So there really is no point in running through all the stats. Basically the Reds were over-matched, out-hustled, out-played, and out-classed over the past three games. We talked the talk, but they did all the walking. Did the Reds learn anything from this absolute beat down? I have no idea. As a fan though, I learned plenty.
The Reds are listening to the hype. And they shouldn't be. Reality check Cincinnati. This team hasn't won sh*t. Not this season. Not last season. Not since 1995. That is 16 years. I like the Cardinals about as much as Prince Fielder likes salad, so I know where you're coming from B Phil. But you don't just go pop off at the mouth at the team that has completely owned you and then not back it up. You wanted to start a fight, and you did. It resulted in a sweep and likely suspension. Well done.
The Reds are not good enough to make the playoffs on talent alone. They don't have the horses at the top of the rotation. They don't have the batting numbers from the corner outfielders, and their closer is shaky at best. The Reds have gotten to where they are by playing solid fundamental hustling baseball. They were tops in the NL in fielding percentage until about a week ago, and also lead the league in going 1st to 3rd on base hits. What did we see in this series? Fielders misplaying balls, both in the air and on the ground... AND THEN JOGGING AFTER THEM!! I'm looking at you Chris Heisey and Ramon Hernandez. Physical mistakes happen, but mental and effort mistakes are inexcusable.
All the additions, subtractions, and moving players up and down has killed the team chemistry. As I sit here writing this I am watching "Rocky Balboa" on FX. This movie is the 6th one in the Rocky series. Remember "Rocky Balboa?" Of course you don't! And if you do I'm sure we can agree it was one step below The Cable Guy. I promise I'm going somewhere with this so just keep up with me... Rocky 1: Classic. Rocky 2: Great sequel. Rocky 3 and 4: Awesomely entertaining dudefests at their very worst. Rocky 5 and 6: Crap on a stick. Why? Because it got watered down. They killed off too many important characters and tried to introduce new "interesting" ones that just didn't stick. We lost Mic, Apollo, and Adrienne, and they tried to replace them with Tommy "The Machine" Gun, Mason "The Line" Dixon, and Little Marie. Give me a break! You're not fooling anyone. Don't fix what isn't broken. Ya see where I'm going yet?
One thing the Reds had going for them all year is that they were a close nit group that believed in one another. I applaud the front office for doing what they can to help us win right now, but it looks like they've done subtraction by addition. Edmonds looked his age this weekend, and if you don't think it affected the psyche of Gomes, Bruce, Nix, Heisey, and Stubbs, you need to watch the games again. We're 115 games into the season and when pressed I couldn't name who our starting outfield is. And I've seen about 100 of the games... that is a problem. There's only 2 hours in a Rocky movie, and there can only be 9 men on a field at once.
A losing culture is almost impossible to shed. Ask Clipper fans. Ask Cubs fans. Ask Browns fans. When a team starts losing the franchise and city almost accept it as an inevitability. Despite how excited the entire city was about this series, most die hard fans would have told you they would have taken 1 out of 3 games and moved on. Sure a lot of that was due to the pitching match ups, but a lot of it was due to the fact that we're used to seeing our teams lose this type of series. Whether its the Bengals losing to a rookie QB on the road in the playoffs.... F*CK!!!!!!!!!!!... I HATE YOU SHANE GRAHAM!!!!!!.... AHHHHHHHHH.... or the Reds taking their playoff leave of absence for 15 years, the fans of Cincinnati have come to expect this sort of thing.
There is still a lot of game left in this team. They have fire, it just was used incorrectly over this series. If they get back to playing smart fundamental baseball they will have better than a puncher's chance (Rocky again. Yes!). Keep beating up on the crapfest that is the rest of the NL Central, and stop worrying about the Cardinals... for now.
Hey the good news is we get the Marlins and Josh Johnson's Cy Young campaign tomorrow.
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