An Interesting Time in Reds Country

Perhaps if I began writing this last week, my fingers would fly about the keyboard, singing the praises of Babe Bruce Almighty as if some kind of divine inspiration was controlling my every word. As it is however, the weather in Cincinnati is hinting of Armageddon and Reds fans are faced with the reality that has haunted this team for years: playing on the road. Just as every bolt of lightning comes with a following rumble of thunder (certainly relevant in Cincinnati since the Reds left for Philly), our Jay Bruce boom must bust. Reds country is (was?) abuzz for two main reasons:

1.) Jay Bruce. He has finally come down from his holy throne (paradoxically Kentucky) to save the Reds from yet another losing season. Reds fans haven't had anything to be excited about like this since around this time last year. Remember Homermania? I have a feeling this excitement will last though, but I wouldn't count on Bruce hitting .600 all season. He'll probably end up at .475 with 100 homers and one jillion RBIs, swiping about 1200 bases.

2.) Griffey's chase for 600. This has certainly fallen to the wayside with the performance of Jay Bruce, but when he hit 599 with Bruce on base, that had to be a humbling moment for the young rookie. After all, Bruce grew up idolizing Junior and now he's going to be on the team when Griffey joins elite company in the 600 Club. Bruce claims he didn't steal the show from Junior when he hit his first career homerun (which happened to be a walk-off), but instead claimed that Junior is the show.

Griffey's career here has been unfortunate; it's been plagued with injuries and filled with losing teams, but being just one swing away from his 600th homer, the amazing career of Junior is getting well-deserved attention. Of course there are other players entering the record books this year, most notably Manny Ramirez who just hit his 500th homerun. But Manny hitting his 500th homer elicits a "good job, little buddy" response, one someone might give a 5-year-old when he correctly ties his shoes for the first time. This is Ken Griffey Jr, though. With all the steroid nonsense, Junior is the face of honest, successful baseball careers and is now about to do what just 5 (*) other players in the history of baseball have ever done.


Another thing definitely worth mentioning that has added to the excitement surrounding the Reds of late is how well our young talent has produced. Joey Votto is a definite front-runner for the NL Rookie of the Year award, boasting a 3-homer game against the Cubs last month. Weeks before teammate Jay Bruce was called up, rookie shortstop Paul Janish delivered a morale-boosting single to win in extras in his major-league debut, and the pitching of Edinson Volquez has stifled big league hitters with his MLB-leading ERA of just 1.46. He starts tonight against the surging Phillies, but hopefully he'll be able to get the momentum back for the Reds. Jerry Hairston Jr, though not exactly a prospect, has also provided the Reds with some offense. He has assumed the lead-off role with great success, and gives Dusty Baker tons of options, as he can play basically anywhere in the field. Rookie Danny Herrera pitched a hitless inning against the meat of the Phillies lineup last night in his major-league debut, including 2 strikeouts, making the Josh Hamilton trade look better and better.

Finally, Homer Bailey is scheduled to start Thursday, but not in the same way it happened last year. This time, the Reds are left with no options due to the poor performance of Matt Belisle and the injury of starter/reliever Josh Fogg. Homer is a desperate call-up, but whatever he does Thursday has to be better than Fogg's last outing against the Braves.

This is of course not to say that all is well in Reds country, but with the help of Bruce Almighty and his disciples, the Reds have a shot at climbing the ladder in the NL Central and finishing well above the .500 mark.