what does this season mean to you?

[REDblooded]

OK... I work nights as a server in one of Indianapolis' finest restaurants. As a result of, it's a rare day that I can watch a full game unless I DVR it.
At the beginning of the season, I DVR'd everything. I also watched the games 1-9.

However, as the season progresses, I find myself only DVR'g games that are pitched by Cueto and Bailey. I also only watch the defensive sides of those games.

This offense is so inconsistent and maddening that i have to "choose my spots". I wish it weren't the case, but the prospects of me driving from Indy to Cinci for a game are near nil at this point. Maybe Votto can turn it, but at this point, the offense is just too inconsistent, and the pitching too typically non-existent for me to spend 30 dollars in gas + admission to drive to a game.

I have tall hopes, but we must improve on all levels to justify the money spent for you average 32+K middle american to go to a Reds game

[LouisvilleCARDS]

The Reds are in the hunt, and thats all the matters - right now. I admit after we got beat down by Cleveland I was mad and about to throw in the towel. We can't seem to continue momentum well at all, anytime we get a good run going it ends slamming into a wall.

[Captain Hook]

OK... I work nights as a server in one of Indianapolis' finest restaurants. As a result of, it's a rare day that I can watch a full game unless I DVR it.
At the beginning of the season, I DVR'd everything. I also watched the games 1-9.

However, as the season progresses, I find myself only DVR'g games that are pitched by Cueto and Bailey. I also only watch the defensive sides of those games.

This offense is so inconsistent and maddening that i have to "choose my spots". I wish it weren't the case, but the prospects of me driving from Indy to Cinci for a game are near nil at this point. Maybe Votto can turn it, but at this point, the offense is just too inconsistent, and the pitching too typically non-existent for me to spend 30 dollars in gas + admission to drive to a game.

I have tall hopes, but we must improve on all levels to justify the money spent for you average 32+K middle american to go to a Reds game

This season really means the same to me has every other season does.I'll continue to follow the team regardless of how they do.Here in Columbus every game is on TV.Even if I'm at work I still can follow the games pretty close.I will continue to do this forever.As far as going to the games I have been to six games in one season and never less the 3 for about as far back as I can remember.I know that's not a ton of games but I imagine a closet full of the finest Reds gear and a nightly notch of the TV ratings are enough to be doing my part.

I think that every team has their die hard fans like myself.We will support our team if they are winning and while we might complain a bunch, we'll support our team if they stink.The REDSZONE is full of people like me in that regard so this isn't the best place to ask that question.A better question here would probably be"what can the Reds to this year to get the average to casual fan to follow this team".The answer to that is just like you said.The team needs to play better.

[REDblooded]

Seriously... I LOVE this team. I'll follow the Reds no matter what. However, this season is a bit painful. The injuries have definitely played their part. So has seeing Beckham on the front burner fo the ESPN highlight reels while Alonso nurses a hamate injy.

Bruce is frustrating... He has SOOOOO much talent/projectability. What's wrong with the big club that he must take a step back when hitting the pro's?

Acd Cueto... What's going on lately?

[gilpdawg]

What's wrong with the big club that he must take a step back when hitting the pro's?


Sorry, pet peeve of mine. The "pros" are also the minor leagues. They get paid to play, which is the definition of "pro." :beerme:

[Ghosts of 1990]

Hmmm this is a good question.

I don't know what it is this season that makes me feel this way; but I really want THIS year to be the year more then any other. The wins are more gratifying and I'm in a great mood when we win. When we lose I experience very low lows and some depression that puts me in an awful mood the rest of the night. I have a real passion for this group and our team this year and I'm not sure what it stems from. Could it be the Rays cinderella run to the series last year? The youth movement on our club and wanting all those guys to succeed SO badly? The fact I love Dusty Baker and think he's a really good man? It's probably a combination of all things.

I think that I really want it this season more then any other. For just once in my adult life, I want US to be the story and not the Cubs, Mets, Yankees, Red Sox, etc.

I wanna be the organization other mid markets envy. And with every loss I feel it slip away and every win restores some hope that just maybe, just maybe; a miracle could make 2009 very magical and a year to remember just like 1999 was.

The thing is, we're going to find out soon. If we wait all year around .500 and this team is into september and never go on an 8 game win streak or take 9 of 10, then this isn't the magical year. We need some kind of big run in July or august and the rest of the way have to keep playing at the level we have so far.

[mlh1981]

Major league baseball is honestly one of, if not the ONLY interest in my life that has never waned one bit. If I had the time, I'd watch all 162 games. I love this stuff and live and die by the results. This season means so much to me. Baseball in Cincinnati is something truly special, and I want them to win so that it can become something what it once was. Cincinnati isn't just another city with a pro baseball team. We have a rich and deep history, but that was my parents/grandparents generation that experienced all that. I want part of that for MY generation.

Every other sport is just a time passer. Opening day is one of my favorite days of the year. It's truly special. Baseball has helped shape a large part of my identity.

[bounty37h]

Forget the season, do you work at St.Elmo???? OMG, that is the best steak I have ever had, if I was rich enough I would fly there just to eat and leave-I wanted to fly out there to propose when I got married. Seriously, everyhting I had there was the best I had ever had of it!!!!

[REDblooded]

Forget the season, do you work at St.Elmo???? OMG, that is the best steak I have ever had, if I was rich enough I would fly there just to eat and leave-I wanted to fly out there to propose when I got married. Seriously, everyhting I had there was the best I had ever had of it!!!!

Haha... No. I work at Fogo De Chao. I like St Elmo's, but tbh, it's a bit overrated. You need to try a Fogo... There's one in Atlanta, Miami, and DC... Nothing closer to you than that though.

[bounty37h]

Haha... No. I work at Fogo De Chao. I like St Elmo's, but tbh, it's a bit overrated. You need to try a Fogo... There's one in Atlanta, Miami, and DC... Nothing closer to you than that though.

I def have to try that then, I love to eat :)! I am prob going to be in DC in the next 2 months or so, will check it out then. What kind of food? If St. Elmos is overrrated then I hit them on the right night then to make the mark, man, i am telling you I would run over my mom crossing the street to get that meal again (I wasnt paying that night, so that might have helped out some, and was with a group in the US Grand Prix, so they may have made sure to do it 100% right that night as well.....

[REDblooded]

I def have to try that then, I love to eat :)! I am prob going to be in DC in the next 2 months or so, will check it out then. What kind of food? If St. Elmos is overrrated then I hit them on the right night then to make the mark, man, i am telling you I would run over my mom crossing the street to get that meal again (I wasnt paying that night, so that might have helped out some, and was with a group in the US Grand Prix, so they may have made sure to do it 100% right that night as well.....

St Elmo's is good, don't get me wrong. It's just that after eating at Fogo every 5-6 nights a week, I was expecting it to blow me away. In the end, I felt like I would have rather had the meal that I eat almost daily instead...

Fogo is a brazilian steakhouse. 45-50 dollars a person, you sit down, and have unlimited meat brought to you until you're done... www.fogodechao.com

[BLEEDS]

This season, thus far, is summed up in two words: "WHAT IF".

WHAT IF - We didn't have to run out Willy Taveras for almost 80 games until he nearly reached a sub .200 batting average?

WHAT IF - We actually got that BIG BAT in LF that we were promised in the off-season which was to be our #1 priority?

WHAT IF - We didn't have to trot out our SS du jour to hit 2nd in the lineup, no matter what

WHAT IF - Johnny Gomes started with the Reds and platooned in LF instead of Old MacDonald and the other fools we ran out in the OF

WHAT IF - EE didn't start the year injured and was on his normal offensive pace?

And, a more basic overall, WHAT IF - Duhsty the Toothpick wasn't a stubborn "old school" anti-sabre knucklehead?!?!

It's pretty obvious that Duhsty has to be given enough offensive talent that even he can't mess it up.
Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa. Put them in the middle of the lineup and you can get away with ignoring sabremetrics and OBP and OPS. You could get a monkey to fill out the lineup card at random and those offenses would still have been fairly decent; some might argue better!!

Walt should have got that Big Bat to pencil in the 3 hole 152 games per year.
We could be running away with the division right about now.
Without that, the rest of the minor moves, injuries and knuckleheaded lineup/personnel decisions just get overemphasized.

As it stands, we are .500 and still in this race. That says something. Not sure if that is more about the rest of the teams then it does us, but regardless.

NOW, if we can keep Gomes and Dickerson in the lineup more often we still might be able to compete for something. But, I don't see us getting a WildCard if we don't win the division, so we'd better watch what the other teams in the NL Central do.

A BIG(ger) time acquisition - coupled with the full and healthy returns of Votto, EE and Volquez - would put us head and shoulders above the competition.
Does Walt and the FO have the cohones to do it? We'll see.

Or, will it be more "What If" ?!

PEACE

-BLEEDS

[Kingspoint]

The fruit is ripening.