Over on the Fangraphs blog, I saw a post today about the inefficacy of small ball in the post-season.

Apparently, the Devil Rays aren’t winning in the playoffs by using small ball techniques. Instead, they’re doing it by hitting home runs.

They’re not doing it by hitting behind the runner. They’re not doing it with bunts. They’re not taking the extra base, making productive outs, or playing for one run. They’re hitting the ever loving crap out of the baseball, and proving that Big Ball will get you to the Big Dance. Toss the cliches out the window – when your team has a .535 slugging percentage in the playoffs, you’re going to win.

With that in mind, it’s an even better decision the Reds made when deciding to hold onto their best slugger for this millennium.

Oh, that’s right. They didn’t do that. Sigh. I wonder how far small ball will get Cincinnati.