Fool's gold?

Yesterday -- after taking a 7 or 8 on the first hole -- I hit a hit a 5 wood to within 12 feet on a 177-yard par 3. Just missed the birdie putt and tapped in for par. If you watched that hole, you might be under the mistaken in impression that I'm a good golfer. I'm not. After that hole, I went back to usual array of shanks, pulls, slices and 3 putts.

The reason I bring this up is after watching the Reds in the final game of the recent homestand -- the 9-5 win over Houston -- you might have been under the mistaken impression that the Reds were about to roll. But after that win, they went back to usual array of missed opportunities, bullpen blowups, strikeouts and bad starts.

Both Doc and I talked to Bob Castellini that day. An optimistic guy by nature, he was convinced that a turnaround was in the offing. Looking back it would have been much more interesting to get his take if the Reds hadn't won that day.

The good news for Big Bob is good percentage of people are still ticked off. That shows that apathy hasn't set in yet. But it's only a few losses away. After that win, it seemed like a major shake-up was a ways away. Now, my guess is if the don't win two or three of the final five games on the trip, we could see something.

As for the moves, I'd make Marcus McBeth the closer and put David Weathers in the eighth. I'd rather get to the ninth than see games blown in the eighth. If McBeth works out, it's a huge bonus. I see the Chad Moeller move as indictment of Javier Valentin's pitch selection. Jerry Narron has questioned it a couple of times this year.