10-1-20 Reds @ Braves WCS Game 2

[woodyjoe]

In today's game where starters are asked to go only 5 or 6 innings usually, I'd rather watch Lucas Sims crawl up the bullpen ladder in status than watch an Adam Duvall play outfield and bat. Duvalls are a dime a dozen, great bullpen arms aren't, unless you're the Atlanta Braves playing the Cincinnati Reds.

I'd like to know where you're shopping at to find Duvalls for a dime a dozen.

[zigbeenuthouse]

Just saw Tatis BLAST 3 run shot. Reds do NOT have a superstar player like Goldschmidt or Tatis or Freeman or Acuna or Ozuna...or someone of that status. Those guys make the others better in the order. At some point in the game they have to be pitched to and usually they deliver.

[MFDChief]

Yeah, it's time to question my loyalty. I'm still a young guy. Nothing in the Bible nor the Constitution says that I have to stay tethered to this roach motel of an organization because I was born in the city limits.

I've never "quit" any team - even the Bungles. But this leaves such a bad taste in my mouth..this is an incredibly bad team to like. Knowing they can't piss me off again for several months is a relief.

I'm sure I won't be able to walk away. Best I can do is probably hate-watch, like I used to do with Full House.

Screw off, 2020 Reds.

I got one for you. I am a Reds fan from Oklahoma. My Dad, Grandpa and brothers would sit on the porch on summer nights and cheer for fellow Okie Johnny Bench. For some reason we could pick up an AM station out of Cincinnati. Can’t remember the call sign, WLW maybe? So that’s my story, a Reds fan for 45 years and I just can’t bring myself to quit em. In fact I have two Wheaties boxes with the 90 Champs team picture and story of the season on them. For me it’s more than just baseball, it’s memories. Yes the last few years have been difficult but I will sign up with MLBtv again next year to Cheer them on.
The only game I have seen live was at the Ballpark in Arlington when Mesaraco won it in extras with a HR. There were a ton of Reds fans in Texas that night and we made a lot of noise. Fun night!

[REDREAD]

You know this comment on the shift is something that I have thought a lot about. The shift completely alters the way the game is played. For over a hundred years a line drive or hard ground ball up the middle was a base hit. Now most times they are no more than a routine out. I for one don’t like watching it. If a guy hits a hard shot up the middle the game of baseball should reward him.
The usual comeback is “take the ball the other way and beat the shift”. Well that is hard to do when big league pitchers are pounding the inside. They pitch it where they want you to hit it. Now having said that, the shift had jack squat to do with losing this series. Hell a couple of routine fly balls to the outfield would have won game one.

Yep, I have not done the research to back it up, but I am guessing the shift is at least partially responsible for the Reds'
poor BABIP. It has changed things a lot.
I would love to outlaw the shift, it really makes the game even more boring, and it would be an easy fix.
I really would not rather wait 10-15 years for the next generation of ball players that hit the ball to all fields because the LH pull hitter is almost obsolete with the shift (unless he hits a HR).

[MFDChief]

Yep, I have not done the research to back it up, but I am guessing the shift is at least partially responsible for the Reds'
poor BABIP. It has changed things a lot.
I would love to outlaw the shift, it really makes the game even more boring, and it would be an easy fix.
I really would not rather wait 10-15 years for the next generation of ball players that hit the ball to all fields because the LH pull hitter is almost obsolete with the shift (unless he hits a HR).

How would the shift have effected Tony Gwynns career? If pitchers did nothing but pound him down and in even a great like him would have had no choice but to pull those pitches right into the teeth of the shift.

[TheBigLebowski]

I got one for you. I am a Reds fan from Oklahoma. My Dad, Grandpa and brothers would sit on the porch on summer nights and cheer for fellow Okie Johnny Bench. For some reason we could pick up an AM station out of Cincinnati. Can’t remember the call sign, WLW maybe? So that’s my story, a Reds fan for 45 years and I just can’t bring myself to quit em. In fact I have two Wheaties boxes with the 90 Champs team picture and story of the season on them. For me it’s more than just baseball, it’s memories. Yes the last few years have been difficult but I will sign up with MLBtv again next year to Cheer them on.
The only game I have seen live was at the Ballpark in Arlington when Mesaraco won it in extras with a HR. There were a ton of Reds fans in Texas that night and we made a lot of noise. Fun night!

That's a mice story. I have that same Wheaties box. And I have a lot of fond memories. 1990 was the best. I was just old enough to fully understand baseball and what winning a World Series meant. First year I watched, they won. Therefore, it logically follows that they should win it every year. Right?

You'd actually be wrong. 30 years in a row. Probably explains my sour demeanor when the Reds lose. The euphoria from 1990 wears off a little more with each passing season, and when I jumped aboard, they were as good as they could be.

Thus, I've become more and more bitter with each passing season. Slinking in the backdoor to an expanded playoffs in a strange, strange season was still exciting to me, and it was wide open. Why NOT us?

They proceed to be shut out for an entire playoff series, breaking a league record for futility in the process.

That's gonna leave a mark. No, I'm not quitting the Reds. Couldn't do it even if I really tried. But I'm tired of waiting for that same feeling I had in 1990.