"Don't worry, we're only *blank* games out of first!"

[takealeake]

"And there's still *blank* games to play"

How many times has this line been given all year by certain fans, media, and even management? Well guess what: we're 10+ games out now, the season is over, and we're not coming back. So much for the blanket apologists.

Hopefully in the future these individuals take losses a little more seriously instead of thinking that being 3, 4, 5 games back can just as easily turn to 10 plus games back and your season over, which is exactly what happened.

Sorry, everything is NOT OK, everything will NOT work out, just because you think Pythagorean run differential will balance out the win total. Just the opposite can happen, and you are more likely to get WORSE.

Maybe next year everyone will take things a little more seriously instead of "trust in Walt and Dusty!" when we start playing like crap. This franchise is still a discombobulated mess.

[bshall2105]

Most of us gave up on the season weeks ago. You're a little late to the party.

[texasdave]

"And there's still *blank* games to play"

How many times has this line been given all year by certain fans, media, and even management? Well guess what: we're 10+ games out now, the season is over, and we're not coming back. So much for the blanket apologists.

Hopefully in the future these individuals take losses a little more seriously instead of thinking that being 3, 4, 5 games back can just as easily turn to 10 plus games back and your season over, which is exactly what happened.

Sorry, everything is NOT OK, everything will NOT work out, just because you think Pythagorean run differential will balance out the win total. Just the opposite can happen, and you are more likely to get WORSE.

Maybe next year everyone will take things a little more seriously instead of "trust in Walt and Dusty!" when we start playing like crap. This franchise is still a discombobulated mess.

Don't forget the players. How many times did we hear "We're gonna be fine"? Things aren't looking too fine now. Maybe the whole organization took a division title for granted in 2011. A wasted year in a small-market town with a limited window. Sweet.

[bigredmechanism]

What can you do?

We're not the Yankees, and we won't contend every year.

[LeDoux]

Even if the division is now a pipedream, I still want the Reds to hunt down the Cardinals and pass them. I don't need my team to be in the lead every season. Otherwise, I would not be a Reds fan. But I don't enjoy watching a team that has lost the motivation to catch the next team above them. Without sacrificing 2012, I want to keep seeing these guys scrape for wins.

[Roush's socks]

I have to admit I thought they were going to turn it around, but after the Mets series the writing was on the wall. This season is a good example of how close the difference is between winning and losing. The Reds have almost the same roster as last year, and their statistics aren't even that different. They have scored a lot of runs, and the starting pitching has been great after the Allstar break. But there are TWO main reasons why this team is losing even though they have a + run differential and are basically a 85-90 win team.
1. The middle relief has blown a lot of close leads, even though their overall ERA isn't that bad.
2. The hitting with RISP has been bad overall and even worse in close games down the stretch.

Those two factors have led to the team's demise. I see a lot of fingerpointing towards Dusty, Walt, Gomes, Renteria, Bruce and a lot of people who don't really deserve it. The middle relief let the team down and they just didn't have the right JU-JU to win close games.

I think they should not shake things up that much in the offseason, but they do need to make a few moves. Stubbs is a good candidate to trade, but I still have doubts about Sappelt. If he winds up choking then they would loook stupid to let a cheap CF with power and good defense get away.