Tuesday, May 03, 2005

Reds Nation Reverberating with Defeat

Good thing this only happens every 53 years or so. We dropped a six run lead in the ninth last night, and it isn't pretty. The fans are pissed. Danny Graves is hurt that the fans booed, because he was, after all, doing his best. No one is happy and no one should be. Let's sample.

Red Leg Nation on the defeat.

Danny's hurt feelings--Red Leg Nation.

More Red Leg Nation on Danny...shield your eyes from the topless photo.

Some highlights from the last article:

No team in baseball can get to the head of the class with the formula of players performing beneath what their contract is paying. A team in the middle or lower payroll bracket needs to have players that perform beyond what their contract is paying.

In his last nine appearances Graves has pitched 9.1 innings and allowed 16 hits, 8 walks and had only 3 strikeouts.

Word to the wise, don’t bet on Mr. Graves, diminutive RH’s are a dime a dozen and the sooner the Reds shed themselves of the above attitude then the sooner they can right the ship and get on with it.


JD at Red Reporter Weighs in...

And a key quote here...

Dan O'Brien is not the man to do this. Dave Miley is going to be taking a great deal of heat in the coming days and weeks, and I'd say there's a great chance that he's going to find himself out of a job by the All-Star break. But this is Dan O'Brien's team, and this Dan O'Brien's mess.

This is Dan O'Brien's bullpen that has imploded again and again in the past week.

This is Dan O'Brien's starting rotation that doesn't feature a pitcher who can get past the sixth inning.

This is Dan O'Brien's shortstop who has been a complete and utter waste of 70+ at bats (and counting).

This is his team. It's not Jim Bowden's fault anymore. Dave Miley, while proving to be something of a poor manager, shouldn't be the scapegoat.

No one forced Dan O'Brien to sign David Weathers. Nobody held a gun to his head and said that Joe Valentine had to come north with the team out of Spring Training. These are moves he's made and he deserves to take the consequences.


Finally, the new and improved Redszone weighs in--this is one of many threads.

Bottom line. It was an embarrassment. I'm sorry if Danny's feeling were hurt. Booing was the right thing to do. I would have booed, too. You should win that game. You have to win that game. The major improvement in this team was the bullpen--supposedly. Yet, they are continually getting lit up.

This is being measured as a new low point in the history of our franchise. I have my doubts about that, but we aren't swooning in July this year, we're swooning right out of the box. This team could easily lose 100 games.

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