September
I started off the month with a transaction round-up for the team for the month of August. There were 14 moves made, though none at the trade deadline. A few days later, the Reds would still be making transactions when they picked up Sun Woo Kim from the Rockies.

September 7 was the day I decided to enjoy the ride and not concern myself with the fact that it was a ride to a baseball-free October. Despite the fact that the team was falling apart, they kept hanging in the post-season race, thanks to the ineptitude of everyone around them.

One of my favorite things to do while “watching” the game on the Gameday at work is to take the occasional screen shot of the game and post it on RHM. Ever wonder what the coach is saying when he visits the mound?

The 16th was CTS and my 10-year wedding anniversary. Not baseball-related, I know, but then, I think a lot of Reds fans weren't concentrating so much on the season by this time.

At least we got back in the vicinity of the team when we learned some handy Reds-related IM abbreviations.

The bright point in the month of September? BLOGGER DAY! The Reds had six errors that day, the mascot wiffleball game was cancelled, and the CTS came down with a fever, but it was super-fun anyway. It rained, but we were the proud recipients of a 12-page excerpt from the new book Crosley: Two Brothers and a Business Empire that Transformed the Nation, which we, like most people, held over our heads to keep the rain out of our eyes or sat on to keep our tushes from getting completely soaked on the bleachers.

The day after blogger day was pretty darn fun as well, and featured an opportunity for me to record a segment for Ken Broo's television sports talks show Sports Rock.

The Reds ended the month with a 80-81 record. Thanks to the general stinkiness of NL baseball, the Reds hung in the chance until the very end. They weren't even part of this particular coin-toss for a change.

This week on the Red Hot Broadcast:

• Reds trade Brendan Harris in an effort to hide the evidence.
• Marlins give Alex Sanchez a chance to clean up his reputation.
• Mariners sign Chris Reitsma, despite hope in Redsland that we'd see his pretty face 'round these parts.
• Spring training invitees have been announced.
• Reds Caravan coming to Indiana!
• Ken Griffey's healing hand.
• Jason Standridge's weird statistic.
• Other teams' players getting arrested. For your inner voyeur.

Episode 40: Some Actual News for a Change (13.4 MB, 19:30)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The Screaming Mimes perform “Three Cheers Cincinnati” at Redsfest in December 2006. It's not a bad performance, especially considering the severe audio problems they were having and the fact that the whole band was running around trying to orchestrate the event up until the minute they went on stage. The rendition isn't quite as good as the one you'll hear on Cincinnati Clutch Hits, but it does feature some awkward video of the crowd, sadly lacking shots of RHM. Dude, I had pom poms and everything.

I just heard on the radio this morning that the Reds Caravan will be stopping in Muncie this year on Saturday, January 27. They'll be at Damon's from 3:30-5:30. Scheduled to appear: Todd Coffey, Thom Brennaman, and Red Hot Mama.

The Reds were up-and-down in the month of August. Overall, their play was sub-par, but the play of everyone else in the division was even subber-par, so they kept floating near the top of the division and always contending for the wild card. For me personally, August was a pretty rotten month.

August
The month began with a family emergency that had Joel filling in a primary blogger for a couple games. I'd been trying to convince him to write for RHM for the longest time, but apparently he didn't love it enough to stay. Maybe someday…

On August 7, the Reds put Gary Majewski on the DL with shoulder inflammation. That sort-of explained why he'd pitched so poorly since he'd joined the team, but didn't explain why Krivsky had traded for him in the first place. We would later learn that Kriv-dawg hadn't known that Majewski was damaged goods, and this off-season, the team was supposed to file a grievance with MLB over the matter.

Ryan Freel went on a tear in August, including making the most amazing outfield catch of the season. This catch not only robbed Albert Pujols of an extra-base hit, but also gave Freel the opportunity to tell the world about the midget in his head named Farney.

Bronson Arroyo hit rock-bottom in August. After being the first Reds pitcher to nine wins, it took eleven failed attempts before he got win number 10. He even got the cornrows back, but nothing worked. The whole adventure would inspire some fake news about a pretend new album.

This was the month the Reds announce that Steve Stewart would not return to the broadcast booth the next season. The Reds tinker with their broadcasters more than they tinker with their line-up. I'm not convinced that either is better for all the tinkering.

In RHM news, I thought it would be funny to poke fun at the outrageous success of the game threads at Red Reporter. Some people got that the smack talk was affectionate, but not all. The whole thing just made things weird between JD and me for the longest time. A valuable lesson to keep the smack talking to other teams, I reckon.

The Reds' record for August was 12-17, allowing them to end the month at 67-67 with a six-game losing streak. Being at .500 at the end of August would usually be great for the Reds, but the season was starting to feel like it was slipping away.