Reds, Bats, New Friend, and Devils Baseball

     Good morning all. I'm coming to you live from a nice place on this planet, not so much this morning as there is rain, cool temps, and clouds. As some of you may know I am on twitter (@Tonester5) and have a great bunch of followers. The vast majority of these followers are Cincinnati Reds fans. (No one knows that I too am a Reds fan. Keep that quiet, don't want anyone to find out!!!!!)

      Lets reminisce back to April 2010, when many baseball experts had the Reds finishing no higher that third in the division. As we Reds Fans all know, the Reds team raked in wins all season long and won the 2010 NL Central Title. This was an accomplishment only a few of us die hard Reds fans even saw as a remote possibility (I predicted the title win on April 6, 2010). We all celebrated like school kids getting out for summer break running around, yelling, jumping, and boasting our teams greatness. All was well in Reds Nation, even though our team was swept by the Phillies in the playoffs.

     Excitement for this season was at an all time high for me and many other Reds fans. Talk was about how young our team is, how much talent we have, and totally about winning. Recently, I've had a hard time reading some of the tweets from my fellow Reds friends. Now, all of a sudden, the talk is not that the team is very good or awesome, but exactly the opposite. To the point that some players are not as good as we need and the team is bad. My question to all Reds Fans is: How did some of us go from being positive and excited, to being down on our boys and negative in the span of a couple months?

     My mantra is to be positive all the time, because the fifteen years prior to 2010 we Reds fans didn't have much to cheer about. Just think, we could go back to the years of finishing last or second to last in the Central. I for one, like where the team is and in no rush to go back to the bottom of the league. REDS NATION - stay positive. The team is very good. Lot of games left, they will be on top soon. I'm calling it now, mark it down.

     On Thursday June 9, 2011, I met up with a fellow Reds fan (@jgranger) to attend a Bats v. Chiefs Triple A baseball game in Syracuse, NY. I had never met Jeff in person prior to the game. We only tweeted each other from time to time, and made plans to meet up to see our Farm Hand Reds. My girlfriend and Jeff's wife both asked us the same thing, "What if you meet the guy and he is an Ass?!" Our answers were pretty similar in that we could both fake it to see the game at least!!!! LOL All that being said, we had a blast and I have a new friend, his name is Jeff Granger (he's the guy in the Jay Bruce jersey!). http://twitpic.com/59oq9t  We are going to try to make going to a game a tradition. I'm in.

http://twitpic.com/59jfnc Corky Miller and Sam LeCure warming up pregame.

http://twitpic.com/59jguy  http://twitpic.com/59olcx Sam singed my baseball. Great pitcher and even better person. I'm officially Sam's biggest fan. (geesh, I'm just a little kid at 40)

http://twitpic.com/59jkl7 Louisville Bats players autographs.

http://twitpic.com/59onjv Sam pitched one inning of scoreless baseball, 3 up 3 down.

Yonder Alonso hit a Homerun that hasn't come down yet. The guys fought the entire game and almost pulled it out, but the Bats lost 4-3. (Jeff, thanks for the great pics.)

     On a lighter note, my baseball team the Devils beat the Padres 7 to 4. It was our first win over the Padres in my 4yrs on the team. The game was by far the most solid all around defensive, offensive, and fundamental game we have played this season.

     My stat line - 2-5 2 singles, 1 run, 1RBI, 2 ground outs, and 1 big swinging K. I injured my right heel in the 6th inning and played hurt the rest of the game. I'm still gimpy but not going on the DL. Next game Thursday at the Univ of Rochester.

Feel free to post any comments or questions. Thanks and Cheers from the Cheap Seats.