Cleveland with a chance to finally win a championship, the city’s first since 1946, one that would have been made even sweeter with the hometown hero at the helm.

 But as I thought about it more, I started to understand why he did what he did. And here are my thoughts on that.

 For any athletes out there who have had the opportunity to play on the same team as their friends, we know how much of a blast that can be. Not only are you getting to play the game you love, and in this case, make more money than you will know what to do with, but you are getting to be out there with the guys you like hanging out with. The NBA season can be a long, lonely journey, complete with long trips on the road and lots of down time. So it only makes sense that having your friends around would make the season much better, and if your friends are two of the top players in the league, well that doesn’t hurt either.

 After hearing some people saying that Michael Jordan would have never joined a team with two other superstars just to win a title. That he wanted to be “The Man” on every team he was on, the one who took the final shot and always had the ball in crunch time. What we have to realize is that LeBron is not, and will never be, just like Mike. He has the opportunity the go down as the most ridiculously talented player ever, and will probably pile up statistical numbers unlike anything we’ve ever seen, but he will never be the end-of-the-game killer that Jordan was, the person who wants to finish you off and enjoys winning at everything he does.

 LeBron is a kid. He likes having fun, joking and laughing with his teammates, making up routines for pregame introductions. He likes having a personalized high-five routine with five different teammates for when they come off the court. Could you ever picture Jordan and Scottie Pippen posing for fake pictures after they were introduced? Neither can I.

 But you know what? There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. We have become so enamored and obsessed with finding the “next Michael Jordan” that we typecast every uber-talented player that comes into the league as the second coming of His Airness. That if a guy has loads of ability and can sell a pair of sneakers with ease, then he automatically must possess every single trait that Jordan had – the scoring, the defense, the “I’m going to win and there’s nothing you can do about it” attitude that has been well chronicled to exist in him when participating in any type of game, from basketball to cards. But that’s not Lebron’s style.

 I think instead of ripping him to shreds for what he’s not, we should be congratulating him on knowing what he is and embracing it, and for not trying to give into the public pressure to take over Jordan’s role. This is one of the reasons I found it hard to believe that he would go to Chicago. As much as I would have liked it as a fan of the Bulls, a move to the Windy City would have been a textbook example of someone having to change who they are just to try and fill the shoes of their famous predecessor. LeBron would have had to become MJ-2, a carbon copy personality both on and off the court. And as I’ve said before, that’s just not what makes him happy. And in the end, can we really blame someone for wanting to do what they fill will make them the happiest?

Go Reds!

It’s July 2nd. The Cincinnati Reds are 46-35, 11 games above .500 and alone atop the National League Central standings. They just administered a 12-0 beat down on the Cubs at Wrigley Field, and have won 9 of their last 11 games.

I can’t believe I just got to write those words.

After almost a decade of misery for Reds fans, full of losing seasons and unfulfilled potential, we have been allowed to (cautiously) enjoy this team in 2010. And although many long-time fans (including this one) are slow to allow themselves to fully believe that this season could be special, it is hard not to like them.

The Reds lead the Majors in wins coming in their last at-bat. They never seem to be out of the game until the end, and that is a characteristic that can take a squad far in the postseason. They play hard every game, and they are the type of team that are just enjoyable for a long-suffering fan base to watch.

So over the last few months of this year, here’s hoping that I get many more chances to write paragraphs like above.  ‘Cause it sure feels great.