Red Reporter

Press release: Collectors, Reds fans and enthusiasts alike are invited to the Cincinnati Art Museum...

2009-11-08T14:50:25Z

Press release:
Collectors, Reds fans and enthusiasts alike are invited to the Cincinnati Art Museum on Thursday, Nov. 12 for the unveiling of a limited edition print, Redsland Forever (click link for larger image), by Cincinnati native artist C.F. Payne.

Redsland Forever features fourteen illustrated caricatures of Cincinnati Reds legends spanning 140 years of Reds baseball, including Eric Davis, Chris Sabo, Joe Nuxhall and members of the Big Red Machine.

The public is invited to a free cocktail reception from 6:30-8:30 p.m. An informal lecture by the artist will begin at 7 p.m.

2010 Reds Hall of Fame inductee Chris Sabo will meet and greet with fans prior to the lecture.

1,500 copies of the print will be available for purchase. Each of the 1,500 limited edition prints is individually numbered. Prints numbered 1 through 500 are signed by C.F. Payne, framed and available for $250. Unsigned, numbered prints are $50 each.

Prints are available exclusively at the Cincinnati Art Museum Shop starting Nov. 12. Call the Museum Shop at (513) 639-2958 to reserve yours today. They will also be available online at reds.com.

Proceeds from sale will benefit the Reds Community Fund’s baseball-themed outreach programs and the Cincinnati Art Museum.

What: Unveiling of Redsland Forever, a commemorative print by C.F. Payne
Where: Cincinnati Art Museum, 953 Eden Park Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45202
When: Nov. 12, 2009 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Admission: Free
Information: (513) 639-2922 or www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org

AFL Rising Stars Game Thread

2009-11-07T23:29:29Z

If you are sitting all alone at home and are bored tonight, flip your TV on to MLB Network at 8pm. The Arizona Fall League wraps up with their Rising Stars game. It's a chance to see some young players who could end up being stars in the big leagues in the very near future.

From a Reds perspective, there should be four farmhands getting playing time tonight. Chris Heisey is batting 4th and playing LF for the home AFL West team. Batting right behind him is 1B Yonder Alonso. Zack Cozart is on the bench for the AFL West team and Mike Leake will be in the bullpen. Since it is a showcase game, I expect we'll see all of them play.

If you can't watch the game on TV, you can follow along with Gameday. The game is in Surprise, so if I'm not mistaken, there will be Pitch FX for your viewing pleasure.

JJ Hardy traded to the Twins

2009-11-06T17:55:47Z

JJ Hardy traded to the Twins

Well, the dream is dead, folks. Looking more likely every day that Paul Janish is your opening day SS.

The Greatest Reds: #80 - #76

2009-11-06T17:00:32Z

80. Germany Smith

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1891-1896	SS	81	91	66
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1892	Never
37%	63%	0%	1892	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
N/A	N/A		-43rd in career triples -45th in career RBI -45th in career stolen bases -48th in career singles -48th in career at-bats

Generally regarded as the best defensive shortstop of his era, Smith has the highest percentage of value driven by defense of anyone on the list. Indeed his best season (1892), in which he only .239 en route to an OPS+ of 92, was flanked by OPS+ years of 50 and 61. Despite not being much of a hitter, he routinely beat average SS fielding percentages by 20-30 percentage points, while also displaying more range than average. Nearing the end of his career, he was shrewdly traded for Tommy Corcoran, who then went on to man the same position for the better part of a decade.

79. Don Gullett

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1970-1976	SP, RP	69	99	77
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1974	Never
0%	0%	100%	1974	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
N/A	W-L Percentage – 1971, 1975		-1st in career W-L percentage -7th in career hits per inning -12th in career WHIP -18th in career strikeouts -22nd in career ERA

At the conclusion of the 1974 season, Don Gullett was 23 years old, already with 65 career wins under his belt, but had yet to win a postseason game—despite his playoff involvement in three of his first five seasons. Still, he was a member of an elite team, and had come off a blistering season in which he threw 243 innings while finishing 5th in the NL in wins, 8th in strikeouts, and 4th in hits per inning. The remainder of Gullett’s career from that point forward is…bittersweet. From 1975 until the time of his last MLB pitch in 1978, Gullett posted a 44-13 record, gained four additional wins in postseason appearances, and never threw more than 160 innings in a season. For his troubles, Gullett picked up four consecutive World Champion rings (two with the Reds).

78. Tommy Corcoran

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1897-1906	SS	51	109	117
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1898	Never
41%	59%	0%	1898	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
N/A	N/A		-13th in career triples -14th in career stolen bases -20th in career RBI -20th in career hits -23rd in career runs scored

As noted in Germany Smith’s profile, Corcoran was acquired by the Reds via trade—a trade which, essentially, was a shortstop for a shortstop (the Reds also threw in cash and a pitcher who never amounted to much). The Reds clearly "won" the deal—Smith was basically done, and Corcoran continued Smith’s legacy of a good-glove, no-hit player at shortstop for the next decade. These "challenge" trades consisting of like players at common positions seem to have been much more frequent in the older days, certainly before the advent of free agency. In his playing time with the Reds, Corcoran never put up an OPS+ above 81, but he does still hold the ML record for most assists in a 9-inning game (14).

77. Tom Seaver

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1977-1982	SP	89	76	61
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1981	Never
0%	0%	100%	1981	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
Inducted to Hall of Fame – 1992 All Star – 1977, 1978, 1981	WHIP – 1977 Shutouts – 1977, 1979 K/BB Ratio – 1977 Hits Per Inning – 1977 W-L Percentage – 1979, 1981 Wins – 1981		-1st in single season WHIP (1977) -3rd in career hits per inning -6th in career WHIP -8th in career W-L percentage -19th in career strikeouts

The Reds rather famously traded for Tom Seaver on June 15, 1977 in an effort to catch the division-leading Dodgers. Three days later, Seaver threw a complete game shutout against the Expos, and the Reds sat 6.5 games behind first place—sitting on a seven game win streak and having shaved 3.5 games off the division lead in just two weeks. Although momentum, and a new ace, were on the Reds’ side, they never got any closer to catching Los Angeles that season, although for that remainder of the 1977 season, Seaver went 14-3 with an ERA+ of 169. In 1981, he tore through the league with a 14-2 record and 140 ERA+ (thanks, Bowie). Of note, and perhaps speaking to Seaver’s pitching intelligence, Seaver threw 7.7 strikeouts for every 9 innings pitched through the 1978 season (with a rate of 7.8 K/9 in 1978). Thereafter, something clearly was missing with respect to his arm; he stopped amassing innings in the same way, and his highest single-season K/9 rate thereafter was 5.5. Nonetheless, he still managed to turn in quality seasons, finishing 4th in the 1979 Cy Young voting, and 2nd in 1981.

76. Hal Morris

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1990-97, 1999-2000	1B	60	99	86
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1996	Never
86%	14%	0%	1996	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
N/A	N/A		-13th in career batting average -18th in career doubles -28th in career hits -30th in career RBI -37th in career runs scored

A good-hitting first baseman who never drove in more than 80 runs or hit more than 16 home runs in a season, Morris was the prototypical spray hitter, known for shuffling his feet as the pitch arrived. His best hitting seasons, rate-wise, came at the beginning of his career, but his rookie season in 1990 didn’t happen until Morris was 25 years old. Alternate universes may exist where Morris wasn’t stuck behind an in-his-prime Don Mattingly, but I prefer the one where the Reds benefited from the Yankees’ surplus.

Friday Five: Best Reds Teams That Didn't Make the Playoffs

2009-11-06T15:05:25Z

1981 Cincinnati Reds

View full size photo »

One of the charming things about baseball is that it typically really means something if you get to the playoffs. If your team is good enough to survive 162 games with a great record, you most likely are one of the best teams in the league. The downside of that is that you can still be a very good team and not make it to the playoffs. Here are 5 such Reds teams.

1. 1974 Reds - 98-64, .605 Winning PCT, 776 RS, 631 RA

You had to guess that a team full of Big Red Machine players would top this list. 1974 was perhaps the strangest season of failure in the history of baseball. Most teams wouldn't have considered 98 wins to be a failure, but if you listen to the players from that team talk about it, you'd have thought they finished in 4th place. This team was essentially the same team as the one that won it all in 1975, but Pete Rose played LF and Dan Driessen played 3B with George Foster splitting time from the bench. Their 98 wins were the 2nd most in all of baseball, and they would have won the NL East by 10 games that season. Unfortunately for the Reds, the Dodgers finished with 102 wins that season and without a Wild Card, the Reds were sent home early that year.

2. 1999 Reds - 96-67, .589 Winning PCT, 865 RS, 711 RA

Since the Wild Card was added to the playoffs in 1995, only one team has won 95 or more games and failed to make it to the playoffs. A season that started with very little expectation - they were playing just .500 ball after 44 games - saw breakout seasons from Sean Casey (132 OPS+) and Dmitri Young (111 OPS+). Veterans Greg Vaugh (117 OPS+, 45 HR) and Jeffrey Hammonds (117 OPS+) led an unlikely crew to the most wins for the franchise in 23 years. And yet, it still came down to a final playoff game with the New York Mets. Stupid Al Leiter!

3. 1962 Reds - 98-64, .605 Winning PCT, 802 RS, 685 RA

Only twice in MLB history has a team won 98 games and finished in 3rd place. In 1908, the Cubs won 99 games topped both the Pirates and the Giants by 1 game to win the National League. In 1962, the Reds won 98 games and actually finished 3.5 games behind the NL Champion Giants, who needed a 3-game playoff to get past the Dodgers. That season saw the Pirates win 93 games and finish 4th, thanks in large part to the expansion New York Mets who managed to go just 40-120. This Reds squad featured an incredible year from Frank Robinson (173 OPS+, 51 doubles, 39 HR, 136 RBI) and very good seasons from Vada Pinson, Wally Post, and Gordy Coleman. They also had a strong pitching staff headed by Bob Purkey (23-5, 2.81 ERA) and Joey Jay (21-14, 3.76 ERA), but the team was unable to follow up the World Series appearance of 1961 with anything better than 3rd place.

4. 1981 Reds - 66-42, .611 Winning PCT, 464 RS, 440 RA

Only one time since World Series play started has a Reds team won at least 61% of their games and not made the playoffs. Only twice since World Series play has a team with the best record in baseball not played a playoff game. In 1981, the Reds finished the season with 2 more wins than any team in the league, but because of the strike that year and the silly way that the playoffs were determined, the Reds found themselves at home during October. The pitching staff that year was anchored by Tom Seaver (14-2, 2.54 ERA) and Mario Soto (12-9, 3.29 ERA). The offense featured starters at every position with OPS+ of 105 or better, except for 3B where Ray Knight posted a 95 OPS+. It is a traveshamockery that they didn't make the playoffs that year, and for that they get to be on this list.

5. 1956 Reds - 91-63, .591 Winning PCT, 775 RS, 658 RA

Led by the highest scoring offense in the National League that featured 3 of the top 7 home run hitters in the NL, the Reds battled with the Dodgers and Braves for NL supremacy until the last days of the season. Besides the excellent rookie campaign by 20-year old Frank Robinson (143 OPS+, 38 HR), this team also had the likes of Ed Bailey (143 OPS+, 28 HR at catcher), Ted Kluszewski (133 OPS+, 35 HR), Gus Bell (121 OPS+, 29 HR), and Wally Post (108 OPS+, 36 HR) setting a franchise record for home runs that stood until 2005. Unfortunately for the offense, the pitching was rather mediocre and the Reds finished in 3rd place, 2 games behind the NL Champion Giants.

There are a couple of other teams that I know could easily be on this list. Who do you think deserves to be here that has been left off? Do I have them ordered properly? Let me know what you think!

Red Reposter - How Much Do You Want Ramon Hernandez Back?

2009-11-06T12:30:18Z

More photos » by Keith Srakocic - AP

Ramon Hernandez poses with World Series Champion New York Yankee Melky Cabrera. Congratulations BubbaFan!

Browse more photos »

THT is doing a series of player profiles for their fantasy department
and here they take a look at Jay Bruce. It does a terrific job of breaking down his '09 season, and says the future is very, very bright for him. To wit:

"While at first glance, Jay Bruce's 2009 season seems like a step back in his development, he actually made a number of significant improvements that will progress his career. He improved quite significantly in his strike zone judgment and selectivity, while also improving his fly ball tendencies. While wrist issues are always problematic for a hitter, he seems to have put these concerns to rest with a strong September. For 2010, expect a very different Jay Bruce, one who finally lives up to his No. 1 prospect billing. A .275-.285 average with 30 home runs doesn't seem out of the question. If he is able to maintain his plate discipline gains, he could post an OPS in the .900s as well, with the high .900s a possibility and 1.000—while a reach—not out of the question."
The Fay says the Reds are talking to Ramon Hernandez about his contract
They hold an $8.5 mil option for next season, which should be declined. They are talking to him about possibly re-working the deal so that he can come back at a reduced rate. I would be ok with him coming back under the right conditions, like if they are paying him $2 mil and he doesnt play more than Ryan Hanigan does. I doubt either of those conditions would be met though. Let us know what you think in the poll below.

The Fay says Nick Masset and Jared Burton are eligible for arbitration this winter as Super-Twos
Jonny Gomes, Laynce Nix, and Corky Miller are also arb eligible. Fay says Masset and Burton are "locks" to be offered arbitration, and Gomes is iffy. Micah Owings just missed Super Two status by a few games.

The Fay has been doing Q's and A's for the past week or so
and they make for good reading. Here's another sample:

"Question, from Ethan: 1) Do you think that the Reds will offer Joey Votto a long-term contract in the up-coming years, or do you think they want to wait and see if his depression/anxiety attacks have cleared up before they offer him the big money? And if they do offer one, How much do you think he would command and for how many years?

A: I think they will try to lock him up once he’s ready for arbitration. The problems seem to be behind him, but we’ll have a better idea after this year. As far as money, I would think it would along the lines of Brandon Phillips’ 4-year, $27 million deal."

Sheldon is fielding questions as well
I wont repeat any here, but they mostly cover who can be traded to make payroll space and the emergence of young players. And Sheldon is against expanded replay for baseball. He must be dumb or something.

FanGraphs takes a look at the new Bill James projections for 2010
and picks out a few intriguing projections for guys who have yet to make their MLB debuts. They spotlight one Todd Frazier, who James projects to hit .278/.336/.471. That .800+ OPS is pretty eye-popping for a rookie infielder. I think it's pretty safe to assume that Frazier will not see much time in the bigs next season though. If (when) Rolen gets injured I think El Nino Destructor Juan Francisco will be his stand-in at 3B. A mid-season trade of Brandon Phillips could work in his favor though.

MiLB.com is doing a series titled "Path to the Pros"
They are retelling the stories of how some of today's stars came up through the minors. They havent done the feature for the Reds yet, but former Red Reporter Favorite Adam Dunn is profiled for the Nationals. It's an incredibly interesting read. Here's a snippet:

"In the years I've managed in Double-A, you can name the guys on one hand who've come to Double-A and taken off," (Phillip) Wellman said. "Even some of the brightest prospects seem to struggle at first and they come out OK, but Dunn was one that never did that. He came from low-A and he didn't miss a beat."

It also says that Dunn was offered the chance to come up to the big league club in '99 in the heat of the playoff race, but he turned it down because he felt he wasnt ready and it would disrespect the players who had been around and put in more time than he had. I had never heard that story before. HT to RLN for this one and the Bruce one.

Poll

What would you do with Ramon Hernandez?

What Would You Change About MLB's Financial Structure?

2009-11-05T18:32:10Z

More photos » by Elise Amendola - AP

These three players combined to make $72 million in 2009, just slightly less than entire Reds roster.

Browse more photos »

Now that the Yankees have "bought" their way to another championship, I'm seeing some of the traditional hand-wringing and complaining about how to deal with the financial imbalance in the game (mainly on Twitter, America's source for truth!). I'll admit that it's hard to be a fan of a "small market" team and have to watch the big spending teams in the playoffs every year. Oh sure, the baseball gods throw us a bone or two every year with Minnesota or Tampa Bay or Oakland, but there is typically a big market flavor to the playoffs every year.

But I'm not here to whine about that. I understand why it happens, and I also understand that it is not impossible to overcome it, if you are smart. However, lower revenue teams are at a definite disadvantage, if only because they have less of an ability to absorb mistakes. Even though the Yankees signed players like Carl Pavano and Jason Giambi to large contracts that didn't really pan out, they still averaged 97 wins a season from 2001-2008 and made the playoffs in 7 of the 8 seasons. The Reds signed Eric Milton to a similar contract as Pavano and that set the organization back 3 years, at least. My point is that, despite the fact that intelligence can top money in some cases, money still gives some teams a perhaps unfair advantage.

So, what can be done about it?

I'm not a big fan of a hard salary cap because I think the ultimate result of that is that it allows owners to simply pocket more cash. Plus, I still think you'll have owners who spend the minimum amount and take home the maximum amount of profit. I do however think there needs to be a way to encourage players to "spread the wealth" of talent around the league. Unfortunately, I haven't heard an idea for that that sticks with me yet.

Here are some other ideas though that I think might help out the little guys:

1. International Draft - Force all players that want to enter the league to enter through the same process, regardless of where they were born. This would prevent the best international players from going simply to the highest bidder and would also help teams work their way into the overseas markets like Japan.

2. Division realignment - I think teams could become more interesting to free agents who are looking for a shot at the playoffs if the decks weren't so stacked against them. I'm not sure of the exact way that realignment would best work, but if it is based off of market size or done in an EPL type fashion, it could give smaller teams a better shot at overcoming their larger opponents to get to the playoffs.

3. Hard slotting for draft picks - I believe the NBA has a fairly strict range for what a draft pick can make based on where they are drafted. This won't completely take away signability issues, but it will make it easier for teams to know what they are getting into when they find out their draft slot and hopefully allow them to take the best player available instead of the best player they can afford.

4. Rework the luxury tax - I think only 4 teams pay the luxury tax each year, and honestly it doesn't seem to be a deterrent to any of them. On the other end of the spectrum, there are teams that are keep their luxury tax income strictly for profit. Force teams to invest that money back into their organizations or they have to forfeit it. And if they could find a way to discourage the rich from spending so damn much on their teams, that would be nice too. :)

These aren't all great ideas, and I'm not sure any of them are realistic (outside of #1). If you have any ideas that might work better, I'd love to hear them.

The Greatest Reds: #85 - #81

2009-11-05T17:00:32Z

85. Hughie Critz

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1924-1930	2B	87	91	72
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1928	Never
58%	42%	0%	1928	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
N/A	N/A		-8th in career sacrifice hits -8th in single season singles (1928) -10th in career AB/K ratio -15th in career triples -40th in career hits

In 1926, Critz finished 2nd in the NL MVP voting. Two years later, he finished 4th. His OPS+ marks in each season were 86 and 90, respectively, perhaps giving indication to how well regarded Critz’s glove was. Indeed, the numbers seem to indicate a rangy second baseman with sure hands. Critz’s 1928 season saw him finish 7th in hits, 5th in steals, and 9th in triples.

84. Billy Werber

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1939-1941	3B	101	34	79
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1940	Never
70%	30%	0%	1940	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
N/A	Runs Scored – 1939		-23rd in career on-base percentage -28th in single season walks (1939) -31st in single season runs scored (1939) -38th in career AB/K ratio

Perhaps the greatest discrepancy between peak and career value on the list, Werber played two full seasons (1939-40) as the full-time lead-off hitter/third baseman for pennant-winning clubs. Coincidentally, he put up identical OPS marks of 777 in each season (OPS+ of 108 and 113, respectively) to pair with above average defense, and stolen base totals that ranked in the NL top 5. En route to World Series victory in 1940, Werber hit 370/452/519 against the Tigers, a performance that bumped Werber roughly 10 spots up this list. Two quirky notes: 1) Werber was the first player to ever bat on television; and 2) At the time of Werber’s death in 2009, he was recognized as the oldest living MLB ballplayer.

83. Tom Browning

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1984-1994	SP	63	120	96
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1985	Never
0%	0%	100%	1985	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
All Star – 1991	Games Started – 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990		-4th in career games started -9th in career strikeouts -12th in career wins -18th in career K/BB ratio -25th in career W-L percentage

A long-time workhorse who routinely posted top-10 finishes in innings pitched (and home runs allowed), Browning was 35 games over .500 in an 11-year stint with the Reds. He had seven consecutive seasons with double-digit wins, including a 20-win season in his rookie campaign of 1985 (also posting career highs in IP: 261.1, K: 155, and ERA+: 107). Of particular note during his career was a perfect game in 1988 against the Dodgers, and a pivotal win in Game 2 of the 1990 NLCS to allow the Reds to even the series against the Pirates.

82. John Franco

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1984-1989	RP	83	99	71
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1988	Never
0%	0%	100%	1988	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
Rolaids Relief – 1988 All Star – 1986, 1987, 1989	Games Finished – 1987, 1988 Saves – 1988		-1st in career ERA+ -2nd in career saves -9th in career games pitched -11th in career hits per inning -12th in career strikeouts per inning

Six full seasons with the Reds, averaging 66 appearances, 88 innings, 25 saves, 61 strikeouts, and a 2.49 ERA (153 ERA+). As a Brooklyn native and St. John’s alum, he was perhaps destined to end up with the Mets (traded there after 1989 for Randy Myers), but he also was seemingly destined to be on not-quite-good-enough teams, arriving in New York too late for their team successes, and leaving Cincy too early for theirs—playing instead on 4 straight 2nd place Reds teams. His career 424 saves remain the most ever for a left-handed pitcher.

The top 15 Relief Pitchers in Reds history:

1 John Franco

2 Clay Carroll

3 Danny Graves

4 Pedro Borbon

5 Tom Hume

6 Rob Dibble

7 Ted Power

8 Joe Beggs

9 Jeff Shaw

10 Scott Williamson

11 Norm Charlton

12 Scott Sullivan

13 Jeff Brantley

14 Harry Gumbert

15 Rawley Eastwick

81. Bobby Adams

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1946-1955	3B, 2B	56	135	93
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1952	Never
68%	32%	0%	1952	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
N/A	Singles – 1952 At Bats – 1952		-27th in career walks -31st in career runs scored -31st in career doubles -32nd in career hits -39th in career triples

The post-WWII version of Ron Oester, albeit with a lesser glove. Here are the career stat comparisons between the two: Adams: 4019 AB, 188 2B, 49 3B, 37 HR, 90 OPS+; Oester: 4214 AB, 190 2B, 33 3B, 42 HR, 87 OPS+. Adams’s best season came in 1952, primarily as a result of getting to play every day, one of only two seasons when he topped 500 plate appearances.

2009 World Series: Game 6

2009-11-04T23:00:37Z

Next Game

Philadelphia Phillies
@ New York Yankees

Wednesday, Nov 4, 2009, 7:57 PM EST
Yankee Stadium

Pedro Martinez vs Andy Pettitte

Complete Coverage >

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Pedro Martinez	5-1	3.63	1.25	37	8

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Andy Pettitte	14-8	4.16	1.38	148	76

This is the 4th Game 6 in the World Series in the last 10 years. The Yankees were involved in 2 of the previous 3, losing both games - one to send the 2001 Series to a game 7 and one to finish off the 2003 Series for the Marlins. I don't really care who wins the whole thing, but I'd love to see the Phillies win tonight and give us one more game tomorrow night.

The Greatest Reds: #90 - #86

2009-11-04T17:00:32Z

90. Greasy Neale

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1916-22, 1924	RF, LF	94	95	73
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1919	Never
80%	20%	0%	1919	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
N/A	N/A		-15th in career sacrifice hits -20th in career hit by pitch -28th in career triples -32nd in career stolen bases -50th in career singles

Although ultimately better known for his top-notch work as an NFL coach during the 1940s, Neale was a 5-year regular in the outfield, including during the 1919 championship season (Neale was the best hitter for the Reds in that year’s World Series). After the 1920 season, Neale was packaged with Jimmy Ring to the Phillies in exchange for Eppa Rixey (who pitched in 13 seasons for the Reds en route to a Hall of Fame career). As the Phillies found out, however, Neale’s career was essentially over, and the Reds claimed him off of waivers the following June.

89. Ray Mueller

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1943-44, 1946-49	C	99	50	86
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1944	Never
59%	41%	0%	1944	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
All Star – 1944	N/A		-50th career AB / HR

Ray Mueller was a struggling catcher throughout the late 1930’s, picked up by the Reds prior to the 1943 season after spending the early 1940’s kicking around in the minor leagues, who found WWII-era baseball extremely to his liking. 1943 and 1944 were MVP-lite level seasons (286/353/398 for a 115 OPS+ season in 1944), then he missed the 1945 season (presumably due to military service), posted a pretty good line in 1946, and then was never the same.

88. Aaron Boone

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1997-2003	3B	90	99	73
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	2002	2003
71%	29%	0%	2002	2003
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
All Star – 2003	N/A		-29th in career slugging percentage -30th in career home runs -45th in career OPS -46th in career doubles -49th in career RBI

Aaron Boone is listed as the best player on the Reds for the 2003 season. On the one hand, this fairly represents Boone’s strong season with the Reds that year. On the other, it is unusual in that he was traded to the Yankees on July 31 of that year. In a completely random and unrelated note, the Reds only won 69 games in 2003. The other curious statistical oddity with Boone is that his "best season" as listed above, was really one of his worst in terms of rate performance (93 OPS+, versus a career 99 OPS+ with the Reds). That just happened to be the year he stayed completely healthy and played in all 162 games.

87. Dummy Hoy

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1894-97, 1902	CF, LF	90	79	86
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1896	Never
74%	26%	0%	1896	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
N/A	N/A		-1st in career AB/K ratio -3rd in career on-base percentage -15th in career stolen bases -38th in career OPS -39th in career runs scored

Hoy is perhaps the most famous deaf player in baseball history, who retired as the all-time leader in games played in centerfield, and was a noted speedster who specialized in covering a ton of ground in the outfield, as well as a strong ability to take a walk at the plate, likely a function of standing 5’4". Unfortunately for the Reds, he had his best seasons with other teams. His best year (1896) was one in which he produced a .298 batting average and an on-base percentage of .403, but his OPS+ of 108 was still below his overall career mark of 110.

86. Clay Carroll

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1968-1975	RP	73	145	93
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1970	Never
0%	0%	100%	1970	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
All Star – 1971, 1972	Saves – 1972 Games Pitched – 1972		-3rd in career saves -3rd in career games pitched -5th in career ERA+ -6th in career W-L percentage -30th in career wins

Here is a guy who I would have loved to have seen pitch, if for no other reason than to try and figure out how he succeeded. From the stats, it appears that Carroll was blessed with neither overpowering stuff (4.8 K/9 as a Red) nor excellent control (3.2 BB/9). Instead, he had a rubber arm that consistently got people out. Despite being entrenched as a reliever, he still started 15 games over the course of his tenure with the Reds. When it came time to face the best possible opponents in the postseason, Carroll turned it up a few more notches (career reg. season ERA with the Reds: 2.73; career post-season ERA with the Reds over 32.1 IP: 1.39). In his best season, Carroll appeared in 65 games for 104.1 IP, saving 16 and posting a 2.59 ERA (161 ERA+). Then went on to throw 10.1 scoreless innings in the postseason. In his last ever appearance for the Reds, Carroll pitched the 7th and 8th innings in game 7 of the 1975 World Series, ultimately getting credited with the win.

Red Reposter - Sorry I Haven't Done One of These in a While, but My Hamstring Has Been Sore

2009-11-04T12:15:11Z

by Keith Srakocic - AP

Brandon Phillips has been one of the best defenders in the league over the past 3 seasons, and he's looked mighty handsome doing it.

View full size photo »

The Fay has more Q's and A's
"Q, from CSA: If the Reds are so poor, why did they spend $10 million on a new scoreboard and another $10 million on the worst available manager? Not to mention all that money on Scot Rolen (that was a good deal BTW). Not to mention Willy Tavaras.

A: The hope is that the new scoreboard will pay for itself through increased advertising at the stadium. Which is a nice theory, but you’ve got to draw fans to keep rates up. Only 26 managers in the history of the game have won more games that Dusty Baker. Given the injuries and payroll, 78-84 was pretty good this year. Rolen’s salary was paid by Toronto this year. And they made a huge mistake with Taveras. But he only made $2 million this year."

I have no idea how this injury excuse has gotten any traction as a plausible reason why this team failed this past season. I would like someone, anyone, to make a good argument that this team lost because of injuries. Please.
RedsFest tickets went on sale yesterday
$15 for adults and $7 for the kiddos. "Over 50 current and former Reds players are expected to attend including Brandon Phillips, Jay Bruce, Joey Votto, Bronson Arroyo, Dusty Baker and 2010 Reds Hall of Fame inductees Chris Sabo and Pedro Borbon. In honor of the recent RR Monday Morning Quiz, a special 20th anniversary tribute to the 1990 World Series Champions will include Sabo, Joe Oliver, Eric Davis, Ron Oester, Hal Morris, skipper Lou Piniella and many more."
Hall o' Famer Hal says Dick Pole was a victim of soap opera-level revenge and acrimony
"One problem with the Reds is that CEO Bob Castellini listens to too many people and some of them have axes to grind or let personalities sway their opinions. One of them got Castellini’s ear about Pole and Pole was axed (pole-axed?). A manager and a coach is only as good as his players/pitchers and I saw improvement from the Reds pitching staff under Pole."
Project Prospect is ranking the best prospects by position in the minors
and Todd Frazier is the top 2B. They say he lacks the range to be a great defender, but his bat could more than carry him. I think his bat is about average as a LF, but if he can hold his own as a 2B he could be something special. If only our incumbent 2B could play SS...

Mike Leake and Zach Stewart (cough) make the pitcher's list, Yonder Alonso is 2nd on the 1B list, and Juan Francisco is 13th on the 3B list. Hat tip to RML.
The Pirates traded for displaced Rays 2B Akinori Iwamura
or as Tim McCarver knows him, "Aka...Akamura". Iwamura was hurt most of this season and lost his job to Ben Zobrist. This deal reminds me a lot of the Reds' deal for Scott Rolen, accept that I like this for the Buccos. Neither team is close to playoff contention, both of the players are in the last year of their contract, and both players are still valuable relative to their contracts.

The key differences are that the Pirates only gave up Jesse Chavez, a 26-year-old relief prospect (Josh Roenicke?), and they have plenty of payroll space left after adding his contract (his option, which the Pirates still have to pick up, is worth $4.85 mil, which will make him the highest-paid Pirate!!). Iwamura isnt going to make the difference for the Pirates, but he'll help them take the next step to respectability.

And when you consider that Iwamura is basically the same player as Freddy Sanchez, whom they traded for a good pitching prospect in Tim Alderson, and is signed for 1/3 the money that Sanchez is, then this is really quite a move for the Pirates. I cant believe I'm saying this, but I'm kinda jealous.
FanGraphs is working on putting together 3-year UZR leaderboards and loserboards
and Brandon Phillips narrowly misses making the "best" list, falling just outside the top 5. We'll see the top and bottom 5's over the next few days.
It’s the Hardball Times 2010 Annual
I've never bought the THT Annual, but I'm thinking about it this year. It's $21.95, so it's pretty reasonably priced. Has anyone picked up one of these? Is it a good investment?

AFL Rising Stars Game featuring several Reds prospects on MLB Network Saturday at 8pm

2009-11-03T20:32:32Z

AFL Rising Stars Game featuring several Reds prospects on MLB Network Saturday at 8pm

A little heads up that a few Reds prospects will be featured in a Rising Stars game on Saturday in Arizona and the game will be shown on MLB Network. The past two first round picks - Mike Leake and Yonder Alonso - as well as Chris Heisey and Zack Cozart will be on the NL roster. You can bet that we'll have a game thread up, so keep your eyes out for it on Saturday!

The Greatest Reds: #95 - #91

2009-11-03T17:00:34Z

95. Sam Crawford

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1899-1902	RF, LF, CF	108	46	92
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1901	Never
88%	12%	0%	1901	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
Inducted to Hall of Fame – 1957	Home Runs – 1901 Total Bases – 1902 Triples – 1902		- 2nd in single-season triples (1902) - 5th in career OPS+ - 5th in career batting average - 13th in career slugging percentage - 20th in career triples

This hall-of-famer—and an absolutely legitimate one at that—began his career with the Reds for four short years, and showed tremendous promise (leading the league with 16 HR and posting a 167 OPS+ as a 21 year old in 1901) as a nascent superstar. After the 1902 season, bidding wars popped up all over the league as NL and AL teams begun fighting for player services. Crawford signed contracts with both the Reds and Tigers, and a judge awarded his talents to the Tigers, where he played 15 more seasons, eventually becoming the all-time leader in triples (still standing).

94. Chuck Dressen

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1925-1931	3B	101	69	79
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1927	1927
63%	37%	0%	1927	1927
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
N/A	N/A		- 14th in career AB/K ratio - 19th in career sacrifice hits - 31st in single-season sacrifice hits (1927)

Dressen had an abrupt and exaggerated career path, in which he didn't break into the majors until age 26, became a decent player at age 27, posted a peak season at age 28, and was washed up by age 30. His peak season saw him finish 3rd in the NL in doubles, 9th in triples, and 5th in walks, to accompany typically above-average defense. After retiring as a player in 1933, he was hired late in 1934 to manage the Reds, which he did for portions of four seasons, never posting a winning record in any of them. Much later, he skippered two pennant winners for Brooklyn in the 1950’s.

93. Ivey Wingo

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1915-26, 1929	C	69	154	104
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1919	Never
61%	39%	0%	1919	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
N/A	AB/K Ratio – 1917		- 17th in career sacrifice hits - 20th in career triples - 29th in career games played - 44th in career plate appearances - 48th in career hits

One of the executive decisions made in putting together this list was to give "extra credit" for outstanding post-season performance, where applicable. Wingo’s work in the 1919 World Series boosted him 4-5 slots on this list, despite appearing in only 3 out of the 8 games in the Series that year. As part of an inextricable platoon with Bill Rariden that year (Wingo 1919 OPS+: 114, Rariden: 70), Wingo made the most of his World Series playing time, reaching base 7 of the 10 times he came to bat. When Wingo retired in 1929, he held the NL record for most games played at catcher.

92. Wally Post

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1949, 1951-57, 1960-63	RF, LF, CF	77	91	125
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1955	Never
84%	16%	0%	1955	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
N/A	N/A		-7th in career slugging percentage -8th in single season total bases (1955) -11th in career home runs -25th in career RBI -38th in career runs scored

I had remembered reading about Post as a 1950’s era slugger, and was surprised to see his numbers to be so unspectacular. His peak season was pretty good: .309 average, 40 HR, 109 RBI, 143 OPS+, but he never again approached anything like that. In the pennant-winning season of 1961, he combined with Jerry Lynch to form a very strong platoon in left field, and was one of the few bright spots in the doomed series. What I find fascinating with Post are the Reds’ transactions related to him: after a very bad 1957 season, the Reds sent Post to the Phillies for Harvey Haddix; Post played well for the Phils for 2.5 seasons, then came back to the Reds in 1960. Haddix also pitched quite well in his one season for Cincy, but after that year was packaged with Smoky Burgess and Don Hoak for four players who played a combined 216 games for the Reds—all with poor results. Meanwhile, Haddix went on to pitch one of the most famous games in history, Burgess turned into a perennial all-star behind the plate, and Hoak put together a couple strong seasons, including one where he was the NL MVP runner-up.

91. Rube Bressler

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1917-1927	1B, LF, SP, RF, RP	76	125	104
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1926	Never
74%	14%	12%	1926	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
N/A	N/A		-4th in single season batting average (1926) -6th in career batting average -8th in career on-base percentage -31st in career triples -35th in career OPS+

One of only five players since 1900 to appear in at least 50 games as a pitcher, and 50 games as a non-pitcher (a list that includes Babe Ruth and Joe Wood), Bressler was uniquely talented, though at the end of the 1920 season, one might have projected an early end to Bressler’s career, given his frequent injured status and his subpar hitting stats. In 1921, however, Bressler committed to a full-time position player role, and gradually improved his hitting to the point that over the three-year period from 1924-1926, he was a consistent .350 hitter, with consecutive OPS+ marks of 133, 131, and 147.

2009 World Series: Game 5

2009-11-02T23:55:06Z

Next Game

New York Yankees
@ Philadelphia Phillies

Monday, Nov 2, 2009, 7:57 PM EST
Citizens Bank Park

A.J. Burnett vs Cliff Lee

Complete Coverage >

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - A.J. Burnett	13-9	4.04	1.40	195	97

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Cliff Lee	7-4	3.39	1.13	74	10

Is tonight the night that all but one of us have been dreading?

The Greatest Reds: #100 - #96

2009-11-02T17:00:30Z

As humans, and perhaps especially as American humans, we have an innate desire to make lists-to definitively declare "this movie quote is without question the 38^th greatest movie quote of all time." When it comes to baseball, this list-making fondness shifts into overdrive; the numbers and history of the sport practically demand it. Whereas the Cincinnati Reds are still considered a baseball team, and whereas Red Reporter is a certified Internet website, here then is a list of the greatest 100 Reds of all time. Q.E.D.

Before the list kicks off, a brief introduction and explanation: Players are generally ranked using Bill James' Win Shares statistic, although not strictly as a cumulative career Win Shares sorting. Here are some of the parameters used in constructing the top 100:

-All seasons from 1890 forward have been considered. 1890 was the year the Red Stockings joined the National League.

-Player contributions with teams other than Cincinnati have not been considered (sorry, Mr. Mathewson).

-Players have been ranked on career value with the Reds, peak value with the Reds (defined as the sum of the top three seasons as a Red), and prime value with the Reds (defined as the greatest total of five consecutive seasons). All of these factors were then considered in creating a master list.

-Where deemed appropriate, postseason contributions have been included in the data. In no situations were players docked for negative postseason performances.

-Partial extrapolation has been applied to seasons in which the Reds played fewer than 162 games.

-To facilitate even more lists, each player season has been assigned a particular defensive position, and the prevailing defensive position over the player's career is then assigned as that player's position for the purposes of creating top-15 lists at each position. 95%+ of the time, there's nothing "controversial" about the given positions (e.g. Johnny Bench is listed at catcher), but there's a couple that maybe look a little strange. These positional lists will be rolled out as the top player at each position is introduced.

It's probably also appropriate to include a brief note on Win Shares. If you don't know anything about it, it's an elaborate accounting system in which every single win by a team is allocated to the players on that team. While it works reasonably well (i.e. compares favorably to other accepted metrics), it's not without flaws: the baseline (or replacement value) is too low, it's missing contextual information (two players with 100 Win Shares may have accumulated that value over vastly different amounts of playing time), and the defensive value is based on primitive fielding stats-especially as compared to the newer hyper-specific data. There are other, more technical, critiques as well. So, why Win Shares in this setting? Three reasons: 1) the methodology is open-source, and able to be replicated with easily accessible data-important for what is potentially an ongoing project; 2) the defensive metrics are consistent across eras-important when trying to compare across time; and 3) I simply liked the concept of the low replacement value when coming up with a team-based list-the thought being that a player should have a minimum threshold of playing time with the Reds before being considered one of the "elite". Generally speaking, 4-5 seasons are necessary for inclusion in the top 100 here. Given that hurdle, combined with the peak value bonuses, my hope is that the list is a good one.

So, enjoy. Being a Redleg fanatic, you've already come to grips with your own insanity. Here, then, is an opportunity to learn about a player you've never heard of before, or argue about why the 78^th best Red should really be ranked 81^st, or just share some memories of the guys who have driven you to madness (and occasional joy) over the years.

Counting backwards, radio DJ style, with the first five after the jump...

100. Fred Toney

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1915-1918	SP	114	66	96
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1915	Never
0%	0%	100%	1915	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
N/A	HR/IP Ratio - 1915		- 2nd in career ERA - 2nd in career WHIP - 2nd in single-season shutouts (1917) - 4th in single-season ERA (1915) - 6th in career hits per inning

Toney was acquired by the Reds more or less or free: he was nabbed off waivers after being mostly a AA-level pitcher (he had been a non-descript reliever for the Cubs for a few years, totalling a 4-5 record with a 4.02 ERA in 130 IP over 3 seasons). The Reds picked him up for the 1915 season…and he was instantly one of the best pitchers in the league, putting up a 17-6 record with a 1.58 ERA (181 ERA+) in a hybrid starter/reliever role. After 2.5 more seasons, which were slightly above average in quality (including the famous "double no-hitter" against the Cubs), the Reds sold him to the Giants, where he had one more excellent season, and a couple more average ones.

99. Billy Myers

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1935-1940	SS	95	113	81
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1939	Never
62%	38%	0%	1939	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
N/A	N/A		- 30th in career sacrifice hits

For the first five seasons of his career, Myers was a solid—if unspectacular—player: an average hitter, playing good defense at shortstop. In fact, each season was incrementally better than the last, peaking in 1939, where he dramatically increased his walk total and posted an OPS+ over 100 for the only time in his career. In that season’s World Series, he played very well (929 OPS), despite being swept by the Yankees. In 1940, at age 29, Myers very suddenly fell off the cliff. His OPS+ of 65 and fading defense led to vastly reduced playing time. He did, however, find himself in the starting lineup in game 7 of the World Series against the Tigers, in which Myers hit the go-ahead sacrifice fly in the 7th inning, ultimately clinching the Reds’ 2nd World Championship.

98. Brandon Phillips

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
2006-2009	2B	104	79	81
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	2009	Never
67%	33%	0%	2009	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
Gold Glove - 2008	N/A		-21st in career sacrifice flies -27th in career slugging percentage -30th in career home runs -41st in career stolen bases -48th in career OPS

Phillips was a much heralded prospect with the Expos, turned into a promising future star for the Indians when he was traded along with Cliff Lee and Grady Sizemore for Bartolo Colon. His faded status was evident when the Reds were able to pry him away from the Indians four years later for the infamous player to be named later (Jeff Stevens). Inserted into the starting lineup at 2nd base, and left alone, Phillips has proved himself an above average second sacker—his bat plays at around league average (97 OPS+ in his time with the Reds) and he has a solid glove that at times borders on the spectacular. Phillips adds both power and speed threats to the lineup, totalling at least 20 home runs and 20 steals in each year from 2007 through 2009.

97. Danny Graves

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1997-2005	RP, SP	96	99	81
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	2000	Never
1%	0%	99%	2000	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
Lou Gehrig Memorial Award - 2002 All Star - 2000, 2004	N/A		-1st in career saves -3rd in single-season saves (2004) -5th in career games pitched -17th in single-season games pitched (1999) -34th in career ERA+

Graves was picked up in a six-player trade in 1997 with the Indians, in which he was the only of the six to amount to any significant value from that point forward. The next season, the Reds discovered they had a rubber armed ground-ball specialist who managed to succeed without great stuff or control. His best year (2000) saw a stat line of 10-5, 30 saves, 2.56 ERA (185 ERA+) in 91.1 IP, but only 53 K to go along with the 42 BB. Graves continued as a solid closer until 2003 and a disastrous attempt to transform into a starting pitcher (4-15, 5.33 ERA). By 2005, his arm was toast, and Graves was released.

96. Heinie Peitz

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1896-1904	C,2B	69	165	114
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1902	Never
60%	40%	0%	1902	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
N/A	N/A		-46th in career games played -47th in career batting average -47th in career triples -47th in career singles -50th in career walks

The Reds received Peitz from the Browns, principally traded for Ed McFarland, who turned out to be a decent catcher in his own right. Peitz was a utility player of sorts (never appeared in more than 112 games in any season, and played every position except CF over the course of his career), but at most positions exhibited the range of…a catcher, albeit a quicker-than-average one. Peitz’s best year came in the only season where catcher was not his principle position, posting career highs in batting average (.315), doubles (22), and runs (54) en route to a 130 OPS+. He never had another good season, and was traded to Pirates prior to the 1905 season.

Monday Morning Quiz: Name the 1990 Reds

2009-11-02T13:52:51Z

Monday Morning Quiz: Name the 1990 Reds

There were 40 players that played in at least 1 game during the regular season for the 1990 World Champion Cincinnati Reds. How many of those players can you name?

Today's quiz is probably the hardest one yet. To give you an idea, I made the quiz and then 2 minutes later, I only got 35 of the 40 players. There are some obscure names on this list.

As always, avoid the comments section before taking the quiz as there tends to be spoilers. If you want to keep the game fair for all, please don't put spoilers in the thread, and if you do, please label them in the subject so that people can skip you comment until after they take the quiz.

2009 World Series: Game 4

2009-11-02T00:31:48Z

Next Game

New York Yankees
@ Philadelphia Phillies

Sunday, Nov 1, 2009, 8:20 PM EST
Citizens Bank Park

CC Sabathia vs Joe Blanton

Complete Coverage >

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - CC Sabathia	19-8	3.37	1.15	197	67

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Joe Blanton	12-8	4.05	1.32	163	59

So the Yankees are up 2-1, and I can't figure out how to get the pitcher stats widgets to display side by side. Exciting, eh?

2009 World Series: Game 3

2009-10-31T22:00:35Z

Next Game

New York Yankees
@ Philadelphia Phillies

Saturday, Oct 31, 2009, 7:57 PM EDT
Citizens Bank Park

Andy Pettitte vs Cole Hamels

Complete Coverage >

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Andy Pettitte	14-8	4.16	1.38	148	76

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Cole Hamels	10-11	4.32	1.29	168	43

Happy Halloween!!!!

Weekend Discussion: How much umpire review should we have?

2009-10-31T13:00:24Z

More photos » by Eric Gay - AP

This was, needless to say, not the only time someone had a good reason to argue with an umpire in the current World Series.

Browse more photos »

Okay, so everyone can agree that there have been some bad calls this postseason. We can agree that this is not the only time that bad calls have impacted game outcomes.

But what many people in baseball can't agree on is what we should do about it. So follow me beyond the jump for some people's opinions, then tell me what you think.

Jeff Passan at Yahoo! Sports thinks that every manager should have two challenge flags per game. On the other hand, Phil Rogers at the Chicago Tribune thinks that this is a bigger deal in the playoffs, and therefore that MLB should move those two extra umpires into a review booth. No challenges, but those guys review all plays that they think should be reviews. Neil Best at Newsday thinks that replay reviews are a horrible idea because they would take time, and as we all know, the games are too long. Then again, everyone's favorite announcer Joe Buck says that calls on the bases, as well as foul calls and the like, should be up for review--though maybe only in the postseason. And he points out that if you have somebody in the booth, he can review most calls and let you know in, oh, eight seconds or so.

Of course, we've already changed the rules this season to allow for some review--but only for home run calls, and the process takes forever. Then again, even such a half-assed change as that was a Big Deal in this sport--and somehow things stayed more or less the same. The world didn't come crashing down, but we had a few more correct calls.

And I have to note that Bud Selig hates the idea of doing anything for reasons that, as expected, make perfect sense:

"The more baseball people I talk to, there is a lot of trepidation about it and I think their trepidation is fair," Selig told reporters before Game 2 of the World Series on Thursday. "I've spent a lot of time [on this] over the past month and will spend a lot of time in the ensuing months as well. I don't want to overreact. You can make light of that but when you start to think you're going to have more intrusions -- and even if they're good intrusions -- it's something that you have to be very careful about. Affecting the game on the field is not something I really want to do."

Not to mention that the umpires union dislikes the idea, perhaps because it would probably lead to some record of how many times each umpire's rulings are overturned. And that would be horrible.

But, what say you? Should we expand the system we have to more calls? Only think about it in the postseason? Improve the whole review system in some way? Or, stop arguing about something so stupid and accept a few blatantly incorrect calls as part of the game?

Friday Five: Top Combined Power-Speed Seasons in Reds History

2009-10-30T14:55:43Z

Believe it or not, kids, this ~~beanpole~~ guy was an awesome power hitter. And boy could he fly on the bases!

View full size photo »

There is something special about a player that can beat you both with his legs and the power in his bat. This is beyond the arbitrary fascination with the 30-30 season. The excitement of a player who can "do it all" on the baseball field really seems to capture the imagination of fans. Perhaps it is because it opens us up to the belief that anything is possible? Or maybe we just like players who are athletic bad-asses?

Here are the top 5 seasons of combined power and speed in Reds history:

1. Eric Davis - 1987 - 37 HR, .593 SLG, 50 SB, 6 CS, 89.3% stolen base rate

As a 25-year old, Davis wowed the baseball world and almost became the first 40-40 player in baseball history. His .593 SLG is the highest by a player with 50 SB since George Sisler slugged .594 with 51 SB in 1922. Of course, Sisler was caught stealing 19 times that year (72.8%). Davis was safe on nearly 90% of his steal attempts. Yowza!

2. Joe Morgan - 1976 - 27 HR, .576 SLG, 60 SB, 9 CS, 87.0% stolen base rate

In perhaps the greatest all-around season in the history of baseball (Little Joe batted .320 with a .440 OBP and won a gold glove at 2B), Morgan won his second consecutive MVP award for the Reds. His home runs were the 5th most in the NL and he was 2nd in stolen bases. Probably the most impressive thing was that the 5'7" Morgan led the NL in Slugging percentage by 46 points. He could have hit 5 fewer home runs and still led the league in slugging. And he stole 60 bases!!

3. Eric Davis - 1986 - 27 HR, .523 SLG, 80 SB, 11 CS, 87.9% stolen base rate

This is probably my favorite individual season by a Red in my lifetime. Two players in baseball history have stolen 80 bases and hit 25 or more home runs in the same season, and they both happened in the same year. Rickey Henderson's counting stats were slightly better in 1986, mainly because he played 21 more games, topping Davis with 87 SB and 28 HR. Davis outslugged Henderson though .523 to .469, and his stolen base rat of 87.9% was better than Henderson's measly 82.9%. I love Eric Davis. I really do.

4. Reggie Sanders - 1995 - 28 HR, .579 SLG, 36 SB, 12 CS, 75.0% stolen base rate

You know, because he struggled so much in the post-season, it's easy to forget what a good season Reggie Sanders had in 1995. He was coming into his prime that year and put up a .306/.397/.579 season, perhaps deserving the NL MVP even more than Barry Larkin did. He finished 6th in MVP voting that year, a year that ended up being the peak for his career, but a pretty nice peak it was in a very solid overall career.

5. Barry Larkin - 1996 - 33 HR, .567 SLG, 36 SB, 10 CS, 78.3% stolen base rate

In a strange sequence of events, Larkin improved on his MVP 1995 season the following year, but actually finished 12th in the MVP voting. Ken Caminiti won the award in 1996, though Barry Bonds likely has the biggest complaint as he had his best non-steroids season of his career (10.8 WAR!), but finished in 6th in voting. Larkin's season is historically significant because it was the first 30-30 season by an everyday middle infielder in baseball history. Again, 30-30 is an arbitrary cutoff point, but when it supports a guy I'm a fan of, IT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT NUMBER IN THE WORLD!!!!

Now it's your turn? Which season was your favorite? Who did I leave off the list that should be there?