Saturday, June 18th I took my girlfriend (and after the game fiancé…thank you) to the Reds/ Blue Jays game. I have a few observations on the evening. First of all, scalping is awesome. We paid $25 per seat to sit 17 rows from 3rd base. Secondly, Blue Jays fans are awesome and travel incredibly well. And third, the Reds don’t seem to really care at this point.
I was really surprised to see as many Blue Jays fans at the game as what I did. There were several in our section, including one wearing a Canadian flag one in a Nacho Libre-style wrestling mask, and they all stood up and begged for a souvenir each time the Blue Jays retreated to their dug out after a defensive inning. I have always heard that the nicest people in this country come from the Midwest and Canadians are famously polite. So what happens when you have a group of Canadians at an Ohio sporting event? Pure awesomeness. I had a running conversation with a group of 4 guys from Toronto throughout the night about Joey Votto, the NL vs AL rules, Corey Patterson, the best parks in baseball, Molson vs. Labatts, and so on. We each rooted for our teams, talked a little smack on the other and shook hands at the end of the game. I honestly wished our kids were at the game to see how to be an honest sports fan. And then, the post game happened…
After the game, the girlfriend (at the time) and I went downtown for some drinks and an appetizer. We sat outside by a fountain and spotted the Blue Jays closer Jon Rauch walking into the restaurant. Not being a huge BJ fan (strike that) Blue Jay fan, I decided against asking for an autograph, but will tell you the dude is huge. We sat next to a group of younger Reds fans (early 20’s) who had plenty to drink for the night. Out of nowhere, the exact group that sat behind us from Toronto from the game came into the restaurant. Unfortunately, the drunk 20 year olds spotted them and heckeled them to the point where I actually told them “guys, those people are actually really cool and came here from Canada to watch some baseball. They had a really good time tonight and have been really impressed with the city of Cincinnati, give them a break”. That was not well received and they continued to heckle to the point that the manager asked them to leave. That being said, I was terribly disappointed because I truly felt like we had reached a new level in sports fandom. Isn’t it sad when someone is hurt for wearing the opposing teams jersey to a game? Isn’t it sad that you can’t go to a city where your team is visiting and grab a burger and a beer post-game. It is absolutely barbaric and that is why I am “outside the inside of sports” because as much as I love sports…they are just games.
Anyway, as far as the game goes, it was disappointing. The Reds had a great 2010…and they seem to be pleased with making the playoffs last year and then looking like a deer in headlights in the post season. The highlights of the game: Chris Heisey played well in left field, Edinson Volquez pitched well (but got a lot of criticism from the local media), and the stadium did have a bit of a buzz even if it didn’t come until the eighth inning and I thought we had a legitimate shot at a comeback. The downside: outside of Heisey and Volquez nobody really seemed to care to play baseball on Saturday June 18th, an American League team came into a National League stadium and put on a 3 game clinic in how to play small ball (embarrassing), and the less than 10% crowd of Blue Jay fans showed more enthusiasm than any Red fan or player in the park.
On a parting personal note I will add the following. I did ask my girlfriend to marry me following the game. It did not go according to plan, it was awkward, and spectacular all at the same time. Cincinnati always has had a special place in our relationship because of the Reds. After passing my boards for my medical profession she told me to block out a certain weekend and she was kidnapping me. She took me to a Reds game, we fell in love, and I knew that was where I was going to propose. You will get to know her as I have asked her to write 1 entry every 2 weeks to capture the true spirit of “Outside the Inside of Sports”. However, I wanted to share the story because as much disappointment I felt from the society of sports at the restaurant while the Reds fans were badgering the Blue Jay fans, I felt a proportionate amount of joy in the realization that one of the most important events of my life is connected to the culture of sports.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
REDS CORNER
This is a portion of the blog dedicated to my favorite MLB team the Reds. I try to be unbiased in every other section of the website, other than this…
This is an exciting year for the Reds, if they pull their shit together. They have the talent, but lately seem to be missing the drive from last year. The 2010 Reds bragged about “1st to 3rd” in the All-Star game and seemed to play with a “swagger” (my new favorite hip-hop sports-themed phrase that I actually use in any possible scenario. “I just cooked a bad ass chicken Florentine, try not to deep throat the swagger).
The pitching has been fantastic, and early on the Reds seemed to be fighting for close games. On Sunday night, I saw something different. Those hungry bunch of kids who would pride themselves on “1st to 3rd” didn’t even sprint to 1st in the 9th inning. If I were to call someone out, and I will Edgar Renteria, I would state the obvious in that offensive production is unacceptable and defensively the SS position has too many errors. To some degree, I unintentionally called it. My friend Marconi lives in Cleveland and upon hearing the news I called and said…I will trade you a case of Labatts and in return the Reds get Orlando Cabrerra. It made sense because he may have accidentally confused Orlando with Estrubal Carberra. He did not accept, and the Tribe were off to the best record in baseball.
It is too late to get him back, but the Reds demonstrate glaring errors in two positions. Left field and short stop due to lack of offensive production. Speculation has explored Miguel Tejadaand/or minor leaguers to fill the SS void. As far as left field, Chris Hiesey (in my opinion) deserves more of a chance.
BOOKS TO READ THAT ARE GOOD AND YOU WILL LIKE
The Bullpen Gospels by Dirk Hayhurst
This was an at random Kindle pick for me, and it paid off. I suspended all other readings until I had finished this book. I know this is going to sound super clichéd, but It had a feel of Bull Durham to it. It was funny, honest, and in the end emotional. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to baseball fans or any male ages 22-35.
The Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons
I do not hate on ESPN like many people outside of the network do. I like their personalities and programs. The only thing I do not like has more to do with the sports climate than the network (and I am in support of the public creating the climate and the big networks capturing it). At any rate, yes this is an ESPN book and it is amazing. Bill Simmons creates comparisons of players, teams, eras and even pop culture fixtures. Although I am not a Kobe fan, probably my favorite piece in this book is the comparison between Kobe and Teen Wolf…it makes sense when he explains it, read it.
DALLAS MANAGES TO WIN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP WITHOUT PRE-SEASON FIREWORK SHOW
I want to write about how this is a great day for Dirk, The Jet, and J Kidd, but that’s not the story I see. What the Dallas Mavericks did was unthinkable. They were a group of rotating has-beens with one superstar and one super sixth man. They were a group who were lead by a tactician who understood his player’s talents, and his opponent’s weaknesses. MVP: Rick Carlisle.
Coach Carlisle showed the biggest cahunas of any coach I have ever seen. He sat Pagia, a player who he has been associated with since his days at Indiana (and he is welcome back any time…Thanks, Ron). He played an unorthodox zone defense routinely. He even switched point guards in the Finals. Could you imagine if the Yankees made the Series this year and in game 3 Joe Girardi asks Jeter to sit because this new major leaguer who was called up in August is hitting better against lefties than he is? That is the greatness of Carlisle. He not only was able to play the strongest line up at any given time, he did it with no backlash. He managed players as well as recognizing strategic advantages. Post-NBA, he has whatever business ventures waiting for him. And he will knock them out of the park. Side note: he played on the ’86 Celtics, he may have learned a thing or two from Bird, McHale, Parish, DJ, Ainge, Walton.
The full story cannot be told without mentioning “The Decision”, D Wade, Bosh, or Spolstra. Talk about a guy who puts pressure on himself. LBJ chose 23 in Cleveland, had “The Chosen One” to tattoo on his back, and then decided to “take his talents to South Beach” where he promised “not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six…” in terms of a dynasty. Not only did he put the pressure on himself, but brought that to his team mates-before even taking to the practice floor. D Wade and Bosh played as well as LBJ and Spolstra allowed, but it wasn’t enough.
In the end, it the deciding factor was coaching. Carlisle was able to maximize his players and coaches talents, and Splostra was able to look arrogant and surprised when his team didn’t win. I guess I would be surprised to, if I had 2 of the best 5 players in the league and 3 of the best 10 and still lost to a team of over-aged scrappers with one superstar. I would also guess my next move would be to learn how to polish Pat Riley’s rings in an attempt to stay on payroll.
MLB CALLING FOR A CHIROPRACTOR
Well, maybe not a chiropractor, but they are contemplating a re-alignment. By now, most readers have likely caught wind of the up-for-debate topic of re-alignment in the MLB. For those who may not have, let me give a brief recap. The NL has 16 teams (2 divisions with 5 teams, 1 with 6) and the AL has 14 teams (2 divisions with 5 teams, 1 with 4). Suddenly the smartest people in the sport realize that 16 = 14 is somewhat in proportionate and they consider a new concept called “re-alignment”.
Upon hearing this story, I thought to myself “how the hell did we just realize this?”
Anyway, there seem to be two ideas in general that have come from discussions on re-alignment. The first, take the Houston Astros from the NL Central and put them in the AL West. This creates a “natural rivalry” with the Texas Rangers, takes a team from a division of 6, places them in a division of 4 and evens out all of baseball. Two leagues have 15 teams, all divisions have 5 teams.
Let’s play “what if”. If the aforementioned happens, there is a sort of potential scheduling complication. We have an odd number of teams in each league, which means on any given night, one team in each league will not have a divisional opponent. So the somewhat obvious solution: if the Chicago Cubs (NL) and Toronto Blue Jays (AL) have no league opponent to play on a given 3 day stretch (due to other teams being locked into another series), why not play each other? That is ok, if you are willing to support interleague play every night for one team in each division.
The second thought “Why don’t we have the best 5 teams in each league in the playoffs” Good question, hypothetical and potentially hallucinated voice in my head put into print. It sounds like you are hinting at splitting MLB into two equal leagues (15 and 15 or 14 and 14) and forgetting about the divisions within the leagues, then taking the best 5 records and they are in the playoffs. This is not the first time this would be done in the MLB (see 1969). However, we kind of have this in the NBA…and personally, I don’t really like it. As a Reds fan, I love the Reds/Cards rivalry because the value is that much higher than a Reds/Rockies series. On the same token, Yanks/Soxs (everyone’s favorite/least favorite two teams) would be equally diminished. In baseball, some games just mean more. It’s true, honestly and statistically. I say we hold on to that. Besides, finding a storyline for 162 games a year in a world without extra valued games would be brutal as a viewer. “These two teams used to be in the same division and would not even shake hands when on the same all-star team. Now, they square off again. Let’s see if the same intensity resonates”. Set the DVR, I want to watch the last 2 innings.
Another consideration: “I don’t like interleague play, and the league is too diluted” Solution: get rid of a team from each league (I’m not naming names) and move the Astros. Now we have 14 and 14 and interleague play resumes as normal. This could work, except it would be difficult to cut two teams and two markets from a financial perspective just to better the game from a quality standpoint, at least I would think. The game may be better off, but money is money and I think the suits like their gold-plated toilets.
It’s going to be interesting to see what happens, but the most likely scenario is Houston to the AL and everything else stays the same, with some considerations for scheduling (likely an expansion of interleague play). As a fan of the NL and more specifically the NL Central I think it is a way of having the most difficult division in baseball served some justice. (Seriously, no DH and you compete with 6 teams. Great year last year Rangers, you had to hold off 3 teams with a DH to win the division. Try holding off 5 with your pitcher hitting every game!)
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