'Cocaine Bear' was on in the background at the Bachelor Pad nine of my closest friends and I were at in Louisville this past weekend, as we all celebrated one of our best mates ending his bachelor-hood. Yes, we did do two stops on the bourbon trail. Yes, Makers Mark is an awesome tour, even if their bourbon is middling! As you correctly proclaimed, 'Cocaine Bear' was neither scary nor funny in its attempt to be a cult classic. What would have made a great film was focusing more on how the cocaine got to Tennessee in the first place, and to also show the Bear becoming addicted to cocaine. Lots of missed opportunities = a snoozer of a wannabee cult classic. Watching my inebriated friends 'play' pool was vastly more entertaining.
The Reds are sticky, that's for sure. I can't wait to see them, then when they die in the 8th or 9th inning, I can't wait for football. Do we know if UC is on TV this season and not streaming somewhere else?
Speaking of thump.....just sitting here, watching Adam Duvall hit another ball out of Fenway to, temporarily, give the Red Sox the lead over the Astros. He hit 84 HRs over the course of his 4 years of platooning for the Reds, for the bargain basement cost of around 600K a year. This along with playing every outfield position at a Gold Glove level and filling in at 3rd and 1st when needed. Then of course, doing what the Reds do, they traded him at the deadline in 2018 to the Braves so they could avoid the dreaded "arbitration" word. Real classy move there.
After having World Series and Gold Glove success in Atlanta Duvall was a free agent this off season, and while he likely wasn't on the Reds radar, he sure is making the $7 million the Red Sox signed him for look like a power hitting bargain. Especially considering the Reds are paying Mike Moustakas $18M this year just to not be wearing their uniform.
Cincinnatian J.J. Wolf is #45 in the world and deserves some local love. I caught the Shelton/Eubanks match at the WSO. They are exceptional athletes and deserve their ranking. Shelton serves above 130 mph regularly and throttled one at 141.
But, as I often tell my kids, remember your best effort is often better than most so a good effort isn’t fatal!
Your take on the Reds is exactly how I feel about their whiplash rise and fall over the weekend. They have kept it close & pretty fun through the end of August. I will take that as a benchmark this year since it was never expected. We’ll see what this week brings…
No matter what we individually think about the Reds’ trade deadline, the reality for us all is that this is flailing franchise, sailing only in the direct the wind blows, never arriving anywhere. And no I’m not listening to Christopher Cross atm. I’m trying to rationalize the confidence so many of us have in an entirely unproven entity. An unproven ownership group, an unproven GM - there is no proof of concept here, hasn’t been for what, 30 years? So the confidence I encounter when bemoaning, or maybe more accurately said, bitching, about the Reds still baffles me. How are you so certain that any of this works? No one in this organization, in this city, has built a successful, winning MLB franchise, not in nearly 3 decades. And truth be told, the only reason the Bengals no longer fit here is because they sucked hard to get Joe Burrow. We don’t know winning here.
Once again I encountered someone criticizing the Angels for Lucas Giolito trade, once again emphasizing the TOP 100 PROSPECT surrendered for a RENTAL.
Does the 65th best prospect (now ranked 86 in the latest Serious Official Prospect Ranking btw) not pale in comparison to a starting pitcher bringing a 2.2 WAR to the rotation?
Since 2018, precisely 1 of the five 65th best prospects has become something. That would be Michael Harris II. Ok, you got me there. The others? Heliot Ramos, Danny Janson, Miguel Andujar, Garrett Mitchell. 20%, and I bet those are even better odds than prospects actually have of developing. If those are the odds our amateur, unproven front office is content to play then we should not be surprised that the Reds are always crapping out and never winning anything.
To be fair...they just wiped the slate clean last year and are still in the beginning stages of their new plan. You're right...so far ownership hasn't shown us anything across their long tenure. But I'm willing to be patient based on the early returns we're seeing now. Maybe that makes me a fool...idk. I think this team is set up for success (minus a few pcs). Still need a legit power threat, and there ARE holes to fill in the pitching staff (I still don't blame the pitching for where they are now vs before the AS break).
My view of the Fed Ex Cup is higher, Doc, mainly because I am enough of a golf nut to focus on the different swing styles and strategies that dominate the game now. Having home TV coverage on a giant screen and all the new camera tricks with the shot tracker and walking cameramen next to the players in the fairways and the green have increased my interest as well. There was a time long ago where I was a much better player and truly obsessed so that also helps maintain my interest. I was at last year’s Tour Championship for a day and toured East Lake so my course understanding is higher there too.
I agree it’s only money at stake and the PGA Tour is a mess, but it works for me as a fan. I no longer watch much baseball and soccer and tennis were never options for me, so summer TV viewing is pretty much little white ball from Thursday to Sunday. And I am glad they moved it out of September since NFL football takes over and the Bengals have returned from obscurity. Finally, it is a Ryder Cup year so that is something to look forward to in a month.
I will make a Rufus recommendation since that subject came up today. I watched the “The English” miniseries on Amazon Prime recently and found it excellent. It is a different kind of Western starring Emily Blunt with a constantly evolving plot and a Taylor Sheridan style approach to the truths about frontier life I had not seen elsewhere to date. It worked for me.
Doc, I know tennis is not your favorite sport but for those of us that are enthusiasts, there is a great crop of young US players in the top 50. 8 to be exact! Tiafoe, Paul, Sheldon, Fritz to name a few. The US men might not break through this year, but it’s just a matter of time!
I think the one that does it will be Ben Shelton. He seems to me to have the most talent. Maybe Tiafoe if he would concentrate more on his game and less on the hot dogging. Tommy Paul is good but I don’t think he’ll ever get over that hump and get to the next level it takes to win a grand slam. Fritz to me is a big zero.
Did you go to Mason? I was there everyday. Tiafoe got his ass handed to him by 38 year old Wawrinka
I'll preface my comment by admitting wholeheartedly that you were right on 08/02 and I was wrong. Not bolstering the bullpen was a fatal mistake.
My comment is that Lucas Sims has had all season to find the strike zone and continues to let his team down. If you're set-up guy can't be brought in with runners on base, he's not a set-up guy. As for Mr Greene, after four years (or so) , he's still a guy who can throw but can't pitch. If he doesn't figure it out before next Spring, they might be better off seeing if he could still make it as a position player.
This team deserved better. I wish I had more faith that it's feckless owners might do anything significant to improve things this off-season. But given the Castellinis' track record, that thought is laughable.
Don’t bet your house on the greater worldwide box office between Cocaine Bear and The Banshees of Inisherin. I thought both were better than ok for what they were. Of course, there is no better little Irish town movie than Waking Ned Devine whose box office was also (b)eaten by the Bear.
Good TML. Perfect description of the Reds performance in Arizona.
That Elly relay play was something else. My favorite three seconds in baseball are when the runner is flying around, the outfielder is still corralling the ball, and the shortstop is just lined up and waiting for his turn. Sometimes it feels like a full minute. Everyone knows we're getting a play at the plate, and it all depends on the throws. And boy oh boy did Elly unleash a great relay throw. That was fun to watch.
This team's gas tank is approaching E, and the alert light has been on for days.
I know the bullpen gave up the lead yesterday, but I refuse to put this blame on them. They have to be near the top in innings pitched (too lazy to look it up). They're also almost always pitching in tie or 1 run games, and often for at least 3 full innings per game. What's going on with this offense? When's the last time we handed the game over to the bullpen with a comfortable lead?
There's still a little bit of hope because there are 5 weeks left to play, but if this offense doesn't starting clicking they'll miss the playoffs. Which...honestly, is probably better than making it and getting destroyed in the first round.
They have 4 among the top 3o RP in appearances + Sims (54) in the 2nd 3o, but only 2 midway on the top 3o for innings pitched. This sharing of the load is a feature of the OMG (one inning, max effort) system. This is how it's supposed to work (effectiveness begins to start falling off around 2o pitches per appearance, also making rest/recovery/rebound time lengthen), yet Bell is constantly derided for sticking to it. Play around with the sort feature: G vs IP
I wouldn’t disagree that the Reds need pitching help but the offense has dropped off dramatically since the All Star break. Just ask Ashcraft. He should have 3 or 4 more wins if they would score some runs for him
Yes! Finally someone else calling out the coaching. There will be cold streaks but the whole lineup is going through something. What happened? They had much better plate appearances early in the year. Some games they look just plain unprepared for the pitchers they're facing.
My grandkids don't listen to me now or in the future. I'll keep my opinions to myself. I still don't think there was anything out there obtainable LORENZEN excepted. There were zero relievers that I would have given two Marti's for. I'm still of the opinion they have enough to leak into the playoffs. As my wife always says to me, "Stop being Ned Negative." You'll do better tomorrow.
'Cocaine Bear' was on in the background at the Bachelor Pad nine of my closest friends and I were at in Louisville this past weekend, as we all celebrated one of our best mates ending his bachelor-hood. Yes, we did do two stops on the bourbon trail. Yes, Makers Mark is an awesome tour, even if their bourbon is middling! As you correctly proclaimed, 'Cocaine Bear' was neither scary nor funny in its attempt to be a cult classic. What would have made a great film was focusing more on how the cocaine got to Tennessee in the first place, and to also show the Bear becoming addicted to cocaine. Lots of missed opportunities = a snoozer of a wannabee cult classic. Watching my inebriated friends 'play' pool was vastly more entertaining.
The Reds are sticky, that's for sure. I can't wait to see them, then when they die in the 8th or 9th inning, I can't wait for football. Do we know if UC is on TV this season and not streaming somewhere else?
The song was melancholic for sure.
Speaking of thump.....just sitting here, watching Adam Duvall hit another ball out of Fenway to, temporarily, give the Red Sox the lead over the Astros. He hit 84 HRs over the course of his 4 years of platooning for the Reds, for the bargain basement cost of around 600K a year. This along with playing every outfield position at a Gold Glove level and filling in at 3rd and 1st when needed. Then of course, doing what the Reds do, they traded him at the deadline in 2018 to the Braves so they could avoid the dreaded "arbitration" word. Real classy move there.
After having World Series and Gold Glove success in Atlanta Duvall was a free agent this off season, and while he likely wasn't on the Reds radar, he sure is making the $7 million the Red Sox signed him for look like a power hitting bargain. Especially considering the Reds are paying Mike Moustakas $18M this year just to not be wearing their uniform.
Doc, believe it or not, I enjoyed your morning line today. Don’t be so hard on yourself, “you’re an incredible slouch“.
Cincinnatian J.J. Wolf is #45 in the world and deserves some local love. I caught the Shelton/Eubanks match at the WSO. They are exceptional athletes and deserve their ranking. Shelton serves above 130 mph regularly and throttled one at 141.
Still enjoyable to watch which is different than many many years previous. Still hopeful they can make a run. 🙏
We all can’t give our best effort every day…
But, as I often tell my kids, remember your best effort is often better than most so a good effort isn’t fatal!
Your take on the Reds is exactly how I feel about their whiplash rise and fall over the weekend. They have kept it close & pretty fun through the end of August. I will take that as a benchmark this year since it was never expected. We’ll see what this week brings…
No matter what we individually think about the Reds’ trade deadline, the reality for us all is that this is flailing franchise, sailing only in the direct the wind blows, never arriving anywhere. And no I’m not listening to Christopher Cross atm. I’m trying to rationalize the confidence so many of us have in an entirely unproven entity. An unproven ownership group, an unproven GM - there is no proof of concept here, hasn’t been for what, 30 years? So the confidence I encounter when bemoaning, or maybe more accurately said, bitching, about the Reds still baffles me. How are you so certain that any of this works? No one in this organization, in this city, has built a successful, winning MLB franchise, not in nearly 3 decades. And truth be told, the only reason the Bengals no longer fit here is because they sucked hard to get Joe Burrow. We don’t know winning here.
Once again I encountered someone criticizing the Angels for Lucas Giolito trade, once again emphasizing the TOP 100 PROSPECT surrendered for a RENTAL.
Does the 65th best prospect (now ranked 86 in the latest Serious Official Prospect Ranking btw) not pale in comparison to a starting pitcher bringing a 2.2 WAR to the rotation?
Since 2018, precisely 1 of the five 65th best prospects has become something. That would be Michael Harris II. Ok, you got me there. The others? Heliot Ramos, Danny Janson, Miguel Andujar, Garrett Mitchell. 20%, and I bet those are even better odds than prospects actually have of developing. If those are the odds our amateur, unproven front office is content to play then we should not be surprised that the Reds are always crapping out and never winning anything.
To be fair...they just wiped the slate clean last year and are still in the beginning stages of their new plan. You're right...so far ownership hasn't shown us anything across their long tenure. But I'm willing to be patient based on the early returns we're seeing now. Maybe that makes me a fool...idk. I think this team is set up for success (minus a few pcs). Still need a legit power threat, and there ARE holes to fill in the pitching staff (I still don't blame the pitching for where they are now vs before the AS break).
I will hold my thoughts on the Reds chances for 10 days. Giants, Cubs and Seattle. If still in it, I like our chances.
My view of the Fed Ex Cup is higher, Doc, mainly because I am enough of a golf nut to focus on the different swing styles and strategies that dominate the game now. Having home TV coverage on a giant screen and all the new camera tricks with the shot tracker and walking cameramen next to the players in the fairways and the green have increased my interest as well. There was a time long ago where I was a much better player and truly obsessed so that also helps maintain my interest. I was at last year’s Tour Championship for a day and toured East Lake so my course understanding is higher there too.
I agree it’s only money at stake and the PGA Tour is a mess, but it works for me as a fan. I no longer watch much baseball and soccer and tennis were never options for me, so summer TV viewing is pretty much little white ball from Thursday to Sunday. And I am glad they moved it out of September since NFL football takes over and the Bengals have returned from obscurity. Finally, it is a Ryder Cup year so that is something to look forward to in a month.
I will make a Rufus recommendation since that subject came up today. I watched the “The English” miniseries on Amazon Prime recently and found it excellent. It is a different kind of Western starring Emily Blunt with a constantly evolving plot and a Taylor Sheridan style approach to the truths about frontier life I had not seen elsewhere to date. It worked for me.
Doc, I know tennis is not your favorite sport but for those of us that are enthusiasts, there is a great crop of young US players in the top 50. 8 to be exact! Tiafoe, Paul, Sheldon, Fritz to name a few. The US men might not break through this year, but it’s just a matter of time!
Ok but been hearing that for a decade
I think the one that does it will be Ben Shelton. He seems to me to have the most talent. Maybe Tiafoe if he would concentrate more on his game and less on the hot dogging. Tommy Paul is good but I don’t think he’ll ever get over that hump and get to the next level it takes to win a grand slam. Fritz to me is a big zero.
Did you go to Mason? I was there everyday. Tiafoe got his ass handed to him by 38 year old Wawrinka
I'll preface my comment by admitting wholeheartedly that you were right on 08/02 and I was wrong. Not bolstering the bullpen was a fatal mistake.
My comment is that Lucas Sims has had all season to find the strike zone and continues to let his team down. If you're set-up guy can't be brought in with runners on base, he's not a set-up guy. As for Mr Greene, after four years (or so) , he's still a guy who can throw but can't pitch. If he doesn't figure it out before next Spring, they might be better off seeing if he could still make it as a position player.
This team deserved better. I wish I had more faith that it's feckless owners might do anything significant to improve things this off-season. But given the Castellinis' track record, that thought is laughable.
Don’t bet your house on the greater worldwide box office between Cocaine Bear and The Banshees of Inisherin. I thought both were better than ok for what they were. Of course, there is no better little Irish town movie than Waking Ned Devine whose box office was also (b)eaten by the Bear.
Good TML. Perfect description of the Reds performance in Arizona.
That Elly relay play was something else. My favorite three seconds in baseball are when the runner is flying around, the outfielder is still corralling the ball, and the shortstop is just lined up and waiting for his turn. Sometimes it feels like a full minute. Everyone knows we're getting a play at the plate, and it all depends on the throws. And boy oh boy did Elly unleash a great relay throw. That was fun to watch.
This team's gas tank is approaching E, and the alert light has been on for days.
I know the bullpen gave up the lead yesterday, but I refuse to put this blame on them. They have to be near the top in innings pitched (too lazy to look it up). They're also almost always pitching in tie or 1 run games, and often for at least 3 full innings per game. What's going on with this offense? When's the last time we handed the game over to the bullpen with a comfortable lead?
There's still a little bit of hope because there are 5 weeks left to play, but if this offense doesn't starting clicking they'll miss the playoffs. Which...honestly, is probably better than making it and getting destroyed in the first round.
They have 4 among the top 3o RP in appearances + Sims (54) in the 2nd 3o, but only 2 midway on the top 3o for innings pitched. This sharing of the load is a feature of the OMG (one inning, max effort) system. This is how it's supposed to work (effectiveness begins to start falling off around 2o pitches per appearance, also making rest/recovery/rebound time lengthen), yet Bell is constantly derided for sticking to it. Play around with the sort feature: G vs IP
https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?pos=all&type=8&sortcol=5&sortdir=desc&stats=rel&pagenum=1&pageitems=30
It is always better to make the playoffs in baseball. Good enough to make it is good enough to not get destroyed.
I'm still haunted by 2010 when they first made it back into the playoffs.
As we all are. But that set the table for 2012.
I wouldn’t disagree that the Reds need pitching help but the offense has dropped off dramatically since the All Star break. Just ask Ashcraft. He should have 3 or 4 more wins if they would score some runs for him
Agreed. Hitting coach need not be kept on payroll.
Yes! Finally someone else calling out the coaching. There will be cold streaks but the whole lineup is going through something. What happened? They had much better plate appearances early in the year. Some games they look just plain unprepared for the pitchers they're facing.
My grandkids don't listen to me now or in the future. I'll keep my opinions to myself. I still don't think there was anything out there obtainable LORENZEN excepted. There were zero relievers that I would have given two Marti's for. I'm still of the opinion they have enough to leak into the playoffs. As my wife always says to me, "Stop being Ned Negative." You'll do better tomorrow.