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Thank-you for visiting Red Legs Watch, your definitive source for Cincinnati Reds baseball coverage!  We will keep you up-to-date with all of the news and rumors coming out of the Cincinnati Reds clubhouse, as well as keep a watch on what is going on in the rest of National League Central and the MLB.  The main content can be found on the Home page and in the Article Archive, but please check out our Submitted Articles section to see rants and raves from the Reds’ most vocal fans!

RLW received a slight and possibly temporary face lift, some content has been removed and/or condensed due to lack of time; currently we want to gear more towards editorials and less towards statistics.  Eventually, with added links, would like to become a useful Reds portal with editorials and a successful forum. 

From the Clubhouse…

 

From the Clubhouse is where you will find all of the up-to-date news tidbits straight from the locker room of the greatest team in the history of baseball!

 

-6/30 OF Austin Kearns needs surgery on thumb, out for at least four weeks.

 

-6/20: Ken Griffey Junior hits career HR #500, a solo shot off of M. Morris.

 

-6/18: SS Juan “Fidel” Castro, RF Austin Kearns, and RHP Aaron Harang set to return after AAA rehab starts during this week’s road trip.

 

-6/9: SS Barry Larkin battling lower abdominal strain.

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Last Updated:

July 2, 2004 at 4:30 PM EST

 

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Reds’ Magical Season

Posted By: Josh Nuhn

RLW Featured Columnist

June 7, 2004

 

             A quick run-down of top-shelf starting pitchers that the Reds can’t afford, yet the Reds have beaten in games they have started. It looks like a perennial all-star team in itself: Dontrelle Willis, Roy Oswalt, Andy Petitte, Roger Clemens, Josh Beckett, Greg Maddux, and Kerry Wood. There are nine Cy Young Awards between Maddux and Clemens, and Josh Beckett is the reigning World Series MVP.  Meanwhile, the Red Legs put pitchers on the mound with names such as Lidle, Van Poppel, and Wilson. These are names which the average baseball fan would easily skim over while reading the morning newspaper. In this aspect, among others, there are signs of a magical season for the Cincinnati Reds.

             There are a few obvious consistencies in the last two World Series champions, the Angels and the Marlins that ring true with today’s Reds. They didn’t start out as favorites. Neither bought their rings with expensive free agent signings. It was simply their year. Old veterans got an extra spring in their step, and young stars were born.

             Luckily, the Reds have a sleeping giant by the name of Ken Griffey Jr. The 12-time Gold Glove winner and 11-time All-star has fought multiple injuries since joining the Reds in 2001. The injury bug hasn’t hit this year for Griffey and the results are spectacular so far. He seems to plant the ball in Right Field with no effort whatsoever.

             Yet, what is a great power hitter like Griffey without the pieces around him? Ask Barry Bonds, who breaks the Major League walk record every year.  Sean Casey currently leads the Major Leagues with an average of .377. Always a good contact hitter, Casey is achieving unprecedented power numbers with 10 homers and 42 driven-in. Adam Dunn is tied with Griffey for the Major League lead in homeruns, with 17. This leads to a recurring theme late in ball games this season for the Reds. Pitch to Sean Casey: you pay the price. Walk Casey to get to Griffey: you pay again. Walk Griffey to get to Dunn: yeah, you pay the toll once more. When the middle of the lineup is filled with such talent, there is no one you can pitch around and it becomes a self-perpetuating machine. A Big Red Machine, if you will.

             The other part which is contributing to the Reds magical season is the pitching. Former cast-offs and has-beens are becoming consistent producers for the Reds under Pitching Coach Don Gullett. Paul Wilson was the No. 1 pick for the Mets in 1994, and they still gave him his walking papers. He is now second in the majors with 7 wins. Todd Van Poppel has probably been on more teams that he can remember, yet has performed amazingly. Jose Acevedo is 14^th in the National League in strikeouts. Cory Lidle has shaved almost a full 1 ½ runs off of his ERA from last year. Not to be forgotten, former Reds 5^th starter Danny Graves leads the Major Leagues with 26 saves under his belt. Whether Gullett owns a magic wand or not is still under investigation.

             No amount of money can win you the World Series. Just ask George Steinbrenner. What counts in the end is having the team chemistry that propels the team into one single magical season. With the Reds’ hitting and pitching functioning on all cylinders this year, and sitting atop the NL central by a full two games, it is time for all Reds fans to buckle up for a ride they haven’t seen since 1990.

Now That We’re Off His Back, Let’s Stay Off

Posted By: Matt

RLW Featured Columnist

June 10, 2004

 

           Ah, it is already June 10, 59 games in to the season and Griffey is still healthy; what a beautiful sight.  Of course now that he is healthy and doing good, you have the occasional naysayer piping up “well its about time he did something!” (as if his 11 All-Star seasons and 12 AL Gold Gloves isn’t “something”).  Other then that the only thing that can be heard in the Greater-Cincinnati area is the buzzing of the plague of cicadas that has hit the tri-state because there certainly hasn’t been a peep out of Griffey’s critics.  The Kid is hitting .254 in 209 plate appearances, seeing time in 56 of the Reds’ 59 games.  He has 17 round-trippers, which is good enough to be in second in home runs in all of the majors, behind teammate Adam “Git ‘R” Dunn and tied with NL Central rival Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals and Jim Thome of the Philadelphia Phillies. Junior’s RBI count of 48 sits him beside Vinny Castilla and Lance Berkman and tied for 2nd in the NL and 4th overall.  It has earned him his 9th Sports Illustrated cover (3rd with the Reds) and has vaulted him to the forefront of the All-Star Voting where he might earn himself what would be his 1st NL All-Star Team start.

              Needless to say, Griffey is Griffey again and it answers the question of whether or not he could ever rebound from the injuries he has been battling over the past few seasons that were not his fault; I REPEAT: WERE NOT HIS FAULT.  When was the last time you were just doing what you were supposed to be doing and happened to get injured and placed the blame solely upon your own shoulders?  Because that’s what some of the fans have been expecting of Griffey.  He was just doing his job, gets injured, which happens in sports, and then got booed by his own team’s fans in his OWN HOMETOWN.  Absurd.  We’re lucky he even stuck around considering he took a contract that was practically half of what he could’ve gotten from the Mets to come back to where he called home as a child and where his dad played as part of the “Big Red Machine,”  all to get booed. 

             Now let me tell you why we’re lucky he stuck around.  When healthy, he is one of the best players in the game offensively and defensively.  He puts fans in the stands and confidence in the up and coming guys in the clubhouse.  And when you stick him in the batting order between Sean Casey and Adam Dunn, he just creates all sorts of havoc.  Walk the leagues top hitter in Casey to get to Griffey, he makes you pay.  Now you feel obligated to walk Griffey to get to Dunn, the leagues top home run slugger, and he sees better pitches and also makes you pay. Not to take anything away from Casey or Dunn because they are two of the best hitters in the game with or without Junior; but Griffey is the icing on the cake and we all know the Three Stooges weren’t as good without Curly.

             Griffey has battled injuries that he couldn’t help and successfully fought back to his old form.  He has taken a lot in the form of harsh criticism essentially from the get go.  He’s expected to be the savior in 2000 in which the Reds finished in a tie for the wild-card and lose the tie-breaker game and Junior Griffey is apparently the one to blame.  Yet he still found the will to want to persevere for Cincinnati, not for San Diego, (where he would’ve gone if he didn’t veto that HORRIBLE idea of a trade that would bring in Phil Nevin to fill Griff’s slot) and for that I commend him.  In closing, if I had one piece of advice for the certain fans of Cincinnati that this applies to: now that you are off Griffey’s back, could you please stay off. ~

Last Game: June 29, 2004

Loss 6-7

W: A. Leiter (4-2)

S: B. Looper (15)

L: J. Acevedo (4-7)

 

Current Series: 2-1 (NYM)

 

Next Game: July 2, 2004

CLE at CIN

SP: K. Tadano (0-0) at

A. Harang (4-2)

7:10 PM EST

TV:FSOH

Radio: AM 700 WLW

           AM 980 WONE

Don’t Count the Reds Out Yet

Posted By: Matt

RLW Featured Columnist

June 15, 2004

 

           Earlier in the season, it seemed as if the Reds had been making a living with late inning heroics to pull a win from the tightly clinched jaws of defeat.  However, lately, the Reds have been doing everything in their power to let early leads turn in to disgusting losses, with little to no sign of the late game rallies of the past.  From a team standpoint, the Reds have hit rock bottom, yet they certainly haven’t hit rock bottom in their division standings.  In fact, despite seven straight embarrassing losses, the Reds are a mere two games out of first in a dead tie with the Cubbies.  Now, simply still being in the hunt does not justify the lackadaisical defense, poor pitching, and somewhat questionable game management, but it might give hope with the thought that if you lose seven straight and are only two games out of first in MLB’s most competitive division, it might just be your year. 

             The fact of the matter that every team is going to go through slumps, especially when the pitching staff isn’t quite top notch in today’s standards.  But the mark of a good team as a whole if the ability to put the negatives in the past, pick up the pieces and move on.  At this point the Reds, and more particularly the Reds’ fans, need to realize that this season isn’t a bust yet, the team simply needs to stop the bleeding with a win, get good innings from the starting rotation to allow this battered bullpen to recoup, and hang in there until the disabled list empties out. It is far too early to throw in the towel now with the talent they have displayed prior to this derailing.  The team just can’t afford to let this bother them too much and neither can the fans, because, now more then ever, the players need the support.  So I say to all the fair weather fans who have already jumped off the bandwagon, be ready to jump back on because I have a feeling this team has  some late season heroics waiting for us later in the year reminiscent of their late inning heroics from the past.~

Captain Returns, As Do Late-Inning Heroics

Posted By: Matt

RLW Featured Columnist

June 18, 2004

 

             It was a series of returns for the Cincinnati Reds this past week. It was nice to see the captain Barry Larkin back on the field for the home stand against the Texas Rangers, and its obvious his presence made an impact.  It was also nice to see the return of the pitching staff after what seemed like a six-game vacation.  I was happy to see the return of Danny Graves to the mound AND his ability to land a save (last night), for the first time in twelve games;  and the most exciting return of all was that of the late-inning heroics and never-give-up attitude that we’d had come accustomed to in the past.   With Larkin’s game winning single in the 11th in game 1, games 2 and 3 also featured the Reds’ persistency from earlier in this season with rallies ignited by unlikely candidates such as Freel and Hummel. All this enabled the Reds to complete the three-game sweep, which was key.

             Coming off having two back-to-back three-game sweeps mounted against them on the road, the Reds did what every playoff caliber team does: take a deep breath, forget about yesterday and play for today.  It is one thing to scrounge up a win after a skid, but to come back home and host a sweep of your own? Impeccable. The Texas series speaks volumes about this team’s resiliency and the coaching of Dave “Smilin” Miley.  Amidst all of the commotion about Junior’s 500th career home-run, the Reds were able to get good innings from their starting staff, keep themselves in the game, wait for the runs to come in, and then seal the deal.  It will be interesting to see what transpires in Saint Louis; but at least we now know that this team can pick itself up after a slump and pick back up where they left off before hand.~

Junior Hits 500th as Reds Blank Cards, Avoid Sweep

Posted By: Matt

RLW Featured Columnist

June 21, 2004

 

           In came in the top of 6th off of Matt Morris Sunday in Busch Stadium.  It being Ken Griffey Junior’s 500th career home run in the form of a solo shot planted comfortably in the right field bleachers.  What ensued was a classy demonstration from the Cardinals’ fans, 42,000 plus, who gave Junior Griffey two standing ovations as he celebrated with his friends, family and teammates.  The home run was the final run of a 6 - 0 beating of the NL Central leading Saint Louis Cardinals, a win that allowed Cincy to avoid the three-game sweep and break a nine-game road losing streak.

             The Cardinals went scoreless thanks to a four hit shut out from the combination of Bong (6 innings, 3 hits), White (1 inning, 1 hit), Riedling (1 inning, 0 hits), and Matthews (1 inning, 0 hits).  This was the best pitching performance we have seen in quite some time from this Cincinnati staff and it couldn’t have come on more magical day. 

             The win helped keep the Reds in the NL Central Division hunt solidifying sole possession of 3rd place, one game behind Chicago and three games behind first place Saint Louis.  The Reds now head to New York and then Pittsburg with three games at each stop before settling back in at Great American Ball Park.  The Reds will face the Cardinals again when they visit GABP for a three-game series June 26th - 28th.~

Reds’ Win Two Straight, Salvage 3-3 Record on Road Trip

Posted By: Matt

RLW Featured Columnist

June 24, 2004

 

           Now that the hustle and bustle of Griffey’s 500 home run chase is behind them, it does seem as if the Reds are slowly but surely returning to early-season form.  Cincy took the last two from the Mets at Shea Stadium to salvage a 3-3 record on their most recent road trip; a far better offering in comparison to their road trip to Oakland and Cleveland, also of the six game variety, that handed them six straight losses and sent them scrambling for answers.

             The win was key to their improvement as the Reds have struggled on the road as of late and it seems as if the Reds have improved overall since Griffey finally hit the elusive 500th home run of his career.  The team, including Griffey, claimed that the historic chase was not affecting their performance, and maybe it didn’t; but now that the hype is over and the pressure is off, the Red Legs are able to just go out and do what they’ve been doing all year and that’s play good baseball.  Of course there will be the blown saves, fielding errors, and bad games, but as long as the Reds continue to do what they are doing, they will still be in the hunt come October.

             Not only did the win help improve their road confidence, but with the Cards and the Cubbies going at it in St. Louis,  the Reds simply needed to win today and by tomorrow they would either be A) tied for 2nd or B) be only two games out of first place with a nine game home stand in front of them (where they have been red hot as of late). Things are still looking good for the Reds and though I enjoyed the home run chase, I must say that if the last two games in Shea are any indication of the post-500 era, I’m kind of glad the chase is over.~

            

NL Central Standings