July
Bronson Arroyo was the only Red selected for the All-Star Game, unless you count Jerry Narron. Arroyo was rumored to have spent his all-star time partying with friends and even, reportedly, asked not to be used in the game. He was, but none of it seemed to matter. He was stuck at 9 wins before the game, and that streak lasted well into August.

But it wasn't just Arroyo's inability to put a game away that was keeping the Reds down. Jerry Narron's inexplicable approach to bullpen management was in full swing in July. Here's an example. And another one.

When players started quietly complaining that the fans were booing too much, even though they were doing so much better than last season, I pulled one of my occasional Dave Barry impressions. Ah, cuneiform.

Brian “Love” Shackelford was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault in Milwaukee after a game. Charges were never filed, but the team had to option him to Louisville when he was being held in custody to make room for a replacement lefty reliever. The bullpen was shaky enough as it was; they couldn't be going into games short an arm.

This was the month the Reds released the McCracken. In another positive move, they traded Travis Chick for Eddie Guardado.

By this time, we were ready for a little comedy. If you go to a mall 10 miles away from your team's stadium and can't find a single team t-shirt…you might be a Reds' fan.

Instead, we got The Trade. Selling off the future of the team for help right now that didn't turn out to help that much. But at least we were the winners.

They ended the month round about the 55-51 mark, win-loss-wise, and we were getting a mite frustrated in Cincinnati fandom. But don't worry: a solid argument could be made that things got worse in August.