Unwatchable

[VR]

At the end of yesteday's game thread WVReds and others brought this up, and it echoed my thoughts, and fears.

As a guy that endured the early 80's, I have much of the same feeling with these guys. I signed up for Extra Innings with Dish after a couple years of hell with DirectTV, and I really thought I'd enjoy it. Truth is, the Reds are putting a vanilla brand of baseball out there, with so many glaring holes on offense it does feel like 82 again.

Back in 82/83/84, I can remember rushing to the morning paper for the boxscores, to see who had the 1 RBI in yet another 5-1 loss. It was a barren time for fans....with absolutely no hitting, only one bonified starter (Soto....Seaver was horrendous in 82), and a comedy at the management level. I remained a fan...but a very tepid interest level at best. (Playing a one man stickball game with Ron Oester as your #3 hitter just wasn't that interesting either)

The last 9 years have been pretty brutal...but for me the offense has kept it entertaining....and quite honestly, Redszone has kept me informed, in good humor, and in the company of fellow sufferers.

I do recall how life changed dramatically for me as a Reds fan, on August
16th of 1984. The news of Pete Rose returning to Cincy was nothing short of a miracle. I felt like Lazarus the Reds fan, being raised from the dead with sudden new life. Oh, I had a bit of hope with the Dave Parker arriving, and some unproven colt named Davis. But this changed everything. Suddenly my Reds were the focal point of the media. I could see them on tv again. Sport Illustrated cover. Wow! It was 1981 again as a fan, the drought was over.
We then moved into an exciting period between 1985-1989....culminated in glory in 1990.

The rest of the 90's had big ups and downs, but there was never a shortage
of competetive baseball, and star quality players. Griffey and Dunn were star value, always fun to watch.

So here we are again in 2009. The young talent is really, really exciting. The problem remains however.... an uncohsive group of defenders and bats that are skittish at best, a trainwreck at worst. Not fun to watch on a daily basis.
And yet, I watch. You just never know when you'll see a Cueto gem, Vottomatic clutch yet again, or a webgem from BP.

I think this club can either be a 1982/83 version, or a 1985 version....but I think we need an August 16th type of event to turn the fan base around.

[traderumor]

I think it should come earlier. While most of your lineup is not going to hit in the .100s all year, there is such a glaring weakness in the middle of the order. It is probably going to take a gutsy trade to get it done, but the power-hitting LFer in the middle of the order is critical for this team to even think about a contending season.

Last night, I was flipping to the game between contestants on Idol and the Reds were not even batting through the song and review---against freakin' Wandy Rodriquez, who is magical to get anyone out--who has shut them down twice now. Unwatchable for me because they were out so quick

[membengal]

We will all remember where we were the day Adam Dunn was brought back as player/manager for the 2011 Reds...

[oneupper]

It's like watching paint dry.

I know everyone wants a winner, but if the team is not going to win (and this team won't win), at least entertain me.

[nate]

Last night's game was pretty freaking dull. We chatted it up as best as we could I was still hard pressed to decide between watching the game and C-SPAN.

[Chip R]

We will all remember where we were the day Adam Dunn was brought back as player/manager for the 2011 Reds...

[bucksfan2]

Last night's game was pretty freaking dull. We chatted it up as best as we could I was still hard pressed to decide between watching the game and C-SPAN.

They were pretty fun to watch when they went 7-3 on a 10 game road trip weren't they?

[HokieRed]

Josh Hamilton, Adam Dunn. Did the previous regime not take these guys seriously enough, perhaps because it overvalued EE and BP?

[BuckeyeRedleg]

Not sure about EE, but I know they have overvalued BP. The time was last off-season to trade him. He did not take any strides offensively in 2008. If anything, he took a big step back.

He'll be making $18M in 2010 and 2011. A pretty steep price to pay for below-average offensive production.

[Tommyjohn25]

They were pretty fun to watch when they went 7-3 on a 10 game road trip weren't they?

Funny how that works huh?

[westofyou]

Hard to embrace a team full of strangers. It's not as though the team drips with charisma either. In short it's a team full of young names, low key guys who do their job and folks no one has yet had time to get acquainted with.

It tastes like an expansion team, the only thing missing is 38 year old white guy with bad knees who likes to surprise people by walking around naked in the club house.

[Phhhl]

Votto and Bruce are so much better than any of the players on those teams in the 80's it's sick. Against a lot of begging and pleading from here, and Jockety's own expressed interest in doing so, the Reds really seem to have sold themselves short by not bringing a run producer into the fold. It has many of the elements of a good ballclub and a beautiful multi-million dollar scoreboard, but not enough thunder and lightning in between the lines. I really do think one acquisition could change the complexion of the lineup completely. Move Phillips back to sixth, hit between the boy wonders and work pitchers until their arms fall off. Unfortunately, that player just doesn't seem to be available at the moment.

Personally, I would recall Alonzo tonight. The record is not desperate, but it is easy to see how this is trending. Boring baseball, low attendance... roll those bones.

[WMR]

Hard to embrace a team full of strangers. It's not as though the team drips with charisma either. In short it's a team full of young names, low key guys who do their job and folks no one has yet had time to get acquainted with.

It tastes like an expansion team, the only thing missing is 38 year old white guy with bad knees who likes to surprise people by walking around naked in the club house.

I think a few have missed that memo.

[nate]

They were pretty fun to watch when they went 7-3 on a 10 game road trip weren't they?

Hmm...I know it's a leading question but I'll answer it honestly. I think Joey Votto's been fun to watch because he's becoming way better than I though he would. He's leading the league in OBI% and I just love his intensity and plate approach. I've also enjoyed watching Danny Ray because I like an underdog who wins via unorthodoxy...plus, even though I'm a tall guy, one of my favorite non-Reds growing up was Fred Patek. I also like Jay Bruce even though he started the season struggling.

I guess, for me, the reason last night was a drain was because the .500 season up until then had been fool's gold. They're allowing way more runs than they score and that is not going to be a recipe for success.

This team HAS TO start scoring runs and HAS TO do it with someone other than Joey Votto.

So was it exciting? Yes, in the same way that you get a bunch of energy after eating sugar rather than building your body up to have natural energy. I'm afraid of the inevitable results.

[nate]

Hard to embrace a team full of strangers. It's not as though the team drips with charisma either. In short it's a team full of young names, low key guys who do their job and folks no one has yet had time to get acquainted with.

It tastes like an expansion team, the only thing missing is 38 year old white guy with bad knees who likes to surprise people by walking around naked in the club house.

Bump it up to 40 year old and I'll do it for league minimum.