Reds Tidbits (2007 Season)

[crazybuckfan40]

Double plays killed us tonite...We grounded into 3 of them...

Man I thought Phillips hit that ball out of the park, but just didnt have enough pop...

 

[melrun78]

Shit.

The Reds have pissed this game away through poor management and wasted chances at the plate.

No kidding, I love Bronson but seriously, how many times is Narron going to let him pitch 6 strong innings and leave him in for that 7th where he starts falling off? It wouldn't be so bad if it didn't happen 9 out of 10 times he starts.

 

[jlb1705]

That 9th inning was a joke. Hamilton pinch hits, and draws a leadoff walk. Valverde can be run on, but Narron doesn't have Hamilton steal second. He's erased on a double play ball hit by Scott Hatteberg. If Hamilton had stolen 2nd, he would've advanced to 3rd on that grounder to the right side. Valentin pinch hits after Hatterberg, and singles up the middle. Hamilton would've scored the tying run on that. INSTEAD what we get is a man on first with two out and no tying run. And the thing that really pisses me off about the whole thing is that after Valentin singles, Narron brings on Juan Castro to pinch run. Why fucking bother bringing on a pinch runner in that situation if just moments ago you had probably your second best baserunner standing flatfooted when you had a strong chance at mounting a rally?!

OR - forget not being willing to steal - how about a sac bunt to move the runner into scoring position with less than two outs and taking away the double play? It's not as if Jerry Narron is being asked to do anything especially extraordinarily innovative here. The sacrifice bunt has been around pretty much since the beginning of time.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

That 9th inning was a joke. Hamilton pinch hits, and draws a leadoff walk. Valverde can be run on, but Narron doesn't have Hamilton steal second. He's erased on a double play ball hit by Scott Hatteberg. If Hamilton had stolen 2nd, he would've advanced to 3rd on that grounder to the right side. Valentin pinch hits after Hatterberg, and singles up the middle. Hamilton would've scored the tying run on that. INSTEAD what we get is a man on first with two out and no tying run. And the thing that really pisses me off about the whole thing is that after Valentin singles, Narron brings on Juan Castro to pinch run. Why fucking bother bringing on a pinch runner in that situation if just moments ago you had probably your second best baserunner standing flatfooted when you had a strong chance at mounting a rally?!

OR - forget not being willing to steal - how about a sac bunt to move the runner into scoring position with less than two outs and taking away the double play? It's not as if Jerry Narron is being asked to do anything especially extraordinarily innovative here. The sacrifice bunt has been around pretty much since the beginning of time.

I can see Jax right now and how pissed off he is b/c of all this...:tongue2:

 

[melrun78]

That 9th inning was a joke. Hamilton pinch hits, and draws a leadoff walk. Valverde can be run on, but Narron doesn't have Hamilton steal second. He's erased on a double play ball hit by Scott Hatteberg. If Hamilton had stolen 2nd, he would've advanced to 3rd on that grounder to the right side. Valentin pinch hits after Hatterberg, and singles up the middle. Hamilton would've scored the tying run on that. INSTEAD what we get is a man on first with two out and no tying run. And the thing that really pisses me off about the whole thing is that after Valentin singles, Narron brings on Juan Castro to pinch run. Why fucking bother bringing on a pinch runner in that situation if just moments ago you had probably your second best baserunner standing flatfooted when you had a strong chance at mounting a rally?!

OR - forget not being willing to steal - how about a sac bunt to move the runner into scoring position with less than two outs and taking away the double play? It's not as if Jerry Narron is being asked to do anything especially extraordinarily innovative here. The sacrifice bunt has been around pretty much since the beginning of time.

Gets it ^^^^^^

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

Can't believe I stayed up to watch that. There's one of those manager-induced losses for you, jax.

Try manufacturing a run you clowns.

 

[Dryden]

Great post, jlb. Squandering the bases loaded opportunity in the 8th was frustrating, but this game was lost in the 7th and 9th, and it was painful to watch. I'm disappointed I stayed up last night to watch the entire thing. Narron is a fucking fool. This team should be 6-1. How many inept managers do Reds fans have to suffer through? Seriously, this is just absurd!

Here are all the managers that have piloted the Reds in my lifetime, organized into two groups:

< .500: Jerry Narron, Dave Miley, Bob Boone, Ray Knight, Tony Perez, Tommy Helms, Vern Rapp, Russ Nixon

> .500: Jack McKeon, Davey Johnson, Lou Piniella, Pete Rose, John McNamara, Sparky Anderson

Why is it the first group gets contract extensions after sub-.500 seasons, and the guys in the second group seem to get shown the door after three years?

I'm sick of getting stuck with the Bob Brenleys when this franchise deserves Bobby Cox.

 

[CookyPuss]

Can't believe I stayed up to watch that. There's one of those manager-induced losses for you, jax.

Try manufacturing a run you clowns.

Amen. In Jax absence:

The Reds don't have enough talent to suffer a fool for a manager.

Ross should have appealled that check swing in the 7th. If they ring up that batter, Arroyo probably gets out of the inning with the score 2-1. Bronson was pissed he didn't appeal and I don't blame him. Funny how the D'Backs got one of those called the next inning too. I thought it was the right move to pitch Bronson in the 7th, he was throwing fine, the D'Backs just played it right and "manufactured" a run... something the Reds need to learn how to do.

I was thoroughly reminded why I had Narron's lineups last night. Ross/Valentin should be hitting in the 7 spot, not Gonzalez. The 8th inning was prime example, Conine works a long at bat and gets the walk to load the bases for... gasp... your defensive specialist in the lineup. At least Ross/Javy have some pop. I'm afraid that this is going to be another long and frustrating year fellas, but hopefully one that gets Narron out the door.

< .500: Jerry Narron, Dave Miley, Bob Boone, Ray Knight, Tony Perez, Tommy Helms, Vern Rapp, Russ Nixon

> .500: Jack McKeon, Davey Johnson, Lou Piniella, Pete Rose, John McNamara, Sparky Anderson

Doggie was the only one of that 1st group that got the shaft. What sucks is that while they've been fucking around with Narron, they could have had Leyland or Jim Tracy, bot fairly local guys who know how to manage in the NL.

On a positive note: Phillips seems to be listening to Narron's criticism that he makes too many outs on the first pitch. He walked twice last night and worked the count a bit more. Would be nice to see him with some plate discipline. Unfortunately, Dunn seems to have already forgotten everything he learned in the spring.

 

[Jaxbuck]

.02:

-You guys covered all the Narron stuff for me and know how I feel about him. That said, much like Woody, I don't blame a moron for being a moron...I blame the fucker who hired/extended him.

-I know Dunner hit into nearly 3 DP's last night but Freel was the one with some horrific AB's. That was just awful. Hamilton needs a couple of starts because tattoo appears to be wearing down already after a week.

-LOVED seeing Phillips show the plate discipline and take 2 walks. He adds that element to his game and we could realy have something there.

-I think David Ross has remembered who he is, at least from a hitting standpoint. Ugh.

-I expected regression from Arroyo, Phillips and Ross this year. So far Ross is the only one who looks like he was listening to me.

-FOX announcers for the d-backs (Mark Grace) were pretty good, he was cracking me up with his comments on Ross. Grace had to make a pitching appearence once in his career and Ross took him deep, so when Ross would come up, Grace would do a very good deadpan about Ross being the greatest hitter of all time. It was pretty damn funny.

-On a serious note he was very complimentary of our infield D and the big donkey.Grace seems to be allright with the notion that homerun hitters strike out a lot, first thing he mentioned was how many walks he takes.

-All in all, dissapointing but not unexpected. Arizona is a house of horrors for us, second only to Milwuakee.

 

[Okinawa's#1Buck]

.02:

-FOX announcers for the d-backs (Mark Grace) were pretty good, he was cracking me up with his comments on Ross. Grace had to make a pitching appearence once in his career and Ross took him deep, so when Ross would come up, Grace would do a very good deadpan about Ross being the greatest hitter of all time. It was pretty damn funny.

I believe it was Ross' first HR to top it off.

 

[Dryden]

Grace's Mike Fetters impersonation before his delivery was the real highlight. I was watching that game and had tears in my eyes.

Can't forget his post game comment after serving up the home run either, "I didn't have a scouting report on him. Obviously he can hit 65 mph fastballs."

 

[Okinawa's#1Buck]

Good news on the Bailey/Votto front

Per the Enquirer

PHOENIX - Reds phenom Homer Bailey fell off the radar after the club sent him to minor-league camp in early March.
The reports from the minor-league people were that he was sticking to the program and making progress.
The results showed Sunday night in his Triple-A debut.

Bailey went 5 1/3 innings and allowed only one run on one hit in the Bats' 13-3 victory over Toledo. First base prospect Joey Votto hit a grand slam and drove in five runs.
The run Bailey allowed came on a solo home run in the fourth by veteran Timo Perez.........

 

[jlb1705]

I was reading RZ today and found these two posts:

Bunting for 1 run (when down by one) in the top of the 9th is a losers play.

You won't see many teams do it. And you won't certainly see many winning teams do it.

No way you bunt in that situation. Hatteberg up with a guy who couldn't find the strike zone. I really was hoping for a Hatteberg walk, a Freel bunt, and two chances for Phillips and Dunn to drive the runners in.

In light of last night's game and my postgame tirade, I was wondering if anybody else out there agreed with this. To me that philosphy sounds really effin' stupid. To me, the "losers' play" is to stand by as a manager and do absolutlely nothing in that situation, like Narron did. Hoping for a walk is also a losers' play. Winning teams don't hope for good things to happen to them, they go out there and make them happen. You don't have to "hope" for a sac bunt, you just do it.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

I was reading RZ today and found these two posts:





In light of last night's game and my postgame tirade, I was wondering if anybody else out there agreed with this. To me that philosphy sounds really effin' stupid. To me, the "losers' play" is to stand by as a manager and do absolutlely nothing in that situation, like Narron did. Hoping for a walk is also a losers' play. Winning teams don't hope for good things to happen to them, they go out there and make them happen. You don't have to "hope" for a sac bunt, you just do it.

I agreed with your assesment of sending Hamilton...I don't see the bunt in the situation b/c of how bad he was missing the strikezone, but Hamilton could of taken 2nd of him easily with the high leg kick and his speed, but he could of also tried a hit n' run with Hatte's control of the bat, would of taken away the double play or force at 2nd like they got and then Hamilton scores on Valentines single... I just hate the fact that we never put pressure like that on the defense, even if you would line into a double play b/c the runner was going at least future teams scouting you know that you are going to be agressive and IMO it is harder to play against teams that are aggressive b/c you always have to think about the runner and the hole that might be left open with a hit and run and all that...

Once again Jerry just can't stand to leave the lineup alone...

Griffey has been 4 or 5 in every other game it seems like...Dunn has been 2 or 3 every other game...EE same with Griffey...Hatte has been in the 2 and 6...

He just can't leave guys in the same spot...It drives me fuckin' nutz...

 

[Jaxbuck]

In light of last night's game and my postgame tirade, I was wondering if anybody else out there agreed with this. To me that philosphy sounds really effin' stupid. To me, the "losers' play" is to stand by as a manager and do absolutlely nothing in that situation, like Narron did. Hoping for a walk is also a losers' play. Winning teams don't hope for good things to happen to them, they go out there and make them happen. You don't have to "hope" for a sac bunt, you just do it.

My heartburn with it was Narron being Mr old school-small ball-scrappy vet-loving-R/L/R/L motherfucker all of the time, then out of the thin blue air deciding to play station to station with our best contact hitter who happens to have zilch power or speed. You plant the runner on 1st and let Adam Dunn, EE or maybe JR take his rip. Everyone else is either hit and run or bunt in that situation.

Jerry is like an umpire with an inconsistent strike zone to me. I'm to the point where I don't care that he's fucked up, I just want him to always be fucked up the same way so I can adjust to it.

BTW RZ readers give me your sn's over there and lets get you repped up to the ORG section if you aren't already.