Here’s an open thread to discuss tonight’s game or, well, anything you want to discuss.

Here’s a question, if anyone’s around: is it a coincidence that the Reds are playing better since Danny Graves was shown the door?

Being old enough to remember 3 channels and changing the box with my hands instead of a remote I can also remember when getting information on the baseball season was essentially looking for a copy of The Sporting News or the Sunday edition of the sports page.

The Sunday section of the paper has it all, box scores, standings, upcoming games, and then the best part, team stats and qualifiers.

In my house that part of the paper tends to be a folded and dog-eared section that moves from room to room with pen marks on it and notations of things I found that interest me.

The structure is pretty stale, Runs, RBI, Hits, BA, ERA, BB, Strikes, W, L. Not exactly the sabermetric wet dream, but the format speaks volumes if you take the time to poke around and pull out the numbers that look off, odd or scary.

Yesterday the sun was out in Portland and the Reds had just had their first shutout of the season, what better way to celebrate it than partaking in a pint of IPA at the Hedge House with the Sunday Sports section? I myself can’t think of many, anyway before I digress in an ode to bitters and hops here are the 7 things that struck me as noticeable on that big page of stats.

1. The Astros are putrid on offense. Sure the Reds had their 1st shutout against them, it was their 9th after all it doesn’t seem to hard to do they have now been shut out in 18% of their games… pretty sad for a team that was 5th in the league in runs scored last season with 803. Shows what a Berkman/Beltran combo can bring to the table. This year unfortunately shows what happens when Phil Garner role-plays that he’s Bill Virdon in the Astrodome in 1980.

2. Arizona has 4 starters with sub 4.00 eras.

Halsey - 3.34
Webb - 3.39
Vasquez - 3.49
Estes - 3.79

Their big free agent pitcher Russ Ortiz has been “Miltonrific” this season allowing 69 hits in 55 innings and walking 8 more batters than he has struck out, he sports 5.20 era.

3. Speaking of free agent pitchers Milton has allowed 71 hits in 57 innings, Wilson 68 hits in 46 innings and Ortiz 54 in 36 innings pitched. That’s 54 more hits than innings pitched for about 13-14 million bucks. The Reds are the only team to have allowed more than 500 hits this season and that’s 149 more than the Brewers have allowed.

4. From the “Hey, he has stuff, but limited command” department. Shawn Chacon 46 innings pitched, 25 BB, 25 K’s, 3.28 ERA. Victor Zambrano 49 IP 34 BB, 39 K’s. The man he was traded for wunderkid Scott Kazmir 56 IP, 30 BB, 43 K’s. Junk guys doing the Balancing Act - Kirk Rueter 22 BB, 11 K’s, Scott Erikson 17 BB 8 K’s, Nate Robertson 26 BB, 23 K’s.

5. Top 3 worst road teams in the American League (Tampa, KC, Oakland) are a combined 17-59; the 3 worst in the NL (Astros, Rockies and Reds) are a robust 15-61

6. Chicago White Sox 224 runs scored 184 runs allowed 34-17 .667 winning %, Milwaukee Brewers 218 runs scored, 189 allowed 24-26 .449 Winning %

7. More on the Pale Hose, the Chicago White Sox lead the AL in caught stealing with 25, that’s after 50 games. In 2003 they were caught stealing only 29 times all season. In personal futility we can find Brady Clark with 4 steals and 7 caught stealing.

From the DDN

First-round draft choice Homer Bailey took a 3-1 lead into the third inning, but gave up five runs, including a three-run home run by former Reds farmhand Alan Moye.
Bailey’s two innings of work matched his shortest of the season and his five runs allowed (four earned) tied a season high. The right-hander struck out three, walked two, was called for two balks and threw a wild pitch.

Here’s an open thread to discuss today’s Memorial Day game.

I’ve enjoyed listening to the Astros announcers (on the television broadcast) today. One just said, “Dunn is batting .242. That doesn’t begin to describe what he’s been able to do with the bat this year.”

It would be nice to hear that from Reds announcers or read it in the Cincy papers once in a while.

What’s this all about? From ESPN.com:

Right-hander Rob Bell walked eight of 10 batters Saturday in his second extended spring training game since being placed on the 15-day disabled list because of personal and psychological issues.

Bell went on the disabled list May 14, four days after he pitched against the Chicago White Sox. He faced one batter and walked him on five pitches, including two that reached the backstop.

In Saturday’s game against New York Yankees minor leaguers, Bell threw just 16 of 53 pitches for strikes. Three of his first eight pitches went over the catcher’s head to the backstop.

“I don’t know. I’m searching for answers myself,” Bell said.

Bell was coming off an encouraging performance Monday, when he allowed two hits and threw 20 of 35 pitches for strikes. He walked three, including two on close 3-2 pitches, in the game against Toronto minor leaguers.

“I felt more comfortable on the mound today than I did the other day,” Bell said. “I honestly did. I just couldn’t get it going in the right direction or keep it going in the right direction. The frustrating part is I throw a good pitch and then throw 10 bad ones.”

The next Mark Wohlers or Rick Ankiel?

Nice win by the Reds today, 11-2 over the Pirates. Sorry for the lack of a game thread, especially since it was a game worth discussing. Excellent outing by Brandon Claussen, and lots of offense everywhere.

You know who I’m really starting to like? Randy Keisler. He’s looked good every outing since being brought up when Danny Graves was released, but then, maybe he’s only looking good in comparison.

John Fay’s Reds Insider column today says:

The Reds pushed D’Angelo Jimenez and Danny Graves out the door, but those two players weren’t the only two who have underperformed.

For those who choose to second-guess the front office’s offseason moves, that’s understandable. But who could have imagined that so many players who were being counted on would perform like this?

He then gives a list of players who have, according to him, performed badly…

Graves, Jimenez, Wilson, Milton, Hudson, Hancock, LaRue, Aurilla, and Pena

I would argue (and have) that Hudson and Hancock should never have been counted on. Pena’s been very effective when healthy. Anyone that looked at the numbers could have foreseen that Aurilla would stink.

But nobody expected Wilson, Milton or LaRue to be THIS bad.

Anyone notice any names missing from that list? I can think of two that come immediately to mind.

From Today’s Enquirer, the Reds Notebook:

Wily Mo Peña will play Monday - just not for the Reds.

Peña, out for more than a month with a quadriceps strain, will go on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Louisville. The Bats begin a four-game series in Indianapolis Monday.

“Medically, he’s able to do everything we’ve asked him to do,” trainer Mark Mann said.

How long Peña will be with Louisville is undetermined.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I want to get ready.”

Peña injured the quad April 24. He made one start and three pinch-hit appearances before going on the disabled list May 9. He has been eligible to come off since May 18.

Shortstop Rich Aurilia, on the DL with a strained hamstring, began a rehab assignment at Louisville Saturday.

Aurilia was scheduled to play nine innings at shortstop. He doubled in his first at-bat. How long he’ll be there is undetermined.

“We’ll wait and see,” Reds manager Dave Miley said.

The limit on rehab assignments for position players is 20 days.

“You’re looking at two very different situations,” Reds general manager Dan O’Brien said. “In Wily Mo’s case, he hasn’t seen live pitching in five weeks. In Rich’s case, he’s been out a shorter period.

“He’ll be there a very short time.”

I agree with O’Brien. Pena hasn’t seen live pitching in 5 weeks (partially because the team was too stupid to put him on the DL right away). But the difference is Pena is worth rehab time, Aurilla should be released.

Right-hander Ben Weber will throw a simulated game Monday for Louisville. He’ll pitch one inning or throw 25 pitches in a rehab assignment for Louisville Wednesday.

Weber is on the DL with a bulging disc in his neck. He was eligible to come off Tuesday.

If I were Weber, I wouldn’t think I’d have much more rope. After this team has released Jiminez and Graves, he should either be effective or be released.

Sean Casey was out of the lineup for the fourth straight game after bruising his rotator cuff making a diving stop. He was available to pinch hit.

“It gets a little better every day,” Casey said. “I almost pinch hit (Friday).”

Casey expects to be able to start today’s game against the Pirates.

The injury doesn’t bother Casey when he’s hitting, although it did tighten up after he took batting practice Friday.

“He’s made great improvements,” Mann said. “It’s a question of being able to field his position, taking throws above shoulder level.”.

So, Casey’s supposed to be back in the lineup today. If he’s ineffective, how long before we hear it blamed on the injury? I know it’s the pessimist in me talking, but the Reds medical staff has misdiagnosed so many injuries, every time they say one that looks serious is “day to day”, I’m counting the days until they’re on the DL.

Being a Cincinnati fan you can’t be anything but aware that the Reds have had essentially 4 shortstops since 1951. From 1950-2004 sixty-seven men have played shortstop for the Reds, a total of 8680 games.

The amazing fact within this fact is that 80% of those games were played by only four men, equally amazing is 51% of them were played by only two men.

Spoiled is the Reds fan in his shortstop history, but how spoiled are we?

Here are the American League and National League games leaders for shortstops since 1950.

GAMES                            G       AB       AVG      OBA      SLG     RC/G
1    Luis Aparicio              2599    10230     .262     .311     .343     3.80
2    Cal Ripken                 2381     9217     .277     .345     .454     5.34
3    Alan Trammell              2293     8288     .285     .352     .415     5.27
4    Bert Campaneris            2213     8459     .258     .310     .342     3.84
5    Omar Vizquel               2138     7819     .275     .341     .358     4.38
6    Mark Belanger              1962     5734     .227     .300     .280     2.95
7    Ozzie Guillen              1818     6190     .264     .285     .338     3.15
8    Ed Brinkman                1812     5957     .224     .280     .300     2.63
9    Robin Yount                1549     6049     .286     .331     .427     4.99
10   Greg Gagne                 1524     4730     .254     .299     .387     3.68   

GAMES                            G       AB       AVG      OBA      SLG     RC/G
1    Ozzie Smith                2573     9396     .262     .337     .328     4.16
2    Dave Concepcion            2300     8247     .267     .322     .359     3.90
3    Larry Bowa                 2247     8418     .260     .300     .320     3.39
4    Barry Larkin               2180     7937     .295     .371     .444     6.22
5    Roy McMillan               2093     6752     .243     .314     .321     3.41
6    Garry Templeton            2047     7664     .272     .305     .369     3.72
7    Chris Speier               1960     6480     .246     .326     .345     3.79
8    Dick Groat                 1929     7484     .286     .330     .366     4.10
9    Bill Russell               1911     6617     .266     .312     .337     3.50
10   Don Kessinger              1852     6991     .253     .315     .313     3.40

1500 appears to be the benchmark for extreme longevity at the SS position, with 2000 being the number achieved by the upper echelon.

In the AL you have 5 players with 2000 games started at shortstop, in the NL you have 6 players, the AL has 3 players who started at least 2000 of their games with one team. In the AL Ripken, Vizquel and Trammel hold that honor and in the NL Concepcion and Larkin can make claim to it as well. In modern MLB history there have been a total of 18 men who logged 2000 appearances at shortstop, 72% of them appeared after World War 2 and 3 of them were Reds. (Roy McMillan split his games amongst 3 teams, 1348 as a Red)

It was McMillan who began the string in 1951 when he appeared in 85 games for the Reds, from 1952-1958 he played in over 145 games a season at the shortstop position for the Reds.

In 1960 Leo Cardenas appeared in Cincinnati that season he shared the SS duties with Roy and his play must have convinced Bill DeWitt to move ahead with his first deal as the new Reds owner that winter when flipped McMillan to the Braves Jay and Pizarro in December of 1960.

1157 games later the Reds entered the 1969 season and experienced the first year in 18 seasons that McMillan or Cardenas didn’t man the shortstop position.

In the last full season at Crosley and the first full season of division play, the Reds split the position amongst 2 players with Chico Ruiz getting some time there as well. Not the most stellar group they posted below average fielding numbers and did nothing to further solidified a position that was a noted weakness prior to the start of the season.

GAMES                            G        A        E       PCT
1    Woody Woodward               93      248       14     .966
2    Darrel Chaney                91      191       17     .947
3    Chico Ruiz                   29       58        1     .989
4    Tommy Helms                   4        3        0    1.000

The position wasn’t buoyed by the .233/.308/.277 line they produced as a group, and Chico Ruiz probably left the greatest impression that season when he “play” attacked Chief Noc-A-Homa in a mock Indian raid that found the Reds shortstop being flipped by the mascot, much to the amusement of all the Reds who revealed in his antics.

Two months later Chico was an Angel and the Reds were talking internally of counting on a youngster named Dave Concepcion. It took a couple of years for Davey to fully grab the job (a common SS occurrence is slow growth) and when he did grab it he held on tight and stayed long enough to watch both Pete and Tony leave and come back. Reagan was in his second term before the Reds worried about the shortstop position again.

I’ll be where the eagles flying higher and higher.
Gonna be your man in motion
All I need is a pair of wheels.
Take me where the future’s lying; St. Elmo’s fire.

In June 1985 the world was hit in the face with The Brat Pack ensemble St Elmos Fire. In memory the whole she-bang was a monumental waste of time that I’d rather forget about. But that month also brought some good news, it was in June of 1985, the Reds used their 1st round pick on a college position player for the first time ever.

The prior year pitcher Pat Pacillo had been the first college player ever chosen by the Reds in the 1st round. The fact that this occurred in the 20th year of the drafts existence was not lost on Bill James who addressed the Reds drafting strategy in his 1984 Baseball Abstract.

The position player?

Barry Larkin, shortstop, University of Michigan.

1985 also is the last year that Dave Concepcion ever played over 100 games at shortstop in a season

Like Roy McMillan Davey was able to share his spot with his eventual successor and that alone avoided a gap in the SS legacy since the earlier one in 1969.

That’s quite the legacy

From 1970-2004 the Reds had 10 players who appeared in at least 100 games at SS

GAMES                            G        G
1    Dave Concepcion            2178     2178
2    Barry Larkin               2085     2085
T3   Pokey Reese                 222      222
T3   Darrel Chaney               222      222
5    Juan Castro                 183      183
6    Woody Woodward              162      162
7    Jeff Branson                149      149
8    Tom Foley                   135      135
9    Kurt Stillwell              131      131
10   Felipe Lopez                101      101

Some interesting names in that list, Chaney shared some time with Concepcion early on as did Woodward, who became better known as a GM than he was a player. Former 1st round draft choice Stillwell gave Larkin a run for the job early on, but like Pokey he was not all that and a bag of chips and soon found his way out of town.

In the same time period that the Reds had 10 players with 100 appearances the Braves can claim 18 with 100 appearances.

In the same time period that The Reds had 4 players with 200 or more appearances at SS the Braves and Mets could claim 8 players and Montreal 9.

To really touch on the spoiled nature of the Reds fan and the shortstop position let’s take a look at the Pre 1990’s expansion National League teams and see who holds their games played at SS and how they did.

1946-2004
Reds
                                 G       AB       AVG      OBA      SLG     RC/G
1    Dave Concepcion            2300     8247     .267     .322     .359     3.90
2    Barry Larkin               2180     7937     .295     .371     .444     6.22
3    Roy McMillan               1348     4319     .249     .326     .332     3.72
4    Leo Cardenas               1157     4047     .261     .313     .377     3.83
Braves
1    Johnny Logan               1351     4931     .270     .330     .384     4.37
2    Jeff Blauser               1024     3438     .268     .361     .416     5.38
Padres
1    Garry Templeton            1254     4455     .252     .294     .340     3.18
Giants
1    Rich Aurilia                993     3598     .278     .331     .444     5.05
Astros
1    Roger Metzger              1021     3678     .229     .291     .291     2.83
2    Craig Reynolds             1004     3131     .256     .288     .352     3.45
Dodgers
1    Bill Russell               1911     6617     .266     .312     .337     3.50
2    Pee Wee Reese              1676     6257     .277     .375     .396     5.46
3    Maury Wills                1593     6156     .281     .331     .332     4.11
Expos
1    Orlando Cabrera             904     3288     .267     .315     .405     4.31
Phillies
1    Larry Bowa                 1739     6815     .264     .301     .324     3.44
 Pirates
1    Dick Groat                 1258     4950     .290     .329     .370     4.06
2    Jay Bell                   1106     4179     .269     .339     .402     4.55
3    Gene Alley                 1096     3591     .256     .312     .356     3.71
Mets
1    Bud Harrelson              1322     4390     .234     .324     .287     3.42
Cardinals
1    Ozzie Smith                1990     7160     .272     .350     .344     4.58
2    Dal Maxvill                1100     2972     .222     .299     .265     2.60
Cubs
1    Don Kessinger              1648     6355     .255     .315     .314     3.41
2    Shawon Dunston             1254     4570     .267     .295     .407     4.07
3    Ernie Banks                1216     4670     .290     .353     .552     6.77

The Reds are the only team a player with 2000 starts and they have 2 they also are the only team with 4 players with 1000 starts. An amazing sign of stability at a position that is very volatile.

Little surprises around every corner, but nothing dangerous!

Since 1950 the Reds can also claim to have were the best hitting shortstops , plating a ½ a run better per 27 outs than all other NL shortstops.

RUNS CREATED/GAME               DIFF   PLAYER   LEAGUE      G
1    Reds                       0.51     4.22     3.71    10455
2    Cubs                       0.37     4.06     3.69     9958
3    Cardinals                  0.30     4.00     3.70    10931
4    Rockies                    0.27     4.46     4.19     2087
5    Diamondbacks               0.20     4.38     4.18     1394
6    Pilots/Brewers             0.11     4.31     4.20     1335
7    Dodgers                    0.01     3.71     3.70    10441
8    Expos                      0.01     3.64     3.64     6844
9    Braves                     -.07     3.63     3.70    10836
10   Pirates                    -.08     3.63     3.71    10270
11   Giants                     -.14     3.59     3.73    10817
12   Astros                     -.19     3.38     3.57     9015
13   Marlins                    -.20     4.00     4.19     2356
14   Phillies                   -.22     3.45     3.67    10254
15   Padres                     -.36     3.27     3.63     7017
16   Mets                       -.45     3.09     3.54     8207

This of course is all history and as of today Conception’s first manager was getting his number retired tonight and Larkin works for a team that is only slightly newer than his job.

However the Reds “could” have the heir apparent to the linage in Lopez (if you thought Aurilia bite your tongue)

At 24 Lopez in 2005 appears to be a completely different ballplayer than Lopez in 2004 and before. This can be seen in his approach at the plate (from both sides) and his play on the field. He appears more into the game then I remember him being last season (and the prior ones as well) and most enjoyable has been the the fact that his at bats have been better than good almost daily and he has proven that he can use his bat speed to keep his plate apperances prolonged and this has helped him not only raise his batting average but has helped him improved his k rate from (1/3.2ab) in 2004 to (1/5.2 ab) in 2005.

Lopez’s May numbers currently scream top of the order hitter his robust .323/.380/.594/.973 and his 18.5 VORP is second on the Reds and 2nd amongst all NL SS. Since the All Star break in 2004 Felipe Lopez is hitting .277 with a .351 OB% and a .503 slg%, compiling 167 Total Bases in 332 at bats.

That’s so much more than I expected after his 2003 crash and burn.

This season has taken more than one or two ugly turns; at times it’s been like being pummeled with socks full of marbles by a pack of 4 year olds, demeaning, insulting and ridiculous.

But the emergence of Lopez in the wake of Aurilia’s injury (and constant lineup apperances) has proven that once again the baseball season always knows how to give a little back to the fan even in a flood of poor play and losses.

1. Did the Reds really retire Luis Quinones‘ number before today’s game?

2. After hitting another one tonight, Felipe Lopez now has 8 homers on the season. That leads all National League shortstops, despite the fact that Lopez was a backup for the first month of the season.

Yet Dave Miley thinks that Rich Aurilia is a better player than Lopez. Shouldn’t that be grounds for immediate dismissal?

UPDATE: Okay, I had another thought:

3. When the Reds broke the bank to sign that wonderful free agent pitcher Eric Milton, do you suppose they imagined that he would have a 7.05 ERA as the team entered June?

It’s starting to appear that the Milton deal might enter the pantheon of worst free agent signings ever.

So I wake up from a nice Saturday afternoon nap, and turn on the game in the second inning. It’s 6-0, and Milton’s already given up 8 hits. He ended up giving up 9 hits, 3 HR, and 7 ER in 3 IP.

And Dave Williams no-hit the Reds until the 5th. It was pinch-hitter Jacob Cruz that got the hit - of course, he couldn’t start. You have to have Jason Effing Romano in there at all costs.

Why in the world do I even both watching this crap? I’m going to see Star Wars. Even Jar-Jar Binks would be better than Milton.

And this article explains it:

Reds officials gathered with manager Dave Miley and his staff for their quarterly meeting Friday.

When the group reconvenes - sometime before the All-Star break - it should have a much different team to talk about and analyze.

“Obviously we are well aware of the first 40 games of the season,” general manager Dan O’Brien said. “What we basically did was plot strategy for the next 40 games taking into account a number of individuals hopefully coming off the disabled list and how that might change our roster, our style of play, etc. …”

Nine Reds players are on either the 15-day or 60-day disabled list.

Again, I’ll ask the question…who is on the DL, other than Wily Mo, that this team should have been counting on to help?

Hudson? With his injury history, I wouldn’t have counted on him. I’d have taken anything he contributed as a bonus.

Weber? Maybe, but with his year last year, should they have been counting on him?

Aurilla? His last good year was 4 years ago and he was absolutely handed the starting job and was horrible before going on the DL.

Machado? Hancock? Please….

In today’s Enquirer, couple of good articles about Sparky Anderson, whose number is being retired tonight.

Last I heard there were tons of seats available for tonight’s game, which will be portrayed by the media as the fan’s fault, never mentioning the lack of reasons for supporting this putrid team.

Here’s the place to discuss tonight’s tilt with the Pirates.

After last night’s disaster, I look forward to seeing if the Reds put a real lineup on the field, or if Dave Miley sticks with the Little League lineup he used yesterday.

The Baseball Savant recently reviewed the Cincinnati Reds blogosphere, and he had some very kind comments for Redleg Nation.