VOTTO !!!!!!!!

AP

  

“@CincinnatiReds: Votto overwhelmingly wins MVP with 31 of 32 first-place votes.”

HOT STOVE WINTER TWEETS ARE HERE!

PHOTO: MLB.COM

(Cue Music) " The Reds are on "Your Winter Hot Stove" Radio!" reports link with Marty B(w/Jr filling in) Cure those winter blahs! :) http://bit.ly/9ttvzq (< Clict there for Webcast from first 2 Nov broadcasts)

NL GOLD GLOVE TIME!

His 8th Gold Glove by Captain Scotty Rolen! Third all time behind (HOF'S) Mike Schmidt's 10, second to Brooks Robinson's 16!
2nd By BP 
1ST for Bronson


Reds multiple Gold Glove winners Rolen/BP/Arroyo for the first time since the mid '70's when Bench/Concepcion/Morgan/Geronimo 1974-77 were cleaning up! 


Oct/Nov Tweets:


@CincinnatiReds Corky Miller cleared waivers, refused outright, elected free agency and then was re-signed to minor league contract with ST invite.


@johnfayman   
#Reds added IF Zack Cozart, IF/OF Todd Frazier, IF Kris Negron and RHP Daryl Thompson to the 40-man roster. (Nice Protection~ SS)


@CincinnatiReds OF Wladimir Balentien (116g, .282, 25hr, 78rbi, 12sb) has been named to Topps’ Triple-A All-Star team.


@CincinnatiReds "We'll miss you, Sparky!" banner just went up on the Crosley Terrace gates of GABP http://plixi.com/p/54986923


@CincinnatiReds a Sparky tribute page with highlights of the HOF manager's career & more - http://ow.ly/34Ipv #Reds #Tiger


@MLBpeeps  
Reds agree with C Hernandez on 1-year deal http://FANpeeps.com/-bBUD (Via @REDSpeeps) #mlb #reds


@CincinnatiReds Anderson's statue in the Reds Hall of Fame & Museum. He was inducted into the Reds HOF in 2000. http://plixi.com/p/54944874


@CincinnatiReds Reds today exercised the 2011 contract options for Arroyo and Gomes but did not exercise contract options for Harang and Cabrera (Nov 3) Best of luck (Aaron/Ocab)~SS


@CincinnatiReds to Joey Votto for being named today to Sporting News NL All-Star team in voting by @MLB players, managers & GMs. #Reds


@CincinnatiReds   
Great to see Jay Bruce's walk-off homer to clinch the division for the #Reds was #1 on @MLBNetwork Capital One Plays of the Year! 


Well be back after Dec25 with more Winter Highlights! (oh yea except for huuuuge MVP tweets! Hopefully on Monday Nov22) 

No Magic Post-Season Switch, but the Start of Something Magical (?) and a Magic 2010!

Pic From the One and Only: Jaime of BOR fame: http://ramsey.mlblogs.com

Well folks the Magic switch the Reds needed to finally beat a contending club never transpired!

Many fans told me we would be OK this postseason(especially our pitching, which except for Volquez's game 1 meltdown wasnt bad!), and after Bruces magical clinching shot, I started to believe in something magical: maybe ;) What was never proven was our ability to beat contenders, something we didn't do all year.

Heck we were in this postseason thing right? Anything can happen, (My littlle bro predicted a Yankees/Reds WS and I wouldnt dare jinx it, in my gut though: I never saw it) even I started wearing the rose colored glasses, yes me, the hated realist and THE biggest Reds fan on this side of the Columbian River, thats right, only us fans that live and die with this team can say that. Am I just happy we made the playoffs: yes: because my expectations were a .500 season. Why? We fielded basically the same team as 2009, (+Cabrera/Chapman/Gomes) with no clear cut #1 starter(Harang's shaky 2009 should have been a clear signal, and Arroyo is not a Champions #1) so my expectiations were low, and i was rewarded with a wonderful year!

Folks kept predicting Reds success in the postseason, and I answered: Well, there would have to be a Return of the early season magic of: Leake/Wood/Gomes/Rolen etc etc....One huge piece of magic continued all year: Vottos MVP run, something still to be celebrated(hopefully) Unfortunately magic doesnt beat World Champion caliber teams like the Philles: Pitching and Defense normally dominate in short Postseason series. 7 Errors in three games will lose a short series everytime. (Unless you have the hitting of the 75 Reds, maybe and Foster/Bench/Perez were not walking through that clubhouse).

The three things that win in the PostSeason, escaped us, or beat us:

1. Pitching
2. Defense
3. Clutch Hitting

Game 1: Beat by Halladays Historic Pitching of the NoNo
Game 2: Beat by 4 Reds errors
Game 3: Beat by More Philllies pitching in the form of Hamels

But alas, we have much to build on: The Cuban Missile, Chapman our new #1? The young sticks of Bruce/Stubbs/Heisey. The Vets of Rolen/Phillips, and of course our MVP the Canadian Masher and probable 2010 MVP: Mr Joey Votto.

2011 should be special, and The Progressive Reds Machine will be there to set you straight with the Realist perspective!

Thank you 2010 Reds, you've excited a city left dead for 10 years: your back and so are we!

First No Sticks Now no Gloves (with some good acting and lights thrown in) Game 3?

                                                        The Enquirer/Gary Landers


Why we lost game 1:
- The best Hitting team in the NL with no Hits? Credit to Halladay, but we can hit anyone: can you say young team overwhelmed by playoff atmosphere? (Another Reason to get Homefield advantage by beating contending clubs in the Reg Season, 2011 ya listening?)

Why we lost game 2:
- The Team that had the least errors in the NL (Tied with Pads) committed a record 4

Game 3? It all comes together right:: against Cole Hamels? It is at our heralded GAS(mall)Park(oops sorry GABP) with Homefield advantage, there is no time for further excuses. Reds prove to us we belong: Beat a contender on the big stage today!

On Philly Vs Reds fans passion: I just read an Cincy Enq article about longtime suffering Phils fans being more passionate about their sports. With that passion comes ultimate rudeness it seems, if you disagree then you dont follow national sports and see/hear the excerpts from Philly. I guarantee you our hometown suffering Cincy fans will bring a politer, but just as supportive vibe to Cincy if/when we are rewarded*. And when we voice our frustration. or opinions please FB and Twitter fans. stop berating others who voice frustration, its their right to do so.

Rewarded* with what you ask: Strong fundamental baseball. Thats all we ask, for a well played game, and that wasn't accomplished in game 2. Reds, can we at least get that in game 3? After the game, I listened to a lighthearted Phillips(same vibe from him after being no hit in game 1) brushing off his errors, like it was nothing but a thing. Yes his game setting HR and hits were sweet, but for the millionth time: Pitching and D wins in the "every pitch-microscopic-post-season". You can win a posteseason game with 1 run and great D, fundamentally we fell apart Fri night. 4 Errors and 3 HBP (one with good acting)?  I'm sorry but that doesnt play to well with this passionate fan. I'm not mad at the Reds or BP/Bruce/Rolen for making hustling mistakes, but dont stand there and smile it off in the cameras in the post game int's. Do we want you gripping and squeezing the ash out of the bats, no, but a more focused, intensity may have helped with all your errors in the field: Hitting is one half, in the post season: Fielding is a greater half!

Win or lose Sunday, may we please have a well played game, mistakes are fine, they will happen, but 7 in one game: Not championship caliber, learn form this Reds. I just hope its remembered, learned from, and this postseason accomplishment is relived in 2011!

The Enquirer/Jeff Swinger

Game 2 is here! Are the Reds sticks?

David Kohl/AP "Hey Gomesy, if you hit it it will fly!"

First congrats to Halladay, for the game this Reds fan will spend the rest of his life brain dumping. Next I call out to my Reds: Umm hello sorry to wake you, but...ahem(clearing my throat)  THE PLAYOFFS ARE HERE!

Have your bats arrived yet? You know the ones that smoked the league(well except for contending teams, read my blog it was addressed there) I wrote a few times within the last month how great pitching always beats great hitting, so I'm not gonna dwell on that, what I will say is there's a lot to prove over the weekend for my Reds:

#1 That we belong
#2 That we are the vaunted hitting machine that won the leagues Team Triple crown: BA/HR/RBI
#3 That we can hit anyone

But since all blame goes to the leader: I will put the burden of proof on Dusty for now, for he has much to prove, never winning it it all with good clubs in SF or Chi :

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/sports/baseball/07rhoden.html?_r=2.

It is easy for us all to play armchair quarterback and second guess the young, loosygoosy Volquez going in game one. Something tells me a more focused intensity is needed, one that a Mr Wood exhumed as he shut out the Phils after his entry. Even with a great game, Wood would have been hard to match Doc over THAT 9 innings, but hmmm....didnt he do just that in Philly in July? Lets see what happens in Game 4, is there is one!

Dusty has a young squad one without a true #1. and As Hallady/Limsecom/Lee and Sabathia have all won their starts(3 of the 4 at home another reason to beat contenders, next year Reds for homefield!) this proves the need for a dominant starter in game 1. Mr Cuban Missile are you game for next year?

We can hit anyone: right MR MVP Votto? Right Captain Rolen(my man hit the Viagra/Cialis/Geritol anything to recapture that power swing! Jay are you ready to show us September wasn't a farce: Lets finally beat a great club! Prove to us you can, we Cincinnatian's are waiting to go crazy for you!

The HR that made Older Dudes jump for Joy in the Stands of GABP :)

Marty Brennaman's call with Video of Bruce's Clinching HR will Live in #Reds Baseball History Forever: http://bit.ly/d3yty3 Ill never tire of watching it!

"Clinchtember" Tweets of the Month

The Enquirer/Jeff Swinger

9/30
CincyGy 
#Rockies Mngr Tracy sits Cargo in half of this weekends games, 13 pnts above #Reds Votto, Teddy BBall rolling in his cryogenics #MLB #Whimp


CincyGy 
Merry Clinchmas #Reds fans and Happy Bruce year from the Multnomah falls trail! : http://yfrog.com/n8c87jj http://yfrog.com/1si76zj
Wednesday, September 29, 2010 17:55:39 via Twitter for iPhone


CincinnatiReds 
Joey Votto & other #Reds players took a victory lap around the field to high-five fans http://twitpic.com/2t3ivcWednesday, September 29, 2010 08:56:49 via Twitpic
stormchasernick

2010 NL Central Champions - Cincinnati #Reds http://twitpic.com/2sy91b7:43 PM Sep 28th via Twittelator
CincinnatiReds& Rolen have 4 sets of back-to-back HR, most in majors and most by Reds duo since Bench and May hit 5 sets of back-to-back HR in 1970.10:32 AM Sep 21st via webRetweeted by you and 20 others
IamAllieHughesChapman throws the fastest pitch EVER:http://yhoo.it/bOPhQo #reds

zblyberg21@CincyGy 10 games sit between us and Postseason baseball in cincinnati!!!!

  

@CincyGy 10 games sit between us and Postseason baseball in cincinnati!!!!9:19 PM Sep 15th via web in reply to CincyGy
CincyGy
Not only is Bruces Defense stellar his .275 average is proving his two yearsof sub .260 were maturing yrs, he's proving who he can be! #Reds9:11 PM Sep 15th via web
CincyGy
#MLB Universe take note Jay Bruces Gun/Arm and game saving plays like this http://bit.ly/df7SHt Solidify his Lock as RF Gold Glove! Go #Reds
CincyGy
@ankZONE sorry Brian last time a team tried it with "Mystique and Aura" they lost, Pitching/D will Win a ring! (+ timely hitting of course!)11:32 PM Sep 10th via web in reply to ankZONE
CincyGy
Cowboy: "That's the ballgame! That's the Ballgame! That's the BallGame! And the losing streak is over!" #Reds”10:27 PM Sep 10th via Facebook
ctrentFriend on Rose: 'a man who ate, slept, drank, autographed and gambled baseball' -- perfect7:38 PM Sep 10th via TweetDeckRetweeted by you and 1 other

2010 the Year That Baseball Came Home to The Cincy Reds and Reds Fans

The Enquirer/Jeff Swinger

Players have come and gone, but us fans have been here all along, from the early exit in the '95 postseason, to the quick one game tease in a fun 99 season, through the promises during the Casey, Dunn and Griffey Jr era, we have been waiting. We watched an arguable future HOF'er win a series, proudly rep the Captains "C", and finish a proud career: thank you Mr Barry Larkin. Jr's arrival and unfortunate ringless departure yielded no trophy or a taste of the postseason. 

Well along comes new ownership, a farm system that is once again producing, a nice mix of a few allstar vets and Wala! Hello 2010 and:

CONGRATS TO THE 2010 NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL DIVISION CHAMPION 

The Enquirer/Jeff Swinger
CINCINNATI REDS

(now that was fun to type!)

As we go into the playoffs only the teams play will tell how far we get, but for now we will enjoy the spoils. My last congrats goes to us fans for hangin in there, no matter how tough it was, clicking on that losing box score years after year searching for a silver lining in a 3 hit loss etc etc... Well no more of that now! Enjoy tonights winning box score: the one that launched yours and my Reds into the 2010 post season! Go Reds!

Click here for the party:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOZLmZcZv4Q&feature=player_embedded

Jay Bruce proving his Mettle: Rewarding fans and Reds Patience !

SS Productions(me ;) GWRBI 10/30 10th inning right behind Reds Dugout

When Jay Bruce arrived a few years ago and lit up baseball and GABP with his chicken bump causing start, we all were ecstatic. 2 years later, lots of patience, 2 previous seasons at sub .260, we all had been waiting. He broke out nicely this year and then had a terribly slow July, once again dropping his average down to the marginal performance line: 250'ish w/occasional big hits. Not that a team cant win with that, especially since we did, and especially since he has one of the top guns in MLB. A friend of mine speculated something during his July "slump" which I easily gravitated towards: was he really in a slump or was that .250'ish Jay Bruce the real thing? It was a fair question, one that got me lambasted for asking it on twitter.

Except for 2 months of .270-300 type mashing we had not seen him do it over a full year, so there was a lot to prove. Let me be the first to say IM GLAD I WAS WRONG! I WANTED TO BE WRONG! lol... But the evidence proven by team winning-big hitting-contributing offense had not been there. As Bruce hits now once again in the .275'ish zone its something else to see, him coming into his own. For the record I never called for his ousting, or benching, just that besides his incredible D we needed his stick!

A few weeks ago I was at GABP to witness his HR Trifecta. Two nights later the Night before the Cuban Missile Attack he hits a walk-off single. Evidenced here by "pie in face": http://bit.ly/ds3zKZ.  Then he takes a little sabbatical, comes back and hits two dingers in his comeback game: Thats the Bruuuuuuuuuce we saw come into the league 3 years ago, and the one we have been waiting on. Now with his D (evidenced by CoCo saving grabs like this:http://bit.ly/df7SHt ) which is Gold Glove worthy, hitting .275 with power is quite acceptable ;) We never doubted your ability Bruce, its just that we had not seen it over the long haul! And its a beautiful thing to behold!

Dont hate us Realist we are fans also! Go #Reds!

(Dusty when asked who would be the three Starters in the Playoffs and if Chapman could be trusted as a Postseason closer. Photo; Reds.com)

Yes this past weekends performance was nice by Cueto/Volquez/Bailey: great outings, but who was it against: The worst hitting team in the NL! The Bucs = .239 Team batting AVG.! The Reds Team ERA is 4.08, thats 11th out of 15 NL Teams, 18th out of 30 MLB teams and the WORST of any of the Playoff contenders! Cordero's ERA is a whopping 4.04, gargantuomly worse than any closer in the NL. In the top 10 of saves leaders only one closer: Nunez at 3.81 even comes close: These number dont lie folks! If we had performed this way (Bucs weekend)  against the divisions best we wouldnt have such terrible numbers! 

 I'd like all this to go away and have the same flowerey perspective of many rose colored-glass-wearing-ever-optimistic fans on here that have be-rated me for being a true REALIST Which some claim to be!  Some claim to be positive/realist, but when I question the obvious, or put these stats up, you act like Im piling on! I want all this to go away, to go back the way it was when Leake/Wood etc..all were lights out! This has been an inconstistent staff, THAT I WILL LIVE AND DIE WITH IN THE POST SEASON! I will cheer every putrid ERA that we run out there to pitch a no-hitter. I will die with every blown lead Cordero (and his non champion like 4+ ERA) gives up! I will cheer for this team and wear my Reds garb to the gym long after many of you put away your Reds stockings for your football teams nighties! But I'm not afraid to NOT crown this team until we do it! If we Re-Catch some lights out pitching in the Post Season and we treat the Phillies/Braves/Giants/Padres, heck maybe even the Rockies hitters like we did the Pirates, I will be ecstatic! I'm not saying we CANT beat teams like the CARDS I'm just saying we haven't and I HOPE our top-team-beating-switch that has not been activated yet is Turned ON: loud and clear in the post season! 

Yes: our First place record doesn't lie! Yes: Teams have won without lights out pitching in the Post Season(not to many 1975 Reds lineups out there), Yes: do I believe we can beat the Best: If:

1: Our Clutch Hitting is there

2. Our Defense is Stellar

3. Our Pitching gets back to Consistent Quality Outings, like No Hitters in the playoffs! (There going to have to, I have had a premonition of Cordero being released soon after the end of the season, after he blows playoff leads!)
4. Just kidding (Not Really) But we will see what CoCo is really made of (The most blown saves of any closer since 2000 does not bode well) but maybe he's got a little Hot tub time machine for one bright shinning moment: we shall see!

There's something to be said for building on winning starting pitching vibe even if it was the lowly Pirates, good thing our Bullpen lead by "lights out" Cordero didnt blow any of those games....oh wait...;) Love ya Reds fans, dont hate the realist!