Can’t Blame the Pitching
If you would have told me that the Reds’ starters in the first four games of this trip would allow 3 runs (Claussen), 1 run (Harang), 1 earned run (Ramirez, on a rough defensive night, but still one earned run) and 3 runs (Arroyo), I would have guessed the Reds would have started off better than 1-3 on the trip. But that’s baseball. Yesterday’s 9-8 victory helped cushion the blow.
On the bright side, it is good to see the starters keeping the team in games. And the bullpen has been getting the job done, too.
The Reds will finally have a "normal" six-game homestand, the first since the first week of the season, beginning Tuesday night.
Also, our Marketing folks wanted to pass along a reminder about some of the club’s upcoming promotions for this homestand:
- Bleacher Discount Date – Bleacher seats for $4 when purchased in advance of game day (Thursday, May 11, 7:10 p.m. vs. Nationals)
- Great American Insurance Group Adam Dunn Figurine Night (Saturday, May 13, 6:10 p.m. vs. Phillies)
- Kahn’s Mothers Day Sports Bottle (Sunday, May 14, 1:15 p.m. vs. Phillies)
The Bad Boy Blog 
Steve, how long do you think the Reds will carry three catchers? It seems to me that somebody has to go when the D.L. clears up and if that is the case, who do you think it will be. I can’t see Ross leaving given the Arroyo situation and LaRue is supposed to be the “Number 1” guy. Valentine is good off of the bench and catches a decent game. I think they have the same problem in the bullpen. What do you think?
Bad Boy!!
Did Marty give you that nickname?
Regarding the three catchers, Jerry Narron has done a great job of keeping them all involved, no easy task.
I wouldn’t be surprised at some point to see one of them traded, so we could look back at some point on this “three catcher mode” as something that led to improvement in other areas down the road.
The other thing to keep in mind, is that all three can handle the bat. We’ve seen Javier Valentin used as a pinch hitter on a couple of recent occasions. Normally backup catchers aren’t used as pinch hitters often because you don’t want to burn your only other catcher, in case of injury. In Sunday’s game, Valentin pinch hit, and David Ross came in late in the game as part of a double switch.
Regarding the nickname, no, Marty did not invent it.It was a little-known creative genious at WLW radio, Scott Stanley who came up with it . Later this week, I’ll ask him where he came up with the name, since I honestly don’t know the answer. I will let you know what he says.
Steve “Bad Boy” Stewart
probably a nascar fan Tony Stewart is nicknamed “the bad boy” sometimes.
Isn’t it odd that we got all that great pitching, but one of the games we won was an awful performance by Dave Williams?
By the way, did you hear that Williams is running for office this year? Here’s the info: http://baseballchurch.blogspot.com/2006/05/election-year-2006-candidates-series.html