Cincinnati Reds

CINCINNATI—Some losses are easy to take. Some are harder than others. Then you have the true heart breakers. The final stage of losses are the ones that make you sick—literally, like head over the toilet sick.

Friday night's Cincinnati loss to St. Louis falls into the latter category.

Homer Bailey started for the Reds and had his best outing in the three years that the team has been shuffling him up and down between the big club and the minors.

The Reds are both blessed and cursed at the same time. Blessed in the fact that they have two really good catchers. Cursed in that they are starting the wrong one.

Fans should never expect much out of their catcher. His most important job is to know his pitchers and call a good game. If your name isn't Joe Mauer then it's safe to say that you won't be expected to hit much.  

Ramon Hernandez was acquired in an offseason deal that sent Ryan Freel to the Orioles with a couple of prospects.

Just look at that crowd cheering my caffeine charged anti-Dusty Baker/anti-Walt Jocketty rally held outside of my apartment as soon as I saw Willy Taveras' name in the leadoff spot on Thursday afternoon.

I apologize to my fans that I did not recognize any you.

This is a plea to Reds owner, Bob Castellini.  For the sake of the Queen City, sell me your team. 

There are surprises like "I have a surprise for you," and surprises that come totally out of the blue.  The day my step-dad brought home the satellite dish fell into the latter category.

Anyone familiar with rural areas has seen them.  Not these modern day, small puppies that don rooftops and have monthly bills.

All channels were free on the old-school big boys!  That meant, well, everything imaginable—every cable channel from every cable TV provider. 

As hush-hush as your granny's sex life, the Reds' brass continue to keep a tight lid concerning the extent of their key player's injuries.

The fine folks of Reds' country need to face the fiddle.  Joey Votto has vertigo. 

He may try another couple of stints with the big club, but as soon as he needs to travel via the skyway—he will land dizzier than a Friday night frat boy.

Since Michael Lewis' 2003 bestseller, everyday there are new web sites, blogs, and bar room napkins dedicated to the discussion of "win shares" or "similarity score".  Rather than being one of these people, I would prefer to take residence inside of Bill James' colon.

Don't get me wrong, I very much enjoyed Moneyball.   In fact, while watching Jay Bruce, it has been on my mind a lot lately.

It was only a matter of time.

After winning more than they lost for the first two-and-a-half months of the season, Reds' manager, Dusty Baker's stopgap line-up cards (beau geste major injuries) are making Dairy Queen bathrooms look sterile.

The Reds have lost seven of their last 10.  They are not scoring.  They are not fielding.  They are not even getting on base to score.

An achy back sidelines your dominant young hurler.

A freak accident causes a hairline fracture to the thumb of your hot-hitting all-star second baseman.

A strange ailment that started as mysterious dizzy spells and has changed to a stress-related condition has put your best hitter on the DL.

Just like that, the promising season of the Cincinnati Reds has begun to unravel.

Joey Votto has developed a health crisis this season.

Of the 47 games the Reds have played thus far, Joey has already missed eight of them and has had to come out of games as least twice.

The problem that the Reds explain is dizziness caused by an inner-ear infection, a residual effect from a recent bout with the flu.

I am not a doctor, and don’t play one on TV, but I have survived a stroke and know a thing or two about headaches and balance disorders.