So, the Cardinals think they're going to make a run of it, huh? Well we'll just see about that. If they want to get to the top of the division, they're going to have to get through us first. Not in a standings kind of a way, of course. The Cards already have six games on our boys. But we can screw 'em up trying to get those three games that the Brewers and Cubs have on them. You'll see!

But even if we don't, the Cubs got 'em beat. We're used to it in Cincinnati, but it must be a fun new experience for Card fans to be looking up at the Cubs. Fun fun fun.

Go Reds!

September is flying by faster than it has since my senior year of high school, and the Reds having two off days per week isn’t helping it feel any less like the season is already over. This week on the podcast the Crack Technical Staff and I try to stir up some flames in the dying embers of the Reds:

• How could the Reds finish so poorly when things seemed so promising in April? Was the loss of Eric Milton really so devastating?
• Ryan Jorgensen actual banned substance offense and Rick Ankiel’s alleged one
• Could some lightly toasted bread topped with honey and cinnamon give the Reds’ management the boost they need to turn the team around?

The Reds host the Cardinals starting tomorrow, and while I don’t actually have any hope for them winning, I do sort of hope that Brandon Phillips gets the chance to throw through Albert Pujols’ head.

Episode 75: It’s All Over but for Punching Pujols (21.4MB, 31:01)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

One of the benefits of having a blog is having a venue to bitch about businesses that fail to meet your expectations, and brother, did I have plenty of those last night when I attempted to find a place to watch the Reds game over a beer and some wings.

Mind you, all this happened on the north side of Indianapolis, in case you'd like to look up these establishments and tell them what you think of them.

We started our evening at the nearby Buffalo Wild Wings. The previous time we'd been into this restaurant, the place was deserted and we attributed it to the fact that, for the first time, we were at a location that was not in a college town. Not so tonight, though, and we sat waiting for 15 minutes in the packed restaurant, watching grim families file in and out before they finally informed us that, while we could get a table, none of the three dozen televisions could be spared for baseball.

So we left.

Next, we headed to Majors Sports Cafe. We called on the way there to make sure we'd be able to see the game, but the number that Google connected us with was picked up by the fax machine. Very professional. When we arrived, I ran inside where I found out we could get a table in 15 minutes, but again they were unwilling to dedicate even one of the dozens and dozens of television to baseball. After all, what would happen if six televisions in a row weren't all tuned to the same football game??

That's when we remembered that the Scottie's Pub on 96th street has individual televisions for each table. If we could get a table, they couldn't refuse to change the channel. We called, and yes, we could get the game, if we were willing to wait an hour and a half for a table. Since the game would be over in an hour and a half, we moved on.

Finally, we came to the conclusion that there was nothing to do but to go home and hope that the rain had let up enough for us to catch the game on the satellite there. But first we decided to stop to pick up some sandwiches to take home. We pulled into the shopping center containing the Roly Poly Sandwich place, and notice that the Beef O'Brady's is nearly empty and showing sports on the several televisions. With low expectations, we went in.

The guy who greeted us invited us to sit anywhere, but before I would commit booty to booth I wanted to know whether we'd be able to see the game. No problem, he said. They'll just change whatever t.v. is closest to you. As we settled in to decide on a flavor of hot wings, we saw one of the televisions changing channels. It went to FSNO and got the message that the programming was not available. A moment later, a woman came out and said that she thought the owner hadn't paid for the baseball package. I actually banged my head on the table. So again, we left a restaurant, beerless and disappointed.

Back to our original backup backup plan, we headed to Roly Poly. It was closed. Before 9 p.m. on a Saturday. Instead, we walked into the neighboring W.G. Grinders. I ordered the sirloin grinder and tomato bisque. As we stood there, drinking diet Pepsi and waiting for our sandwiches, I mused that this was the first establishment of the night that had met my expectations, even though there was also football playing on their televisions.

Back at home, we were happy to find that the game was back on. Finally things were looking up. My soup was cold and my sirloin grinder turned out to be a stromboli, but at least the Reds were winning. I still didn't get any beer, though.

I've been sick and swamped this week, and I haven't made time to put together as many Reds-related words as I'd like. So even though I'm heading out to the local BW3 to take in the game this evening, I'm going to summarize some stuff that's been going on with the team lately, if only to assuage my guilty conscience.

Item one: Jorgensen was suspended:

The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball announced today that Ryan Jorgensen of the Cincinnati Reds has received a 50-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

I hate to hear it, not just because Jorgensen did pretty well with the Reds in his brief tenure there, but also because he caught Tom Shearn's first game, and Shearn is quickly becoming one of RHM's faves. It is always nice to see the phrase “Joint Drug,” though that's probably not what they're getting at in this case.

Item two (and a happier one at that): Jay Bruce is the big winner!

DURHAM, N.C. -- Outfielder Jay Bruce, a 20-year-old who mashed his way to 80 extra-base hits and more than 300 total bases in 2007 on his way from Class A to Triple-A, became the first member of the Reds organization to win Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year award.

Bruce, a first-round pick in 2005 out of a Beaumont, Texas, high school, began his season at Sarasota in the high Class A Florida State League, mashing 11 home runs and 27 doubles in just 67 games while hitting .325. After a .333 showing (with four more homers) at Double-A Chattanooga, he got a promotion to Triple-A Louisville, which was supposed to be temporary. But Bruce never stopped hitting, smacking 11 more home runs in just 50 games in the International League.

Just think: soon young Bruce will be able to join so many other talented young players in squandering the best years of their career being mismanaged with the Reds! No wonder they need the joint drugs.

Item three: Krivsky wins a trade!

BALTIMORE (AP) -Desperate for healthy pitching arms, the Baltimore Orioles purchased the contract of right-hander Victor Santos from the Cincinnati Reds on Friday.

Santos, 30, was 1-4 with a 5.14 ERA in 32 games, all in relief, after making the Reds out of spring training as a non-roster player. He was designated for assignment Aug. 18 and sent outright to Triple-A Louisville, where he was 1-1 with a 1.11 ERA in eight games, including four starts.

I'm quoting Sports Illustrated here because this transaction does not appear to be mentioned on the Reds site. You'd think that they'd want to publicize it, but then again, it does pale in comparison to…

Item four: Griffy's 593rd homer!.
It's drama! It's glory! It's Griffey's unrelenting march to 600! Which won't happen till next year!!

Certainly Griffey will not be able to pull off seven more home runs in the next three weeks, which probably means the Reds will hold on to him till next year. The CTS is upset about that because he'd like to see payroll freed up without getting rid of Dunn, but I wouldn't trust Krivsky to put together a winning team even if he had $100 million to play with. Which brings us to…

Item five: I've been really hard on general manager Wayne Krivsky in this post.

What did you expect me to express regret over that?

The Pirates fired their general manager yesterday.

The Pittsburgh Pirates today announced that General Manager Dave Littlefield has been relieved of his duties effective immediately. Pirates Senior Director of Player Development Brian Graham will serve as interim General Manager until a permanent replacement is found.

First Houston, then Pittsburgh. When is Cincinnati going to get in on this action?

With the Reds enjoying their first off day this month (though you could certainly argue that they've barely been present at a game yet in September), I've got nothing better to do with my leisure sports-watching-time than check out my hometown Colts take on my fellow Boilermaker Drew Brees and the Saints in the NFL opener. I sort of want both sides to win, but mostly I don't care. I obliged the Indianapolis mayor's request to wear Colts gear to work, but I'll be asleep before the game is over and probably won't find out the final score unless someone happens to mention it in the office tomorrow.

I'm working downtown, literally on Monument Circle, where the big Faith Hill and Kelly Clarkson concert happened before the game. Yesterday, the windows in my office building shook so violently during the sound checks that they took the loose interior windows out of their frames. Today, many of my coworkers were staying late at the building to check out the concert from the roof of the building or the window offices. I heard one woman complaining that she tried to get close to the stage before the concert started, but they wouldn't let her in. She said the concert organizers had given passes only to people they thought would look good in crowd shots from the concert that made it on t.v.

As I left the office building at a little after 2 p.m. this afternoon (early to beat the rush of the concert that started at 5:15), the streets were so crowded that I could not walk to the parking garage. I had to push and dodge around the throngs of blue, the people so excited and happy about the start of their sport. And while I care very little about football, the energy of the crowd touched me. I wish I had some excitement about my sport; some reason to hope for the future.

That's awfully glum sounding. Surely there's a bright side here. At least the Reds can't lose tonight.