Biggest Home Series in a Decade

Biggest home series in a decade. Too nervous to focus longer then a few minutes. Here are some quick thoughts:

-After an amazing weekend in Chicago, I will refrain from Dusty bashing. He did pull Cordero Saturday instead of letting him blow it. I nearly ran on the field to take out Cordero myself after he hit Castro. Thank you Nick Masset. I will post some pictures tomorrow but suffice it to say it was very satisfying to go up there and be obnoxious after all the times I have had to put up with those assholes at GAB. Winning all 3 certainly helped. Now to whip up on the other obnoxious fans of the NL Central.

-The Reds traded Chris Dickerson for Jim Edmonds. Not too upset with this move. Dickerson could never stay healthy and had no place in the Reds future. Edmonds is a rental who will be gone next year so as to not block any of the young hitters in the minors. He also brings leadership and playoff experience and if he gets hurt, so what. We got him for practically nothing. At the very least he can give us some tips and steal some signs from his former club the next few days. He crushes RH pitchers and could be a great platoon with Stubbs and/or Gomes.

More tomorrow after the game. Go Reds!

Time for a Road Trip

In honor of the First Place Cincinnati Reds (never get tired of typing that) I am headed up to Chicago for the weekend series. A friend and I picked out this weekend early in April and had no idea the Reds would be in first place. Never in our wildest dreams did we think they would be 13.5 games better then the Cubs, .5 games up on St. Louis, and leading the NL Central on August 6th. Goes to show you what can happen when you get solid players and good pitching. Dusty has stayed mostly out of the way (now that Cabrara is hurt there is almost no way to mess this up) and the Reds have been awesome to watch. I will try and get some good pictures as we invade the Bar that happens to have a baseball field, also known as Wrigley Field. You will probably hear me since I will be one of the few people paying attention to the game and not the hotdog/beer guy/fat chick buffet that is Wrigley. Any suggestions for the trip? Taunts for Lou Pinella? I may even share in our mutual hatred of the one, the only, Corey Patterson. Have fun and Go Reds!

"Now its on to Chicago and let's win there," plus a food update

OK an RFK quote may not be the best. Especially when it was his last public statement before dying. Let's hope this isn't that last quote before the Reds season dies.

After winning the weekday series in Milwaukee 2-1, and a weekend series in Houston 3-1, the Reds stand at 7-5 and 5-2 on this 10 game road trip. Three games remain on the trip before the Reds return to Cincy for a weekend series with the Braves. Let's hope the luck continues.

Why do I call it luck? The Reds are 2 games above .500 despite being outscored by 10 runs. Teams that have a -10 run differential after 12 games should be 5-7. How have the Reds done it? Of the seven wins, only one has been by more then 2 runs. Of the five losses, three were by 6 or more runs. So either the Reds win close, or lose big. Usually those close games balance out and when they do, the Reds record will nosedive. Let's hope the bats wake up before that happens and a few blowouts can keep the Reds above .500. More in depth statistical analysis will come later in the week as guys gain more AB's but, suffice it to say, without Votto, this team would be Nationals-esque.

Food Update: OK, the chicken and hamburger helper have been put on the back burner this year but a new favorite has emerged. It is the slow cooker or crock pot. It is amazing. All you do is throw in a chuck roast, chicken breasts, or other large meat product, a few spices and seasoning, and some liquid for flavor and cook it on low all day. Come home 9 hours later, cook some rice and the meal is done. I suggest it for anyone who doesn't like to cook because it takes too much time. This takes 2 minutes in the morning and 5 minutes for the rice when you get home. Here are a couple quick recipes:

Chuck roast with a can of cream of mushroom soup.
Chicken breasts, barbeque sauce, and chili powder. Makes spicy BBQ chicken.
Pork tenderloin rubbed with any strong seasoning. and a little Teriyaki or soy sauce.

Rice-a-Roni always work with it.

Finish it off with a beer and a whole meal is done.

You're welcome.