I look back on the 2012 season and see some very promising things: Brandon Phillips headlining SportsCenter's Top 10 countless times. The walls in the front office filling up with blown-up photos of walk-off celebrations. Cueto's 19 wins. Chapman shattering a club record with 27 consecutive saves. Flashes of brilliance from the entire bullpen, especially Sean Marshall and Jonathan Broxton. Ryan Ludwick's unbelievable surge, which in my mind makes him a prime candidate for Comeback Player of the Year. Todd Frazier, who did an outstanding job filling in for the injured Votto, and who, when Scott Rolen retires, could very well be the third baseman of the future. Oh, and Zack Cozart didn't have a bad season, either.
I'd put money on the Reds putting up another strong season in 2013. That's saying something. I'm a teenager -- news flash, teenagers don't have any money -- and a thrifty one at that.
I may have college to pay for, but I could make a buck betting on my boys.
Then again, everyone will probably bet on the Reds. Most of the core team will return -- Votto, Bruce, Phillips -- and Ludwick will most likely exercise his 2013 mutual option.
What is it they always say? "Just wait 'til next year," right?
Yeah, OK. But right now there's one quote that sums up just how I feel.
It was printed on my Reds desk calendar for the day of June 7, and I ripped it off and saved it under my desk blotter all this time.
I was really hoping not to have to draw it out until November, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
The quote on baseball is from former Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti: "It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone."