What a crap week huh? Worst of the worst. I made a big mistake at my new job. That sucked. I broke up with my girlfriend. That sucked even worse. And the Reds lost five out of six games. Which was icing on the cake for a craptastic week.
With the week I've had, after Chapman gave up that homer to Willingham, I was prone to give up on the season and wallow in my misery. But you know what? Reality set in.
How many times throughout the 2000s would we have killed to have a team like this? Every single freaking year. We have the best hitter in baseball. An ace pitcher. A good, young core. Yes, some holes and some warts. But which team doesn't?
Bottom line, we will be fine. The sky is not falling. The world is not coming to an end. There's not a zombie plague taking over the world (ok, maybe I can't be that sure on that last part).
Part of the reason we get so upset over games like this is because we expect this team to be so great. And how awesome is that? Where, for once, we EXPECT to win games? I know maybe this is different for some of you that grew up watching the Big Red Machine, but for me, a 27 year old who grew up watching John Reidling groove fastballs to Albert Pujols, this still feels pretty damn good.
We are relevant again. And will be for a while. This is NOT 2003. Or 2004. Or 2005. Or 2006. Or 2007. etc. This week will not define this season. We will not finish below .500. Maybe we're not the best team (and granted, that's what we all strive for). But we're a hell of a lot better off than most teams in baseball, right? So during this week, when many of us are crying in our beer, or Pepsi, or whatever you use to soothe the taste of defeat, let's try to think about what we have to be thankful for, instead of what keeps us awake at night (here's looking at you, Chris Heisey).
What am I thankful for?
The best first baseman and second baseman in the league, respectfully. An ace in Cueto. One of the best live arms in the game in Chapman. Scott Rolen's veteran presence, and getting to watch one of the best 3B of his era gracefully close out his career in a Reds uni. A solid rotation. A good bullpen. FANTASTIC defense. A fan base that continues to come out of the woodwork, slowly but surely. And a ton of good friends to discuss the ups and downs with on the best site on the world wide web
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Take heart, Reds fans. This week was bad. But we've seen worst.
GO REDS!