Moose pulled his Hummer into the stadium Valet area, tossed his key to the Hector the Hispanic kid who parked the cars.

"Hey, Moose you gonna hit one for me today? Called Hector

"Yeah kid - 3rd inning. I hit one out for you and you get me a date with your sister Eileen" "

Sure thing Moose you know she's only seventeen" replied Hector as he climbed up into the bright yellow machine.

 "Yeah but that's in Colombian years, Dude" Moose laughed heartily and walked across the short concourse and into clubhouse. He pushed past Spanky the clubfooted clubhouse manager, who fell awkwardly into the side of the scalding hot tub.. "Move it Spanks..I'm late.."

 "Soreeee Moose."

Moose scowled and made his way past the guys as they were dressing towards his double locker at the end of the row.

"Well looked what the fucking cat dragged in - you are late Pal" It was Rusty Potato the team's loquacious and inept good guy manager.

"Sorry Skip, I would have been here on time but it took longer than usual to please your daughter", This retort brought peals of laughter and under-the-arm fart sounds from the players as they good naturedly called out names like bi-eetch, hoe, skankette, skag and other pet names for the Skip's youngest daughter, Lucy.

Moose stood in front of his locker door mirror and gazed momentarily at his 6'5" frame and shaved head - God damn I'm a hunk he thought. He opened the door and there it was his uniform shirt #1 - Seaman.  Moose Seaman had shot through the minor leagues and this was only his 3rd season but already he was a team leader, starting first baseman and was beginning to think abut the big big big contract that loomed at the end of this season. "Yo, Senor Mouse" It was the slick fielding 2nd baseman of Pittsburgh Pirates Julio Julio.

"Fuck you Glue-Boy, you little hispo-faggot turd" Julio lifted his left leg onto the bench in front of his locked and bending over while clasping his knee with both hand ripped off a tremendous gaseous release.

"Who shit?" Called LaRonne Robinson? Robby was the Pirates leadoff centerfielder who also played point guard for the Boston Celtics.

 "Mexican Crop duster - Dive Dive Dive Dive" called out Charyles Suggs the Pirates backup catcher and practical joker! The clubhouse was roaring. Camaraderie  before a big game. This was what its all about thought Moose, this is the big time.

 "All right you jokers, everyone in the dug in 10" Called out Rusty Potato as he pulled a polished Austraillian Q-Tip from its silver carrying case and began to absently rub it behind his left ear "What a great bunch of guys..Man, I don't get why we are already in last place 9 games out. But hey its early, the law of averages says we'll get hot soon. "Lets go Duck" Rusty called to his pitching Duck Dickhouse who was still in the bathroom stall dropping a load" "Go on up Skip I'll done in about 15". Rusty headed up the hall towards the filed he was pumped.

While I sit around and wait for the ink to dry on RayMoan's contract, I am struck dumb by excitement that Hernandez's signing has caused especially at one of the places work. My secondary work place is full of about 25 blue collar guys from 28 - 67 yrs. of age. these guys are big time sports fans - they talk sports, they eat and drink sports...to a man they are excited and relieved that Hanigan will not be considered for the starter's job in 2010. When I attempt to discuss Hanigan's on base percentage and moving him up to the #2 spot in the line up I am literally shouted down. Now I know I'm right and they are wrong but I can see why the Red's management could be heavily swayed to give the fans what they want. In this case Hernandez. And that management probably agrees with them.

Interestingly these same guys have little use for Taveris, Jannish or Dickerson. They love the Rolen move, love BP, Bruce (to a point) and Votto too. Guys like Gomes, Ballentien and Nix are shrug offs, nobody thinks that they are 'The Real Thing' and that the Reds need a big stick in LF (these are same guys that really hated on Dunn). Also interestingly this group of sports addicts are high on Stubbs and Fransisco.

I see the nearly 25 guys I work with 2.5 days week (who are totally into Football and Basketball right now) as comprising the average fan. They believe that Castellini made millions off the team in 2009, that the the reason for a lower budget for 2010 is so that Big Bob can make even more money, that the price to go to a game is outrageous and that we should be trading away guys like Harang and (many say) Jay Bruce for a proven veteran LF. Yet, half of these guys don't know who Todd Frazier is, 75% don't know Chris Heisey. Arroyo is their favorite pitcher with Voltron  Homer and Lehr next on the list. Pretty much to a man they think Harang is washed up.

Phil Castellini probably has had the same interactions that I have in talking to fans...hell he probably agrees with them. He'll pay attention to what fans say they want in an attempt to fill the seats. My guess is that this translates into a pretty boring and mediocre season for 2010.

The hopes I hold to is that Walt will pull off something...to spice up the roster or that one of the young guys will have a breakout Spring Training.

Enough of this as I really need to get to work on Slyde's novel.....

Well Gang ...no news on the Arbitration front, the FA front or anything regarding filling the missing holes in the Red's lineup for 2010. Sure its early but already the signs are prevalent: We go with what we got and hope against reality that somehow everything will come together and the Reds will be competitive...........

Meanwhile not a word from Slyde regarding my request to be his literary agent - Nothing from the Burgerfest gang about changing the nite to an evening when I can attend. .........

Justin talks of baseball suicide while Fat Vegas Alan reappears in the nick of time.........

Me...well I was pretty bored but after reading the recent posted commentary about the Reds having no money and the possibility of dumping BP and having Jannish as the starting SS...well that got my attention. Then again Spring Training is a ways off...who knows what may happen..............

More importantly we've UC Football 10 - 0 straining to break into the top 3 nationally. A good Xavier men's BB team, a good Xavier women's BB team, an interesting UC men's team and a less interesting UC women's team but a very interesting woman's new team coach. So a lot to keep us occupied until February. .............. Plus occasional installments of Slyde's novel are on the way. Really what more could you ask for in the middle of a severe and ongoing recession?

I have, at times, called for for the removal of Red's manager Dusty Baker. Although I'm frustrated by Dusty I've become more frustrated by the tactical mentality of MLB managers/management in general. The general baseball consensus on how teams should be organized, players utilized and monies spent is grindingly unimaginative and relies on the following premise: Create your team by determining the player roles and then sign or develop players to fill those roles. I believe that there is a consensus among most MLB baseball 'people' that management comes to agreement on the roles for their team and then proceeds to fill those roles with the best affordable players available. The expectation is that if those players perform their roles well enough - the team will contend.

This approach results in manager's trying to squeeze players into roles that they often aren't very good at performing, For example CF's are fast and make good lead off hitters, SS's are contact hitters who can 'move the runner over, good #2 slot guys - or you need to have a utility guy on your bench as the 'last resort' player and that guy is always the same guy - e,g, Paul Jannish or your best RH bat on the bench is your extra OF and he'll PH eve if he's not a good pinch hitter, no matter if there's a better option - e.g. Jonny Gomes and Micah Owings.

The converse approach would be to look at the specifics of each player's abilities and build the team around player's strengths. This approach makes sense for smaller market/lower payroll teams. It especially makes sense with a team like the reds who have a fair amount of exciting prospects and have guys who are able to to be flexible in their roles.

The Reds appear not to recognize that there is more than one way to skin a cat, Even Chris Welsh has defended Dusty's use of Wily Taveris as recently as this week, stating: (my paraphrase) "You have to stick with Taveris and let him work through this slump. He is the team's Center Fielder and you go with him, that's why he was brought over here to play center field and be your lead off hitter". Then yesterday (after I'd been thinking Doc Rogers was starting to see the light) I heard Doc say (my paraphrase)"The loss of Alex Gonzales is a tremendous one as he is one of the finest shortstops in the majors. Because he's been injured I forgot how incredible of a defensive shortstop he is and he's a good contact hitter and is exactly what the Red's need to bat 2nd in the order".

Why not abandon this archaic approach and change it around a bit? Sparky Anderson was only 36 years old he took the helm of the Reds and by the time the BRM was winning back to back WS he had instituted some pretty innovative tactics. He gained the nickname 'Captain Hook' because he didn't wait around until the 7th or 8th inning to replace a pitcher who was struggling on a given day. The 'role' of a starting pitcher wa to go out and pitch until the 7 or 8th even if they were getting hit pretty badly or more importantly they were expected pitch to players who were poor match ups...the manager would leave a pitcher in to face a hitter who 'owned him' or was on a hot streak (etc) and then after the batter beat the pitcher the manager would remove the pitcher. Not Sparky he didn't wait around he was afraid to use his bull pen extensively and successfully. He also moved players around position to position, Tony Perez from 3rd to 1st to keep his bat in the line up, Rose from LF to 3b to get Foster into the line up. He had a fairly set batting order but would not hesitate to adjust it to the pitcher of the day. By the time 1976 rolled around Sparky was only 42 and had 6 years of MLB management experience and had won back to back WS. Certainly the Red were a very talented team but it was how Sparky utilized the talent that made it work, esp, the again the bullpen. So maybe we need some younger managers in this game.

The average age of a MLB manager is 54.2 years old. From my viewpoint that's actually not very old. From a corporate or business point of view age 55 is prime time. From an academic, artistic or professional(Dr. Lawyer, Architect, Indian Chief) 50's to 60's are about the prime ages when folks are just hitting their stride. This doesn't seem to be the case in baseball. by the time the average manager is 55 hie is so myopic and unimaginative that the only thing that saves his team from a losing malaise is the amount of sheer talent on it. I think that the Reds need a young and fresh manager,By fresh I mean one who understands the accepted approach to managing but also has the creativity and courage to get of of the box and play to the player's strengths and not be so rigidly consumed with roles. who knows in this scenario Paul Jannish might even get a chance to play.

I missed the end of the 2nd Royals loss. I went to The Land of the Lost w/my 11yr old grandson…He liked it, (B-)– I thought it was the worst Will Farrell flick yet…BUT on the way home we Listened to WLW and Doc Rogers and Doc was sounding like an honorary member of RR. He was firmly and loudly (as loud as Doc gets) calling for:;

1, Dickerson as the everyday CF – Doc says he’s earned it, Wily Taverus was a mistake…sit him..let him come off the bench…Doc was talking OBP, BA and defense, says C-Dick is the better all around player.

2. Jannish to be given a fair chance play 3B. Said that 46 PAs weren’t enough to think that PJ has earned a job, but he should at least be getting looked at because Pete (that’s what he kept calling him) Rosales is a back up player who has peaked.

3. Jerry Hairston Jr. to be in the line up the majority of the time – although Doc doesn’t see Cherry as a full time player…he’s a fan of Cherry’s versatility and finds value in his experience as a long time MLB player. He doesn’t understand why Cherry wasn’t used in the last two games. He wants Dusty to use him to give Bruce a day off, BP, a day off, Gonzo a day off..He was saying that Jerry Jr. while not a starter, can be a spark that ignites the offense and that right now it is crucial to get this offense going.

He also seemed annoyed that the Reds haven’t been more forth coming about Joey Votto’s circumstances – although at the same time he was extremely supportive Joey’s situation. I usually find Doc kind of a ‘play the game the right way’ kind of guy who is pretty loyal to and supportive of Dusty and Walt. However, tonight he was sounding the alarm, "the Reds have to start winning or they are quickly going to find themselves 6 or 7 games back and out of contention" (my paraphrasing). Doc was sticking to his guns when the typical know-it-all Lance McCallister clones started called and bashing Dusty for stupid reason, and bashing Hairston ect. If a pretty conservative baseball guy like Doc is pushing for immediate change, maybe he it could influence Walt or Bob to step in and ask Dusty to shake up the line up and batting order.

Maybe Slyde , BK or Chuck or someone in power - jch (?) should call Doc and confer an honorary RR membership upon him....Well  at least present him with a Red Reporter Star of The Game status when Jannis, Jerry, and C-Dick all get a simultaneous start. This is stuff that we’ve talked and written about a lot recently, but Doc hits it on the head when he says that it is crucial that these changes be immediately implemented.

BTW Doc also believes that the red's pitching is plenty good enough to contend...just need some offense and we could be in the hunt until the fall.