Who's going to be "team meeting" guy?
Who's going to be "team meeting" guy?
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
This is insane. Light a fire? You think these guys aren't mad when they lose? Did you see the look of sheer anger on Votto's face the other night when he flew out with the bases loaded? You can say it's time to get somebody to rah rah all day long, and that isn't going to help someone hit a curveball or make a pitcher hit his spot. If anything playing that way would be more likely to mess up. Look at a guy like Latos. When he gets too keyed up he makes mistakes. This is a precision game of inches, not a "let's go get em boys" game.
Barry On Baseball Also blogging at Banished to the Pen.
Big Klu (06-29-2013),Number_Fourteen (06-28-2013),smixsell (06-28-2013)
Well, I'll give the boring the part. I agree they have been mind numbing to watch lately.
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remdog (06-28-2013)
This team is FIVE games ahead in the playoff race. Think about that. If they were leading the division I think people would have a different tone. But still they are LEADING by FIVE whole games. Having a fire and brimstone clubhouse meeting would be the exact wrong thing to do. It would show panic by Dusty or the front office,the players would start pressing and trying to do things theys shouldn't or couldn't do. You probably see them go into quite a tailspin. Light a fire? No, that would be just sheer panic for no reason.
Reds Fan Since 1971
I am not agreeing with everything the OP said....but your record last year compared to this year means nothing....if we were 70-9 as a team and the Cardinals were 71-8 then we would be in 2nd place and if the Pirates were 72-7 then we would be in 3rd place.....so your record means alot but your only as good as the teams below you and your only as bad as the teams above you and right now we are not playing better than 2 teams in front of us and we should be.....i see the non fire in our team....when I watch the Pirates I see a team that is full of Sean Casey attitudes, guys having fun and laughing and getting pissed when they make an error or dont hit the run in.....the cardinals are the same way. dont get me wrong, I love Joey Vottos professional approach to the game but for once I would love to see him hit a double and jump up and give the blow dart to dugout or something crazy like that....its just nice to see some energy at times...a nice gentle approach between Brandon Phillips and Joey Votto would be perfect.
its very possible we could end the year with 100 wins and still not win the division and go play a 1 game playoff with another 100 win team and go home if we lose.
I get tired of seeing posters act like its a long season, dont panic in June, talk to me in August, its not even the all star break yet, relax, there's a lot of ball to be played still.......yes all those are true, but a lose in April can affect you in September just the same...a loss is a loss regardless of when it happens....I could go on and on about the little losses that we chalk up as "oh well, we should have won because Dusty didnt bring it chapman for a 4 out save" but we brush them off as silly because its early in the year....how about we talk about those times when or if we are 1-3 games out of winning the Central come the end of the year. Sometimes those little losses hurt worse than the 7-8 run blowouts.
This team is just fine right now and I do think we need to make an adjustment somewhere along the way, I am just not sure where that move needs to be made. The fact of the matter is this, we play in the central, where 3 of the best teams in baseball reside, if we want to do more than just make the playoffs, we need to step it up a notch and get a win at all costs mentality. And when I say we, I mean they...lol
remdog (06-28-2013)
Always Red (06-28-2013),Number_Fourteen (06-28-2013),westofyou (06-28-2013)
When they win, they look like they have plenty of "fire" and they look good. When they lose, they look lethargic and it doesn't appear they are playing well. Now what comes first, the chicken or the egg?
Always Red (06-28-2013)
So you've just suggested we reenact the 2003 season? Wow! Who knew you were such a devotee of Carl Lindner and John Allen?
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/bas...ds_firings_ap/
And then the wholesale moves began:
July 29, 2003 (Standings)
Received Chris Michalak from the Colorado Rockies as part of a conditional deal.
July 30, 2003 (Standings)
Traded Jose Guillen to the Oakland Athletics. Received Jeff Bruksch (minors), Aaron Harang and Joe Valentine.
Traded Scott Williamson to the Boston Red Sox. Received a player to be named later and Phil Dumatrait. The Boston Red Sox sent Tyler Pelland (minors) (August 17, 2003) to the Cincinnati Reds to complete the trade.
July 31, 2003 (Standings)
Sent Gabe White to the New York Yankees as part of a conditional deal.
Traded Aaron Boone to the New York Yankees. Received Brandon Claussen, Charlie Manning and cash.
August 1, 2003 (Standings)
Released Clayton Andrews.
August 4, 2003 (Standings)
Purchased Calvin Pickering from Vaqueros (Mexican).
BTW, only one impact player out of all those moves - Aaron Harang.
Now that club was at 46-58 (.408) in 5th place and 10.5 games back. It made a heckuva a difference, all that bloodletting, going 23-35 the rest of the way to remain in 5th place, but 19 games back from the Division winning Chicago Cubs, managed by......... [wait for it]
Dusty Baker, that darn old "players' manager".
I know I'm just hankering for those good old days, that Lost Decade® . Oh please take us back to those days.
Seriously, I understand the club's performance leaves much to be desired. Quite a number of folks have laid out some reasons for why we're there, all fairly valid, but I'd expect better of the ORG than this sort of absolute "panic in the streets." My point is to say that we've been where you're suggested and it was hideous. No thanks.
Oh, and they didn't even think to order a jersey large enough for Calvin Pickering.
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cumberlandreds (06-28-2013),Number_Fourteen (06-28-2013),_Sir_Charles_ (06-28-2013)
This is another reason not to watch all the games. Familiarity breeds contemp.
Team wide hitting slumps are brutal to watch and endure. Imagine being the player who feels like he will never get another hit, when his line drives end up being at 'em balls, when his high drives to deep right field fall a foot short, when every pitcher seems to have his best stuff.
The best solution I have found is to find something else to do.
"Rounding 3rd and heading for home, good night everybody"
The reason you should only look at what you are doing at this point is you have absolutely no control over what other teams do on the field. Why would you concern yourself with anyone elses record if you are winning a high enough rate to win the division a lot of years.
The Pirates and Cardinals are playing at a .615 clip. History tells us that will probably not continue. In the last 7 seasons there have been 3 teams that finished at that win pct or above. Only 3. If the Cardinals or Pirates do that you tip your hat to them but it doesn't reflect poorly on the Reds team if they still win 95 games.
On this date last season the Rangers were playing at a .623 clip. They would finish with 93 wins and quick exit in playoffs. I'm sure people believed they were playing with a lot of fire at this time last season.
Last edited by RadfordVA; 06-28-2013 at 09:54 AM.
Number_Fourteen (06-28-2013),redsmetz (06-28-2013),traderumor (06-28-2013)
I watched it from the front row near the Red's dugout and I can tell you that they have plenty of fire already. Up close and liberated from the slavery of the TV screen, it's obvious they care about winning A LOT. I think that they just got dominated by a pitcher who was on fire (that and they missed BP's leadership!? )
RadfordVA (06-28-2013)
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