Norris Hopper lf Jeff Keppinger ss
Ken Griffey Jr. rf
Brandon Phillips 2b
Edwin Encarnacion 3b
Joey Votto 1b
Jay Bruce rf
Corey Patterson cf
David Ross c
I’ve lived in the NYC area my whole life, and been a Reds fan since early childhood in the 1950s. So I’ve taken a lot of grief from Yankees fans for 50 years. Needless to say, I’ve enjoyed this series a great deal. One fun thing has been the Yankee fans’ interest in the Reds young players, especially of course the young pitchers.
I usually despise John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman, but they’ve been very respectful of the Reds this weekend, much more so than the Mets broadcasters ever are. They talked about the 1976 Reds in reverential terms, walking thru their lineup and remarking on how it was so great that Johnny Bench batted 7th.
Of course Bench had an off year that year, batting .230 with 16 home runs before his great World Series. (I wonder if this blog and its bloggers were around then, what would have been said about Bench during the regular season that year.)
1) An outfield that can run, get to the ball, catch the ball. I often wonder, when GameDay indicates a single to right field, if Griffey just can’t get to them.
2) Two professional hitters in the lineup! TWO! That’t two more than we usually have. Guys that will take pitches, bunt, get the bat on the ball, go the other way … get on base!! Actually try to make life difficult for the opposing pitcher. And they’re batting 1-2. Did Dusty get hit on the head by a mugger in the subway?
3) EE and Votto up to 5-6 in the batting order. Did anyone else ever wonder why Bruce at age 21 with a handful of AAA at bats could immediately bat in the 1-2-3 spots but EE and Votto can’t bat higher than 6?
Jason Giambi can steal second base against the Reds, but Ryan Freel and Corey Patterson lead the universe in making outs on the basepaths. What’s with that?
Would it be correct to say that the Reds only carry two catchers since Dusty never lets Valentin catch anymore?
One thing I liked about Mackanin was that he recognized the value of LLM’s bat and worked to improve him as a catcher. Dusty has pretty much desrtoyed all that improvement that Pete developed.
Does anyone in the Reds dugout know the heimlich maneuver because Dusty is going to choke on one of those toothpicks someday? Better yet, would they use it even if they knew it? Well, CP and PB would.
Jim, Dusty has pretty much destroyed the 1st half of 2008 for the Reds from his stupid “loyal” moves. He has to go, there are times when I do wish that George Steinbrener was the owner and not Castaloony…GS would be on the verge of firing him for sure.
George said the hitter can hit the ball more than once if they are still in the batter’s box. So George, you are saying they can play pepper in the batter’s box?
well Jim, I think it was you who called it yesterday…Why in the hell did Dusty Baker bring in the better relievers in a game that the Reds led by 4 runs(or was it 6 runs)? You said you couldn’t wait until a close game when Burton would have a tired arm. Crusty is such an idiot!!
That homerun looked extremely unlikely after that first Griffey swing. But he ended up being able to turn it up against the 97mph fastball. And I still intensely dislike Kyle Farnsworth.
Y City-Have you ever looked at Ross’ batting average. You act like Ross is Johnny Bench and Bako and Bill Plummer. Bako has been the better player this year.
Affeldt has been awful lately.
mhopp-I feel lost without a Ben Jukich question today.
I think Baker would put him CF before ever letting him catch. He clearly doesn’t like Valentin as a catcher. I think he needs to get over it and put him behind the plate.
Sorry Jim, who ever made the point…it was a good one as here we are in a close game and could have used 2 innings of shutout ball that Affeldt and Maj did not turn in. Oh well, the great outter getter is up 3rd!
Who said Burton wasn’t available? Burton usually isn’t used until the 8th anyway. Affeldt is on the team for those situations and lately he has not come through.
Who said Burton wasn’t available? Burton usually isn’t used until the 8th anyway. Affeldt is on the team for those situations and lately he has not come through.
A very good series by the Reds. Junior looked comfortable as a DH. He can still hit when he gets to rest those weary legs, and would have value to an AL team as a DH and part time left fielder. AL contenders might take notice.
While we’re bashing Dusty, let’s not forget that last Saturday, in extra innings against the Red Sox, he blew the game by resting Cordero and Burton even though Sunday was a sure blowout (Bailey vs. Beckett) and the Reds had Monday off.
2009 stats: Sarasota 2-1 8 Games 8 Games Started 42.1 IP 4.89 ERA 1.44 WHIP
Carolina 3-2 6 Game 6 Game Started 36 2/3 IP 2.95 ERA 1.09 WHIP
Louisville 2-2 5 Game 5 Game Started 29 IP 2.48 ERA 1.21 WHIP
RN Exclusives!
The Big Board -- In-Depth Reds Organizational Depth Chart (updated 2/23/10)
Salary Chart -- Our chart on the current and future contract status for the Reds roster (updated 2/23/10)
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The starting line-up for your Cincinnati Reds:
Norris Hopper lf
Jeff Keppinger ss
Ken Griffey Jr. rf
Brandon Phillips 2b
Edwin Encarnacion 3b
Joey Votto 1b
Jay Bruce rf
Corey Patterson cf
David Ross c
Dunn being given the day off because “he looks lost.”
Dusty, you look lost. Take the next few months off.
I never thought I’d say this…but I’m almost satisfied with this lineup.
If this gets Dunn rested and ready for Toronto, I’m all for it.
Dunn needs a day off. I have no problem with this line-up. I am assuming Griffey is DH and not RF with Bruce.
Dunn needs to sit…hes a suck machine right now.
I like this lineup !
I’ve lived in the NYC area my whole life, and been a Reds fan since early childhood in the 1950s. So I’ve taken a lot of grief from Yankees fans for 50 years. Needless to say, I’ve enjoyed this series a great deal. One fun thing has been the Yankee fans’ interest in the Reds young players, especially of course the young pitchers.
I usually despise John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman, but they’ve been very respectful of the Reds this weekend, much more so than the Mets broadcasters ever are. They talked about the 1976 Reds in reverential terms, walking thru their lineup and remarking on how it was so great that Johnny Bench batted 7th.
Of course Bench had an off year that year, batting .230 with 16 home runs before his great World Series. (I wonder if this blog and its bloggers were around then, what would have been said about Bench during the regular season that year.)
Hopper in center and Dunn in and it’s perfect.
CP in the lineup against a good lefty. fantastic lol
Happy to see Kepp in the game.
Hopefully K-ueto! pitches well
Alex, Matt-Dunn can’t play every day and he has been terrible. Patterson has good lifetime numbers against Pettitte. The line-up today is fine.
Griffey is the DH again today.
PS to my previous post. The Reds lineup in games 3 and 4 of the 1976 World Series:
Rose 3B
Griffey RF
Morgan 2B
Perez 1B
Driessen DH
Foster LF
Bench C
Geronimo CF
Concepcion ss
Now that’s a lineup !
Very wide strikezone in the first inning.
Interesting:
1) An outfield that can run, get to the ball, catch the ball. I often wonder, when GameDay indicates a single to right field, if Griffey just can’t get to them.
2) Two professional hitters in the lineup! TWO! That’t two more than we usually have. Guys that will take pitches, bunt, get the bat on the ball, go the other way … get on base!! Actually try to make life difficult for the opposing pitcher. And they’re batting 1-2. Did Dusty get hit on the head by a mugger in the subway?
3) EE and Votto up to 5-6 in the batting order. Did anyone else ever wonder why Bruce at age 21 with a handful of AAA at bats could immediately bat in the 1-2-3 spots but EE and Votto can’t bat higher than 6?
That’s my sermon for the day.
Bruce finally sees his batting average drop below .300 after that first at-bat.
Quick!!! Someone give Giambi some white cream for his elbow.
I am glad that Bako isn’t in the line-up but good grief, Ross. Is transferring the ball from you glove to your hand that challenging?
EE!
Move over, David Wright!!! The premier 3B of MLB is playing for Cincinnati!!!
Jason Giambi can steal second base against the Reds, but Ryan Freel and Corey Patterson lead the universe in making outs on the basepaths. What’s with that?
The arm has some issues, but Edwin’s glove is golden.
Pettittte 35 pitches to face 7 batters. Excellent.
Let’s see if it takes more than 4 pitches to get Patterson and Ross. I vote for six because Ross will take a couple balls.
and the premier outfielder of all MLB flies out to RF.
Throwing a bullet on target from 130+ feet ain’t no picnic But seriously, EE has made tremendous strides.
My Lord, the SS curse has spread to 3B. EE out of the game. The curse of all small market teams – injuries.
Edwin out of the game, Keppinger over to thrid (maybe helps him a little what with the sore knee). Maybe jammed a finger on that catch or something?
At least Patterson hit the ball hard. Hopper has hit it hard twice. Anybody know what happened to EE?
Would it be correct to say that the Reds only carry two catchers since Dusty never lets Valentin catch anymore?
One thing I liked about Mackanin was that he recognized the value of LLM’s bat and worked to improve him as a catcher. Dusty has pretty much desrtoyed all that improvement that Pete developed.
The Yank’s announcers say EE left with lower back spasms
I can’t take it!!!!!! EE out with back spasms, what is it with the infielders on this team getting injured? Kkkkk-ueto looks awesome though
Does anyone in the Reds dugout know the heimlich maneuver because Dusty is going to choke on one of those toothpicks someday? Better yet, would they use it even if they knew it? Well, CP and PB would.
Oof. That’s almost not fair – 96mph fastballs on the corner, then a slider right at the level of the knee, swing and a miss by Jeter.
K-ueto! pitching very well, helped by the strike zone a little bit, but I like this Johnny better than the one that pitched in May.
Shame about EE though, his defense has been pretty good lately. Kepp is good, but he’s more of a middle infielder.
Andy Pettitte is being nasty today.
Jim, Dusty has pretty much destroyed the 1st half of 2008 for the Reds from his stupid “loyal” moves. He has to go, there are times when I do wish that George Steinbrener was the owner and not Castaloony…GS would be on the verge of firing him for sure.
Junior is due for a bloop single here.
EE has been incredible in the field. I hope this is just a minor injury.
whoo some good luck there
Dusty’s choking, but I forgot the number for 911! Oh well
Is that Chuck Knoblauch out there for NY?
bunt Yanish please!!
Good deep, Janish!!!
Now that I want to see
C’mon Votto!
Patience, young Votto.
Votto!!! need a slam!!! Votto for ROY!
Pettitte is so good. What a setup.
damn, spoke too soon again
Pettite with the ‘Roid advantage
Wouldn’t a GS in Yankee Stadium be so cool?
%$#@
Blew it by him.
On the bright side, Pettitte has thrown 75 pitches.
that is good, the Yankees middle relief isn’t the best
George Grand talking about hoagies and grinders, hoagies and grinders.
ROSS!!! YOU ARE THE MAN!!!
you have to like to see that. Nice double play
yes, that was great…Did you see that Dusty? That was not Bako!
Couldn’t catch Giambi stealing, but can throw out Abreu. Go figure – it’s a wacky game.
The hopes of the Reds universe now ride on the shoulders of SUPER COREY!!!
Hey!!! Super Corey put it on the ground. Maybe he is trying to emulate Willy Mays Hayes.
See that, Dusty? A base hit from your catcher. A sharply hit base hit at that.
haha well Ross dropped the ball when Giambi was stealing.
tough break for Hopper and poor baserunning by David Ross
How many freakin’ base running blunders has this team had in the past week? INSANE!!!
George said the hitter can hit the ball more than once if they are still in the batter’s box. So George, you are saying they can play pepper in the batter’s box?
You could change “in the last week” to “in the last month”, “in the last year”, or “in the last decade” and garner just as much outrage.
uh oh K-ueto! in trouble
I feel the sweep slipping away.
There are Little League teams that make less blunders than the Reds.
I can’t stand this Yankees announcer…makes it sooooo dramatic when the yankees get a hit or anything.
Haha I don’t think that’s true.
Nice strikeout!
George Grande should go over and smurf the Yankee announcer.
WOW! Cueto avoid further damage. Must have been watching Thompson yesterday.
Nice bloop, Kepp!
Kepp with a hit!
HR then a gsme ending thunderstorm.
Yanks announcer keeps talking about this game getting rained out with the 1-0 lead.
Ernie Lombardi, I mean Ken Griffey, Jr. avoids the DP.
The NYY announcers are afraid of the Reds. Very afraid.
Not another hurt infielder!
Hit the game winner. Joey.
who’ll stop the rain……….
Something tells me this game will get called
break out the banana phone!
Adam from Cincinnati?
You know they wouldn’t call it if the Yankees were losing.
looking at the radar the rain shouldn’t last too long
LOL, guy called in to report a missing horse in maine. His name is buddy if you find him! LMAO
Marty and the cowboy don’t act like they believe him, here’s the number to call… 207-538-5075.
19 minutes til we resume the game
Does Cueto get sent back in for the 6th, or is he done after 5 innings/75 pitches and the lengthy rain delay?
I think not.
So did Dunn call in another phone call to Marty?
It will be Majewski coming in for the Reds.
George Grande must have been the inspiration for Anton Jackson’s (Undercover Brother) character after he was mesmerized by the white chick.
Crap!!!
Sweet work, Majew and Affeldt.
Affeldt got screwed on that third pitch.
Freel would have had that. Just kidding. The Yankees have awaken.
I’m about done with Affeldt.
Hey, at least Affeldt knows to cover the bag.
I’m watching the Reds bat then resuming my tree pruning (hacking).
CP – .190 likely after that feeble attempt.
I leave you with this:
Corey Patterson video
well Jim, I think it was you who called it yesterday…Why in the hell did Dusty Baker bring in the better relievers in a game that the Reds led by 4 runs(or was it 6 runs)? You said you couldn’t wait until a close game when Burton would have a tired arm. Crusty is such an idiot!!
That homerun looked extremely unlikely after that first Griffey swing. But he ended up being able to turn it up against the 97mph fastball. And I still intensely dislike Kyle Farnsworth.
And just then, Farnsworth tips a hard grounder and his finger gets dislocated. Ouch.
Mariano gets the call. Double ouch.
Second time recently opposong manager changed pitchers with Janish batting. Why?
Rivera vs. Janish…this is sooo unfair if you’re a Reds fan
His bat speed is “soooo sloooooow” Ken Rosenthal wrote. But he can still handle 97 mph. I hate Farnsworth too.
Abbott and Costello anyone … Who’s on third?
I just stopped in on a break from tree butchering. Valentine at 3B? Baker is flippin’ insane.
Y City-Have you ever looked at Ross’ batting average. You act like Ross is Johnny Bench and Bako and Bill Plummer. Bako has been the better player this year.
Affeldt has been awful lately.
mhopp-I feel lost without a Ben Jukich question today.
Can he play the position using a catcher’s mitt? Because clearly this is supposed to be funny.
mhopp, it wasn’t me that made the reliever comment yesterday.
Nice DP started by Votto.
YCity-There is nobody else. Look, Baker is not a very good manager but some of you are just as ridiculous with your innane comments.
Wouldn’t pinch hit for Outterson the other day and put Phillips (Andy) in the outfield. Now Valentine at third. Wow.
I think Baker would put him CF before ever letting him catch. He clearly doesn’t like Valentin as a catcher. I think he needs to get over it and put him behind the plate.
Maybe Dusty think he is his brother Jose.
Ok there’s really no reason not to PH Patterson with Dunn other than a Baker / Patterson mancrush. Let’s see what happens…
Sorry Jim, who ever made the point…it was a good one as here we are in a close game and could have used 2 innings of shutout ball that Affeldt and Maj did not turn in. Oh well, the great outter getter is up 3rd!
great point, dan…hopper or bruce can play cf
I hate Dusty Baker more than anyone I’ve never met!
of course he’s batting…I guess Dusty wants to wrap this game up quickly so he can hit the streets of NYC.
The speed saved him from a double play…I still hate Dusty Baker…he has single handedly ruined this half of the season for the Reds
Will Bako bat for Hopper?
Outterson is below the Mendosa line, Riveria is below the Volquez line (hell … he’s below the Gibson line!)
Quoting the earlier post … “sooo unfair”
So Adam Dunn pinch-hits for Ross instead of Patterson.
Dunn, take the bat handle over to Dusty and tell him it is his new toothpick.
Dunn 0 for his last 21 with runners on base
0 for his last 22.
I do agree though Dunn should have hit for Patterson and then you have either Ross or Bako hit.
Why not bat Bako here? He has to come in bottom 9 anyway.
If the Yankees had a catcher playing his first ever game at third, Hopper could bunt for a hit!
hit it out Hopper!
Who said Burton wasn’t available? Burton usually isn’t used until the 8th anyway. Affeldt is on the team for those situations and lately he has not come through.
Who said Burton wasn’t available? Burton usually isn’t used until the 8th anyway. Affeldt is on the team for those situations and lately he has not come through.
2 of 3 against the Yankees. One cannot complain.
Dunn – focus on getting it together against the Jays.
I’ll take 2 of 3 but could have been sweep with some better management maybe.
A very good series by the Reds. Junior looked comfortable as a DH. He can still hit when he gets to rest those weary legs, and would have value to an AL team as a DH and part time left fielder. AL contenders might take notice.
Cueto ERA down to 5.01. If no rain delay it would have dipped below.
Good-Bye, Yankee Stadium. KA-BOOM!!!
While we’re bashing Dusty, let’s not forget that last Saturday, in extra innings against the Red Sox, he blew the game by resting Cordero and Burton even though Sunday was a sure blowout (Bailey vs. Beckett) and the Reds had Monday off.
Reds take 2 of 3 even with Dusty using the DH rule to sneak his son, Corey Patterson, in for all three games. Baker is a curse.
In this series, Baker used Patterson as he should be used: as a defensive guy, stuck at the bottom of the lineup. More or less as the 10th player.
Pinson-Agreed, hopefully Tampa will bite
Shawn-Agreed