58 Comments

04 -91

Like the analytics in baseball the numbers suggest that crimes were commiited .

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Actually, I do remember hearing about that. Yikes! Yeah?

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Imbiber Dave, you are so right! Chicago Pizza is the Best in the World!! It has ruined every slice I have eaten since....Right there with Wrigley Field Chicago Hot Dogs!

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Doc, Interesting perspective on Votto. I think we have seen his last at-bat in a Reds uniform. Do you think he would take less to play for the Reds next year say $10 Mil? Would the Reds offer that?

Now on to more important issues, Your comments on this Burg embracing local celebrities. MOBSTERS Has this town embraced Doc? I say He's ONE OF US. In the pantheon of Casey, Munoz, Marty, Huggins? What say you???

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We have evolved into a banana republic where the ruler can use the government to criminally prosecute a political opponent for challenging the results of an election or holding classified materials. Meanwhile, his immediate family enriches themselves with government contracts (brother) or multimillion schemes to sell access (son). And the ruler themselves avoids prosecution for holding classified materials when they had less authority (VP and Senator) to possess them.

A very sad time for this country.

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All charges against the disgraced ex-President were actually brought by Grand Juries made up of citizens called to jury duty and based upon evidence of criminal acts investigated and uncovered by local prosecutors and/or an independent counsel. He will have his chance to defend himself in courts and in front of a jury of his peers as is his right in our system of justice. The man did not just challenge the results of an election, he tried to overturn the will of the citizens of The United States of America. No outgoing president has ever called on his supporters to come to Washington on the day the votes are certified and then sent them to the capital to "fight like hell". The results of his actions prior to and on 6 January, 2021 should have led to his arrest under the 14th Amendment that very day in my humble opinion. No president has ever called a sitting governor and state secretary of state and pressured them to "find" the exact number of votes he needed to win that state. There are countless other misdeeds and potential crimes this man may be responsible for and for which he should pay a price just like anyone else if he is found guilty. As for the Bidens, the investigation is ongoing and if they are found guilty of some crime they should pay a price as well. I do respect the fact that President Biden has largely stayed out of the investigation of his son. His predecessor would have done no such thing. As for profiting off the presidency, I cannot think of a President and family who has made more money off the office than Mr. Trump; from not divesting himself from his business, to running up huge Secret Service bills paid to his own hotels, to buying a hotel in DC only to sell it after leaving office, to a son-in-law who receives $2,000,000,000 in Saudi investment for his business.

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Trump's the guy who weaponized the DOJ and used AG Barr for his personal protector and political attack dog vs his 'enemies'

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-turns-full-force-government-perceived-political-enemies-n1010096

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You conveniently ignore the corruption of the sitting President and family.

As for Grand Juries. While a nice idea in theory, in practice they are led and follow the prosecuting attorney's guidance nearly 100% of the time. A Washington Post article cited a study showing DA's prosecuted 162,350 of 193,000 cases during the period of the study. Only 11 were because the Grand Jury did not return an indictment.

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I ignored nothing of the sort. As I said, if corruption is investigated and proven, then the Biden's should pay the price. The Grand Jury system is the same for everyone. You ignore the fact that prosecutors don't take a case to a Grand Jury unless and until there is substantial evidence that a crime has been committed. The fact that, as you point out, the jurors give their approval to pursue the charges at trial a high percentage of the time speaks to the relatively high bar prosecutors achieve in their preparation before presenting to the Grand Jury. "What about-ism" is a deflection. The case against Mr. Trump and any potential case against Mr. Biden are separate issues.

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They are not separate issues. It demonstrates the subjective application of the law. e.g. One subject is indicted for having classified that as a President there may or may not be a legitimate reason to have in his possession. The other subject is found to have classified that he was not ever authorized to have in his possession at home and is not indicted. Just one of several examples of how our "rule of law" has devolved into application of the law to allow one party to maintain power.

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Aug 27, 2023·edited Aug 27, 2023

“If corruption is investigated and proven “…now wouldn’t that be nice Greg. I won’t hold my breath. Let me know when an INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATOR is assigned to the case until then it’s just more shiny trinkets to appease the fools so you can say “See, look the DOJ opened an investigation but they couldn’t find anything”. Keep your eyes on the shiny trinkets Greg. The Dems are counting on it.

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Of course, Mr. Weiss is a US Attorney appointed by Donald Trump.....

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What part of independent don’t you understand? Of course I’m sure you have no clue that law dictates that any special investigation has to be carried out by an independent investigator. Not someone affiliated with the DOJ in any way. Thanks for confirming that you’re mesmerized by the shiny trinkets

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You’re pissing into the wind posting that on this forum. 90% of the posters on this site don’t give a shit about what the Biden Crime Family and the DC swamp are doing. They’re currently mesmerized by the shiny trinkets being waved in front of them so the real issues can be ignored. They’re easily duped as their chronic TDS has now hit critical mass.

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That's ok. It is amazing how people including a few who are very intelligent have such double standards. They have blind-spots so can't help but to be biased.

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Joey Votto needs to sit and watch until the last few home games. Then come out and play his best and receive the applause and thanks from his fans. Tough to retire, but it’s Joey’s time.

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Love Judy Collins. Not entertaining thoughts of no more Joey Votto ever today. It’s my birthday. All about good stuff. Leaving room for cake.

Saw Barbie for second time yesterday. No line this time. Paid more attention to the songs. Stayed for all the credits. I am not the target market, but I love that Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie pulled this off. Many more people made it happen, but those two were the drivers.

Probably will see again before it leaves theaters.

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How can the Bengals secure every position with good backups and leave QB with scrubs. OMG. Katie you have perfectly rebuilt this team except for backup QB. I have to feel that Joe is good to go in week one it she would have done something! As for Votto - I lost interest in him when he announced on WLW that he would rather walk than drive in a runner on 3rd base - I miss Tony Perez!

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I sure hope JV isn't done for the year. I'd like to see him hit a few more HR's this year. Maybe see him get another shot at playoffs. I've wondered if they could convince him to come back for the $7M they have to pay him anyway. Probably a long shot, but I can hope.

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In a world full of mercenaries in the sports world, Joseph Daniel Votto is a refreshing anomaly in this day and age.

Looking back with more wisdom, I realize he could have easily walked away from Cincinnati and gone somewhere else, for more money, instead of signing the contract he did. Yet, he did not, because he loved it in Cincy and felt, at that time, the ballclub would contend for several years and he'd be a part of it.

Much as it was with Junior, it's not Votto's fault that after he signed that contract, ownership did not properly build around him to maintain a consistent winner. It's not his fault they went through managers such as Bryan Price and Jim Riggleman after Dusty, just like Junior had managers such as Bob Boone, Dave Miley, Jerry Narron and Pete Mackanin before Dusty.

It's not his fault that in his 30s -- like most of us -- the aches and pains of normal human life began creeping in on him. He did his damn best to stave them off, but time is undefeated.

It's not his fault that the Reds offered $225 million for 10 years, and he accepted. Not a single one of us wouldn't have done the same in his position. Unfortunately, the timing of that coincided with several of the more stinky Reds seasons in a while, leading to frustrated fans taking out on the team's highest-paid player -- much as what happened with Junior. If the Reds had won multiple world titles during that stretch, there would not have been a peep about Votto's contract.

It's not his fault he had a no-trade clause in his contract, because he loved Cincy and wanted to play his whole career here. History shows that any other player that wants out of Cincy, in any sport, has been loudly encouraged to hit the road by Cincy fandom, yet Votto has caught flak for the no-trade clause.

Long story short, he has been a classy, exemplary ballplayer who leads or is among the leaders, all-time, in many statistical categories for baseball's oldest franchise. He's never trashed the fans, the city, or the team, despite taking a lot of crap over the years. He's never had a whiff of scandal, immorality or controversy, and has worn the wishbone C as good as anyone since 1869.

If this is the swan song for Votto, I hope they at least snatch a wild card and pull off a first-round upset. Then, we'll await his eventual induction into the Reds and National Baseball halls of fame, and the statue that will likely be erected outside of GABP.

If he never steps in the batter's box as a player again, I hope they hire him immediately at season's end as the hitting coach. He'd be light-years better than Joel McKeithan (who?) is currently.

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Aug 25, 2023Liked by Paul Daugherty

I think Votto is one of those guys we'll appreciate more as a collective when he is no longer a Red, which is sad, tbh.

But, by God, I hope the Club finds him a place on the broadcast when he does move onto his second career. Yes, he could be a hitting coach or some such, but he could smash it as a broadcaster or analyst - the nice guys Roy Kent, if you please. Far fewer f-bombs.

He has been BRILLIANT in his short stints, IMO.

"I think we've got a monopoly on the summer. We're blue skies and green grass and baseball caps..." he said during one outing. I mean, come on! Waxing poetic with that intellect? We could use more of it!

On the other end of the spectrum...our country's former "leader" - could his scowl be more made-for shmaltzy PR campaigns to convince his followers to give him more money to win back his "rightful place" blah, blah, blah? It is all money-making scheme, and how I wish we - and by we, I mean the media in general - would just ignore the absolute bejesus out of him...

Happy weekend!

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Would the Reds consider paying him “off the books” as a roving batting instructor/sports psychologist ? Primarily working with AAA prospects and Reds rookies utilizing in-person, Zoom and group meetings that would allow him to offer ongoing, regular insights but not be part of the base salaries of the 25 man roster. He loves being a “teacher,” he would be quite good and salary should be the last thing he would worry about.

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Bigger question is if he’d want to do that

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Aug 25, 2023Liked by Paul Daugherty

I'm certain I'm not first, but he replaced Moneyball legend Scott Hatteberg.

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I love Joey Votto and everything about him. I’ve been paying attention to his career ever since I was listening to a Marty Brennamen interview with him during Spring Training just before the start of his rookie season of 2008. What I remember is that he was young, articulate, friendly and you could hear a bit of a Canadian pronunciation in his speech. I liked him right then and there and he has never disappointed since then. Sure, he’s had his troubles. The most serious was when his dad suddenly passed away. He was obviously and rightfully grieving and began to have some panic attacks and took himself out of the lineup for a bit but he came back and, in spite of being somewhat ridiculed, he had a strong season. After that, it seems to me that he became a more together personality and, in my opinion, a great player.

As an OG, I can say with a straight face that, in reality, Joey is still just a kid. Hell, he’s turning 40 soon and, believe me, that’s still a young man…BUT, not in baseball. What I’ve noticed over the past few years is his growth in personality and his way of reaching out to people. My point being that his baseball career is going to be just the first part of this young man’s life. I believe we are going to be seeing him and hearing his thoughts for a long time to come. At least, I hope so.

I hope he is able to retire a Cincinnati Red, although I realize that, unless he retires at the end of this season, that may not be realistic. However, I do firmly believe he belongs in the REDS’ and Baseball’s HALL OF FAME.

I have plenty of thoughts on TRUMP…all negative, but I don’t want to ruin my praise of Joseph Daniel.

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Aug 25, 2023Liked by Paul Daugherty

Joey Votto is certainly one of the most interesting sports figures to come through Cincinnati. He is a lot different than the "One of Us" guys you mention. All of the aforementioned "One of Us" figures had very gregarious & charismatic personalities and seemed like they grew up here (guys you want to have a beer with). Votto in his early years resembled a Cyborg, which is probably one of the reasons he has had sustained success as an elite MLB hitter. However, Votto appears to have let his hair down and appears to be enjoying the moment with this young team. In spite of a seemingly odd personality, he deserves to be on the "One of Us" Mt. Rushmore. He was extremely loyal through tough times and doesn't have a ton to show for it outside of individual stat nerd accolades. He has also been great with the fans - examples include him walking through the stadium last year or when he gave the young fan gear after he got thrown out in San Diego. I am hoping we have some magical moments that only baseball can produce down the stretch.

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I think the only question for Votto is will he get in the HOF on the first ballot. I have no sympathy for Trump. He is not a good person. When the time comes, I hope that you will admit that were wrong about The Big Guy. He is not a good person either and his day is coming. https://americanmilitarynews.com/2023/08/biden-family-received-20-million-in-foreign-payments-rep-comer-says/

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Big Guy?

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Oh. I see now. Joe Biden indictments: Zero. Trump: Four. Formal charges: Joe, zero. Trump: 91. Impeachments: Joe, zero. Trump: two.

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