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I’m still numb.
As most of you know, I decided (not quite at the last minute, but pretty close) to take a chance and head to last night’s Reds game, hoping Cincinnati would clinch. It’s a long drive for me, and not one I would ordinarily be able to make on a weeknight. Fortunately, my work schedule cleared up nicely and I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to be there, so I hopped in the car and headed to the Queen City.
Best decision I ever made.
I got there early, in order to meet with some of the folks who were there for the Reds’ “TweetUp” event. I talked to some people I’d met before and some I hadn’t. It was a fun idea, and Lisa Braun of the Reds marketing department did a great job getting it organized (they sold hundreds of tickets for the TweetUp). I was honored to be invited.
I don’t know that I can express in words what it was like to be there last night. From the moment I walked into Great American Ballpark, it was obvious that the atmosphere was different. I’ve been to a number of Opening Days and, while those games are always raucous and crowded and fun, it just wasn’t the same.
Thinking about it today, I can only remember one other time where I experienced something (from a sports perspective) that came close to approximating the atmosphere at GAB last night. It was back in 1995, when I was a Fourth Year at the University of Virginia. At the time, I interned with WINA radio and the Virginia Sports Network (I thought I wanted to go into radio), and I happened to be on the sidelines with a microphone during the Florida State game. FSU was a powerhouse, and had never lost a game in the ACC until UVa beat them on that day. As you can imagine, that was an exciting event for the UVa partisans, and I’ll never forget the sound in the stadium during that entire game, and especially when Anthony Poindexter stopped Warrick Dunn on the one-inch line as time expired. (I’ll also never forget the thousands of people pouring out of the stands as I was trying to make my way to the visitor’s locker room.)
That was a wild day…but it pales in comparison to what I experienced last night. The crowd was “twittering” the entire game (see what I did there?); there was an ever-present sense that it was a special night. When the Reds scored in the first inning, the buzz grew louder, and didn’t really quiet down even after Houston took the lead. Several times, I heard people say that they were confident the Reds were going to come back.
At every crucial moment (and during many non-crucial moments), the crowd was on its feet, screaming. Edinson Volquez snuffed out a rally — excitement everywhere. The Reds got a couple of runners on base — the buzz grew exponentially. Arthur Rhodes pitched like he was 25 years old again — the crowd went nuts. Aroldis Chapman entered the game and dominated — sheer pandemonium.
Then came the bottom of the ninth.
First, let me acknowledge that maybe, just maybe, I’m overstating things a bit. The whole evening seems a little hazy to me now, and I was nervous the entire game. Perhaps my experience is different from what someone else observed. Maye my impressions are colored by the fact that I was constantly tense, leaning forward, elbows on knees, anxious for the Reds to do something good. If someone tells me they’ve been to a game where the crowd was more excited — and excitable — I won’t argue with them.
This I know, however: Cincinnati hasn’t seen a moment like the ninth inning in at least twenty years. Maybe longer.
In the eighth, Scott Rolen got a hit, and everyone was on their feet, praying for the Reds to push a run across. As the bottom of the ninth approached, from the time the Astros made their third out until the time when Jay Bruce strode toward the plate, I don’t know that anyone had stopped buzzing over the possibilities that lay ahead.
The guy next to me (Joel from Red Reporter) took off for the restroom (sprinting the entire way, I suppose), which seemed like a risky proposition in retrospect. I barely noticed at the time.
I will never forget the way things played out after that. I can see the pitch. I can see Bruce swinging. The ball lifted towards center field, and just floated up there for what seemed like hours. I followed, followed, followed…and saw it fly over the fence, a walkoff homer.
Delirium.
The memories occur in flashes. Jay Bruce rounding third. Joel returning and almost tackling me. The players jumping onto each other. My hands raised to the sky, then settling on top of my head as I tried to comprehend what I had just witnessed. Screaming. High-fives for everyone in the vicinity. A constant stream of expressions of disbelief. Fireworks. Text messages and voice mails, which have continued throughout today. The sheer happiness of thousands of people, radiating throughout the park.
No one wanted to leave. We enjoyed the on-field celebration, then enjoyed watching the scoreboard as the players went nuts inside the clubhouse: Hey, Arthur Rhodes is smiling! Watch them dump champagne on Dusty! Then some players returned to the field, and went back to the clubhouse. That persistent buzz kept ringing in my ears, in everyone’s ears.
At one point, Bronson Arroyo emerged from the clubhouse and started a jog around the field, shaking hand with the fans, and thanking them. Shortly thereafter, a bunch of Arroyo’s teammates came out and did a victory lap themselves. Jonny Gomes appeared to be as happy as anyone could be. Mike Leake and Sam LeCure looked like mischevious kids, as if they couldn’t believe they were allowed to participate in such a special event.
Best. Night. Ever.
I’m sure Riverfront Stadium was similarly delirious in 1990. I wasn’t there; I was a high school junior, home watching on television, so I can’t say what it was like in that park on those special evenings twenty years ago. To me, however, it’s going to be hard to top the experience of last night.
As I drove home last night, I spoke to one of my younger brothers on the phone. We tried to put into words what it has been like to experience last night, after the last decade of futility. I’m preaching to the choir here, but I have lived and died with the Cincinnati Reds for my entire life, basically. There have been times over the years where I’ve been just miserable, all because I had invested so much emotion in a baseball team, and seemed to be getting nothing but losing seasons in return.
For the last six seasons, I’ve written about the Reds nearly every single day here at Redleg Nation. The team has been pretty bad for most of that time, but this site has been a labor of love for me. What was I going to do, quit rooting for the Reds? There were times when that would have been a better option (for my mental health), but this team is a part of who I am. My father and grandfather were Reds fans, I’m a Reds fan, and my son is going to be a Reds fan, it appears.
The group of editors here at RN have spent countless hours writing about the Reds, talking about the Reds, investing ourselves emotionally in the ups and downs of this organization. You understand what I’m trying to say, because you are all just like me. Those of you who are regulars here, who comment often and are a vital part of this community: you understand. Those of you who don’t comment much, or at all, but who are loyal about coming here every day to be part of a group that is obsessive about the Reds: you understand. You’ve all been living and dying with the Reds through all the bad years, just like me.
Last night was so sweet precisely because of all those bad years. Last night was just perfect, because we’ve been there when things were awful. In the end, the Reds don’t owe me anything, but I can’t help but feel like I earned the right to enjoy last night’s stirring and dramatic victory, and the celebration that followed. (See Chris’ related post, which I whole-heartedly endorse and which you should read, if you haven’t already.)
Whatever happens in the next few weeks — and I still believe that the Reds can shock the world even further — I’m going to savor this feeling. I’m going to enjoy the division championship. It’s been a long, hard road, and we have stuck with this team through thick and thin. You have permission to celebrate.
I have been urging everyone to “believe” for weeks and weeks. Has it been worth it?
Yes.
(Feel free to use this as the game thread. Let’s watch the game and talk about what this division title means to all of you.)
Yeah it was awesome. I was watching on TV. I was kind of surprised, frankly, how emotional it was when Bruce did it.
But then it hit me: for basically 15 years we’ve been watching the franchise do very little. It was so frustrating. It all built up. But then all of a sudden, it was all seemed worth it. Last night wouldn’t have been as fun, as meaningful, if the Reds were winning divisions every year.
Great post Chad…wish I could have been there…damn sump pump.
Not kidding when I say this, this honestly choked me up a little. Great post Chad. I freakin love this team.
Best part of it all for me last night was talking to my Grandpa after the game. He told me for what must be the hundredth time about how after the 75 series when he was running around the house screaming about how happy he was and how long he waited for that moment. I was a little too young too completely remember the 1990 team, or even fully appreciate the 95 division title. Last night though, on the phone, I was able to finally tell him I knew exactly how that felt.
I love this team, even tonight’s starting lineup, and I can’t wait for October baseball in Cincinnati.
Beautiful post. As a blogger for a team I love dearly, I so relate with the feeling of watching it all pay off. As much as I love the Colts though (and I wrote a book about them), my first love is the Cincinnati Reds and nothing can change that.
I can’t even begin to say what last night meant to me. I don’t care what else happens. Jay Bruce paid off my season last night. He paid off the decade.
That’s why I watch sports…the hope that there will be that one indelible moment of pure joyous delirium that reminds me that victory, and hope, and a fleeting eternity still have a place in the world.
I played the track for my four year old son today. He had no idea why Marty was yelling. He just knew it was a home run and I was happy. He danced around the room.
Yeah, that’s why I love sports.
Great post.
Worth it, worth it, worth it.
FWIW, I was at game 2 of the ’90 LCS. It was a ton of fun – one of the best days of my life – but not the emotional catharsis this was.
I was also at game 3 of the ’95 DS. It was fun to be there when they clinched – and there was a similar “don’t want to go home” aspect. But that game was anticlimactic in 3-4 different ways. Even though last night was a foregone conclusion, it was so long in coming that it meant a lot more.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CIN/CIN199510060.shtml
I have loved this team so much since 1970 when I was a little kid growing up in rural Virginia watching the Reds on NBC’s Game of the Week with Curt Gowdy and Tony Kubek. I have been hooked ever since and there have been the ultimate highs and the lowest of lows. However nights like last night are worth of bit of frustration that has been felt throughout the years. I have tickets to the LDS and I am so ready for the emotional wringer of that series. May it be just as crazy as last night!!!
I don’t know if I want to use such a positive post for a game thread, because I’m not happy with tonight’s lineup. We need to play 1, 2, and 5 at HOME in the NLDS, and tonight’s lineup will make that very difficult.
Ditto. Did Joe Posnanski just enter and leave your body? Fantastic post and thank you so much for Redleg Nation.
Great post, embodies what a lot of long time Reds fans felt last night. If this is indeed the game thread now though, I do want to talk about tonight’s lineup. What are we doing? I understand that people need rest after last night’s pandemonium. I also understand that Dusty wants to rest guys before the playoffs start. To not have one starter in tonight’s lineup is ridiculous. We’re currently a game back of the Giants (who have a home game against the D’Backs- almost an assured victory) and cannot afford to lose any more ground. And this is the lineup we run out there? I’m just as excited as anyone else about making the playoffs, but I, like most of you probably do too, have higher hopes for this team. Those hopes hinge on us getting home-field advantage in my opinion. If we have to go on the road and play the Giants or, gulp, the Phillies it’s going to be an uphill battle. We need to try and win every game from here on out to secure that home-field advantage, and tonight’s lineup seems like we are conceding it. Doesn’t make sense to me.
Talked to a friend who’s a fan of the Yankees today. He wondered why I was so energetic and jumpy, me all decked out in my Reds gear…
Yeah, it’s worth it.
A beautiful and memorable post.
Thank you, Chad.
Last nite some of our bloggers wrote after the game that their eyes were watering. Mine weren’t, I was so amped up during the game that the adrenaline was still flowing and I just felt an excited joy.
Reading this post today, it did sink in and hit me at a deeper emotional level.
I like tonite’s lineup, even though I take winning the home field advantage seriously. Every one of our starters is beaten up and tired, especially mentally tired.
Give them their day off and they’ll come back charged up and fighting. In a case like this, I defer to Dusty’s judgment, he knows what his players need.
We need Laynce Nix in the playoffs. He’s our LHed bat off the bench. I’ll be very interested in how he’s doing.
I’m not conceding the game and neither are the Reds, we might win. For one thing, we’ll have a great bench !
I was able to attend game 8 of the 1990 NLCS and feel that may be as close to last night as i have seen. On that night back in 90 we had seats up in the red seats in RF, so high up we could not see the catch Braggs made and didn’t know if he had caught it till the stadium went nutz. But felt incredible when Myers struck out the final Pirate to win the game and earn the Reds their first birth in the WS since 76. People wouldn’t leave the stadium, people will going wild in the streets as we walked back up to FS to get our car. People were high fiving people in cars and such. I would have loved to reexperineced that last night but couldn’t make it over to cincy, so i watched it on TV.
Really nice post.
I was at Game 3 of the 1995 NLDS, sitting way up under the scoreboard at Riverfront. I don’t remember much about that night, but I remember I hadn’t ever experienced a crowd that big, that loud and that excited.
The closest thing I can remember is seeing Adam Dunn’s walkoff grand slam in 2006 against the Indians. Chad’s description of seeing Bruce’s HR ball in slow motion is very much like what I felt that night. I daydreamed about that game every day for months afterwards, even though it ultimately meant nothing.
Awesome post Chad!
These kids and their daddy’s (Rolen,O-Cab,King Author,Rusty,Price,Walt,etc…) are relentless and have been through so much and still always find a way to win or at least give them a chance to win! I love this organization and have stuck by them year after year and that goes for the Bengals too.
Thank you Reds, and win it all baby!
@pinson343: I’m not conceding either. I tend not to make predictions or give up on anybody.
But you don’t have to sit ALL your best players for the SAME GAME! Give a couple tonight off, another couple tomorrow, and so on.
Excellent post Chad! The wife and I watched the game from our living room in the wonderful State of Illinois. As soon as Bruce hit it and raised his arm, we were giving high fives and hugging. Had to calm down to watch the post game activities. Its funny because when the Reds won it all in 1990, my wife and I were at my fathers home for his annual barbecue party. I believe high fives and hugging were predominant then also!! Here’s hoping the Reds win it all again this year. All of this is so special and goes back to when my grandmother got me hooked on the Reds while we watched the 1975 and 1976 World Series together!
Nice post Chad….
Don’t get me wrong – I don’t want to wait another 15 years for the feeling I had last night – But, I never want to be like the Yankees and there fans who are/were like ‘Ehh…headed to the playoffs…again.’ It’s like some fans take winning for granted.
Just seen tonights line-up…I had to laugh. Did they party that hard last night?
I wonder if anyone has ever went back and looked to see the winning % for teams the day after they clinch…I’d bet it’s pretty low.
I just want to add one thing to all of the great things that have been said here so far.
I’m so glad that it was this Reds team that finally broke through. After seeing all of the various incarnations that have gone through the clubhouse since ’90, I think these Reds are my favorite. And that’s saying somehting, since I don’t think anyone will ever take Barry Larkin’s spot as my favorite Red/player. The ’99 team was awesome.
But I’ve never watched a team that was more well balanced or more multi-faceted. It’s so much more fun to watch a real TEAM than to watch a few super-stars surrounded by role players. And so many of the players were either developed internally (Votto, Bruce, Stubbs, Hannigan, Leake, Wood, Bailey, Cueto, Chapman) or picked up as cast-offs (Phillips, Gomes, Nix).
It seems like every game has had different key contributors. Who on the team hasn’t been insanely hot at some point? And who hasn’t had their time in the doghouse? Even Votto has slumped, but they’ve kept on winning because other people have been there to pick it up. Remember Masset in the first month? When Cordero couldn’t throw a strike? And still, a winning record every month (and I think they’ll get there in sept. too).
And that’s why I agree that the Reds will surprise people in the playoffs. With other teams’s you can point to their strength and work to control it. With these Reds, the Team is the strength.
I’m going to a playoff game. I’m driving 5 hours from Pittsburgh.
Well, I told myself I’m not buying a jersey of a current player until we get in the playoffs.
I’m picking 2010 National League MVP Joey Votto, No. 19. Which jersey would be the best? Home, Away, or Home Alt.?
Alt.
HOW DOES LEBRON JAMES BEING “FIERY” IN PRACTICE TALKED ABOUT BEFORE THE REDS AND RAYS CLINCHING? Wow
@Reds03: Must be PTI…You know that ESPN ir really the Favre/James Network right?
The finest night for this Reds fan since forcing my 13 year old sister to hold a ladder in the poring rain while I hammered each end of a Reds 1990 World Champs banner 15 ft up two trees to span overhead the street I grew up on (in Vancouver, BC).
I, unlike most of you, live in the heart of Cardinals country. I’ve had to hear it from them for years upon years; and now…………….IT’S PAYBACK TIME!
@Furniture City Red: It was. Can I have the link where you got your avatar, I was looking for one of those.
I’m currently watching PTI and thought the same thing. I’ve known this for years, but for some reason I get amnesia every time I turn to that network. ESPN is a joke.
Another excellent post, barrister.
The reference to Game 3 of the NLDS in ’95 was interesting. I remember R. Sanders K’ing against the Braves repeatedly, but an 0 for 5 with 5 strikeouts in a 10-1 win was ominous.
Just had a nickname idea: The Krisis. How do you like that for Aroldis? You know, crisis with a K for strikeout! If I can’t be a major league player, and I can’t, maybe I can give one a nickname.
The best part for me was reliving it this morning on my DVR with my 6 year old son.
My son who has grown to live and breathe baseball.
My son who wakes up every morning and watches the MLB network to catch the previous night’s highlights.
My son, though still to young to understand the significance, will actually get to watch the Reds in the playoffs. I’ll admit, I was honestly afraid he may never see it.
My son, who watched the replays several times this morning, raised his hands in the air every time Jay Bruce did.
My son, who said a few weeks ago, he wants to be Jay Bruce for Halloween.
My son, who had to wear his Jay Bruce t-shirt to school today in celebration.
My son, who said we need to get a 2010 NL Central Championship flag for our house now.
My son, who I have already ordered a 2010 Championship t-shirt.
My son, who like me, will be a Reds fan for life. Regardless of the ups and downs.
Let’s just be honest, if Derek Jeter hits a 9th inning walk off HR to send the Yankees to the playoffs, ESPN would probably have a 2 hour special dedicated to it tonight.
@jdarts:
SHHH, we’re affiliated with ESPN at RN now, remember!
@jdarts: Then they would break down the pitch, location, swing, wind, crowd volume, temperature, and circumference of the ball.
Oops.
Just ordered my Jay Bruce alternate home jersey. Cannot wait to rock it for the playoffs.
I ordered my shirts yesterday as soon as Bruce homered. I got a Red and Gray one that says division champs.
@Reds03: It’s a snippet of something I found at ‘Rico Industries’…They even have ‘NL Champs’ and ‘World Series Champs’…BUT don’t use either of them – might jinx us.
http://www.ricoinc.com/salessheets.html
@Furniture City Red: Thank you very much.
@Reds03: Is your shirt backordered already like mine?
@jdarts: Affiliated or not – They’re still a joke. If’s it not the Yanks, Sox, NFL of Lebron James they’re useless…and having to pay to read their web site – don’t get me started.
@bho52: No, I learned my lesson when my UNC Tarheels won the NCAA title. I waited too long to order, so I ordered my shirt 3 min after the homer.
@Furniture City Red: LOVE the avatar. Every time I see “NL Central Champions” I still get a little giddy.
@Furniture City Red: Oh, I completely agree.
@Furniture City Red: How did you get just one picture. When I click on your link it give me multiples pictures.
@jdarts: BTW, Good job on the new desktop backgrounds. I downloaded one first thing this morning.
i know everyone watched the Reds game last night, but after it did anyone catch Ken Burns Part 1 of the 10th inning on PBS? I did and it was good, look forward to part 2 tonight.
@Reds03: Had to use a snipping tool…It’s kinda like cutting out the part of the pic you want.
@Furniture City Red: Thank you very much. Just a quirky little hobby of mine, glad I could share it with you.
@dn4192: He struck out Don Slaught on a high fastball, that was more exciting to me than the last out of the World Series, which was pretty damn exciting.
But Drew, if you had tickets to game *8*, I think you got ripped off.
@renbutler: Ren, it might be that they have a better chance to win the rest of the regular season by doing what they are doing today.
I’m not a Dusty fan, as everyone knows, but how can you not defer to the manager when it comes to whether his team needs days off?
Dusty’s made repeated comments that, for example, Votto’s been tired but playing just about every day. I want a fresh Votto next week! And the rest of the regular season, if they want to try to beat out the Giants.
@Dave Lowenthal: And I’m not gonna automatically count out that Triple-A line-up either…I’m just saying – If Cueto pitches a good game the Reds still have a chance.
@Dave Lowenthal: So Dusty knows that EVERY SINGLE STARTER needs a rest today? He felt they HAD TO CLINCH LAST NIGHT and that they’re all so exhausted they can play today?
I don’t buy that. I hope the players are trying to talk him out of it.
That’s how we are up in Indy with the Colts. Making the playoffs is a formality. It seems like our season starts in January. It’s — odd. But I guess it’s better than missing the playoffs for years at a time (and we’ve been there with the Colts too!).
Drove downtown to the Reds gift shop and bought myself and a couple friends one of the “Playoff” caps the team wore last night after the game, and a pennant for my Mom who is also a passionate Reds fan. They were sold out of t-shirts when I was there around 1:30 p.m.
I haven’t been to a post-season game since the 1976 World Series, so I’m really looking forward to the NLDS next week.
I don’t mind the lineup tonight – I imagine a few of the regulars aren’t in the best of shape tonight. They’ve earned the day off. The backups should be plenty hungry.
Time to start scoreboard watching the Giants.
@Dave Lowenthal:
I wondered why security kept throwing us out…
super post Chad!
and the day after no less 
I was watching the game on TV by myself, so while I was ecstatic it’s just not the same as what you described. Reading your post gave me the chance to feel the excitement of the moment in a different way. The not sitting on my couch watching it on TV by myself way.
@Furniture City Red: Agreed, I wasn’t counting them out at all.
and is this tonight’s game thread?
@renbutler: I haven’t a clue, Ren. Really, I don’t. Maybe he wanted to clinch, and then get the players some rest.
@dn4192: Classic. If you were there late enough you might have accidentally been at game 1 of the world series.
Yep. As discussed in the first response.
@Dave Lowenthal: Of course that’s what he was doing, but it still doesn’t answer “why?”
We’re effectively 1.5 games behind the Giants right now (with tiebreakers), and we don’t have the luxury of rest right now.
Anyway, game on! Let’s beat the Astros even with our “scrubs.”
I love that not only everybody is getting a day off but that some possibly important players in the playoffs get a chance to play. Don’t know who the roster is going to be and that might depend on which team we are going to play but Nix, Francisco and Heisey could all use a start or two to get them going for the playoffs
Bruce would have caught that.
It’s one game. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the regulars play the last four, with the exception of Rolen/Cabrera.
One game in the course of a 162-game season is no big deal.
One game out of five in an important stretch run is a big deal.
Sitting injured players is smart. Sitting everybody the same night is not. I hope they prove me wrong.
@renbutler: They’re probably pretty hungover…
What, and today’s lineup drank milk?
I can picture Corky with a Dean’s Milk Chug.
Brantley just said these guys will lay their blood on the line to win tonight. Does that mean everyone on RN right now should play because we’d do the same.
@renbutler: Well, we do, if one cares more about rest than the difference between being home vs Atl or road vs Phil.
I’m not saying you are wrong, but I do think it’s a nontrivial decision…players like Rolen, Phillips, Bruce, Votto need some rest.
@Reds03: I’ve already cut off my pinky, like Ronnie Lott.
My thinking is we need to do whatever it takes to avoid the Phillies. That series has sweep written all over it.
Interesting fact about BP
Sweeeeet DP.
That was nice by Mr. Alonso
Agreed, it was pretty slick DP turn by Yonder.
Definitely. I agree 100%.
I just disagree with resting them all on the same day.
And Phillips could have been rested for the past month and we wouldn’t have missed a lick of production. But that’s hindsight.
@renbutler: ren, I’m not disagreeing with you but what are the Reds playing for? Is it more home field? or to play against one team vs another? I’m only worried about home field advantage vs Atlanta or Philly. I’m not worried about the Reds having to deal with any of the offenses.
I am worried about the Reds facing Holladay, Oswalt, Lincecum, Cain, Hanson, Hamels and Hudson. Which means I guess I fear the Reds facing Philly but don’t care who we play other than that, except on a personal level.
I’ve never been to a baseball playoff game. If the Reds play the Giants at some point I’m going to a game.
I’m far more concerned about playing at home than the matchup. You probably need to beat the Phillies in one series or another — but you give yourself a greater chance of winning any given series by starting at home.
Heisey got a jump there.
I think an argument can be made for almost everybody in the lineup….maybe as important is I would have considered giving skipping a start by Cueto
Votto has played ALL year and he’s our most important player. He needs to rest
Phillips has been awful since his injury making it unclear if he’s 100%. He needs rest
Cabrera was recently injured and old…he needs rest
Rolen is definitely needs rest because of his age and plays so much better when rested
Gomes has been awful for nearly 3 months and has played more games than he’s ever played in the bigs this year.
the only players I can think of that might not need a day off are Stubbs and Bruce
before the lineup was announced I was actually hoping dusty would do this exact thing.
Well, I’m headed out to an event. I hope to check in when I get home and talk about the scrubs’ amazing win!
I’ll just leave on this point: Even with THIS lineup, Janish still can’t get out of the eight hole.
Wait, I guess Janish is batting 7th. Movin’ up in the world!
I have no problem with the entire starting eight getting the day off. They earned it – They won the pennant.
@ren – kinda glad your heading out, if not you’d spend the next 2 1/2 hours belaboring your point.
I don’t want to jinx the kid, but Alonso has looked slick in the field so far.
you know what’s really fun?
The Cards won today and it’s irrelevant
Janish would have had that.
(Oh wait, sorry, force of habit.)
actually cool comments from Dusty while being interviewed during the game on the TV broadcast.
(slightly paraphrased)
about it being his 3rd time taking a team to the playoffs
“quite frankly you don’t think it being the 3rd time, each time is special and different”
on Bruce hitting the HR
“I don’t think his feet touched the ground while rounding the bases. I gave him the lineup card. I’m sure he’ll remember that for a long time”
BTW, thanks to everyone for the kind words above.
What a play by BP, ehh, I mean Valaika.
Wow, good thing Pence caught that or it would have hit him in the face.
Has anyone ever seen 3406 ABs worth on pinch hitters, pinch runners, and defensive replacements in 2 innings before.
Great post Chad….and I feel as though I could take your first three paragraphs and use them, almost word-for-word, to describe exactly what last night was like for me.
As a college student at IU in Bloomington, IN, I’m about 2 1/2 hours away from Cincy. I’m originally from a small town in southeastern Indiana only about 45 minutes away from GABP, so starting college and moving to Bloomington in south-central Indiana meant moving farther away from my Reds–almost too far away to even contemplate going to games on any kind of a semi-regular basis
I’ve pretty much followed at least part of every Reds game this season, and went to a fair number of games too…including the now-infamous August 10th Reds-Cardinals brawl (which was awesome to be at, even though I was out in the Kroger Bleachers). I kind of wanted to go to one more regular-season game, but Cincy isn’t exactly close anymore, and I have class at either 9 or 9:30 AM every day of the week…
However, on Monday afternoon, I was talking with someone who knows I’m a huge Reds fan, and when I brought up how awesome it would be to go to one last game, they encouraged me to go for it and go to the game Tuesday night. Now, I’m not a very spontaneous person; I take all of my studies extremely seriously, and always try to plan ahead for things as much as possible. Also, I knew I had my first big Spanish test first thing Wednesday morning at 9AM…which I hadn’t really studied too much for yet. So, though I initially entertained the idea of going to the game Tuesday, I blew it off as impractical.
But then I started talking about it to a close friend of mine who also loves the Reds and also goes here to IU–and who is also a huge fan of Redleg Nation by the way; he’s been following it since the beginning and was the one who suggested it to me. At first, the idea was a mere joke or fantasy…but the more we talked about it, the more concrete the idea became…
And then he found $4, Row A Kroger Bleacher seats on StubHub.
That was it.
We were going.
Immediately after my last class on Tuesday got out at 4PM he and I hit the road and rolled into Cincy at around 6:30, rocking a BP shirt and a Gomes shirt, respectively. We go to the ballpark, 7:10 rolled around, the game began…
And the rest is, quite literally, history.
One of THE BEST decisions I have ever made in my life. I’ve never experienced such an electric, emotionally charged atmosphere in my life. The entire ballpark was yelling and yearning together, from Volquez’s first pitch….to Byrdak’s first–and last–pitch.
Bruce’s HR seemed to float through the air forever…and then once it hit the turf over the wall in CF, everybody went nuts. I’ve never given so many high-fives in such a short time span before in my life. Absolutely unforgettable. I am still lost for words.
The only downside to going to the game? My Reds NL Central 2010 Champions t-shirt is now backordered, probably until the playoffs are all over.
And not arriving back on campus until 2AM. But it was totally worth every second of the drive and every bit of spontaneity. What an experience. And, I’m pretty sure I will be going to Game 1 of the NLCS…so the Reds had better get that far!!
Oh, and that Spanish exam I was worried about? Pretty sure I knocked that as far out of the park as Bruce’s HR.
NL CENTRAL CHAMPIONS 2010!!!!!!!!
I actually turned 40 on Tuesday. Talk about an awesome gift.
Beautifully written, Chad.
I grew up in Southern Indiana (a little time called Scottsburg) and became a Reds fan during the summer of 1976. Back then we were “spoiled”, so to speak, because our teams were always in the mix. Because of a few lean years in the ’80s, 1990′s championship was very sweet–a return to prominence. Little did we know, huh?
I now live in the Dallas – Fort Worth area, and while the area is no longer mine, the team always will be. Thank heavens for Direct TV!!