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From news of the day to news of the weird, John Fay provides a glimpse of what it’s like to cover the Cincinnati Reds

John Fay
John Fay has been the Reds beat writer for the Enquirer since 2001. Prior to that, he served in a variety of roles for the Enquirer: backup Reds writer, UC beat writer, backup Bengals writer and as a general assignment reporter. He is a Cincinnati native and a graduate of Elder High School and the University of Dayton.

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Sunday, August 26, 2007

Reds 9, Marlins 3

After last Saturday's game, I shared an elevator at Pfister in Milwaukee with Pete Mackanin and his wife.

I said, "Well, I just wrote that you guys are still in race."

"Somebody had to say it," he said.

That was night he said: "You win eight or 10 in a row, and you never know."

I don't know if it was psychological ploy or wishful thinking. But the Reds have won seven of eight since then and are 6 1/2 games back. They've done it with a makeshift rotation. But when you're scoring a ton runs and bullpen is pitching well, you don't need seven strong innings every night. When you get a start like Tom Shearn gave the Reds today, winning looks easy.

The mathematics of winning the Central are still daunting. If the Cubs go 16-17 the rest of the way, the Reds would have to go 22-10, just to tie. But, you've got to admit, it's starting to feel like the Reds have a chance.


21 Comments:

at 5:21 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Justin said:

"Series Prediction:
Friday: FLORIDA 6 REDS 3
Saturday: FLORIDA 11 Reds 7
Sunday: FLORIDA 9 Reds "

Better keep your day job. No partial credit here.

 
at 5:50 PM Blogger Brick said...

It would be one of the best stories in sports and one of the greatest comebacks. I'm pullin' for these guys! Following these Reds has become fun again!

 
at 6:01 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

kinda crazy, ain't it?

 
at 6:28 PM Blogger Gerry said...

I admire the enthusiasm to get the Reds to the post season but I feel it's too much to ask for to win probably 23 of the remaining 32 games with a limited amount of adequate starting pitchers. If we had a decent rotation and bullpen we wouldn't be in the situation we're in now!

 
at 7:29 PM Blogger Tom Hehenberger said...

It is certainly nice that the Reds are showing some signs of life here near the end. But the problems remain--a starting rotation that still needs help and consistency, a bullpen that still coughs up too many runs in the late innings, and an overall team that never seems to take much interest in playing until it is really too late. I wonder if Pete Mack is really the answer here for next year--could we please look outside the organization to find somebody that could pull an entire good season out of this team?

 
at 8:10 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

HELL YES WE DO!! 6 REMAINING WITH EACH...CARDS, CUBBIES AND BREWCREW. GO REDS!!!
TIM WHITE-GOOSE CREEK,SC

 
at 8:21 PM Blogger Tyler W. said...

I won't officially be on the playoff bandwagon until the Reds are at least a .500 team but it's so fun just to watch this team play ball right now regardless of the standings!

I read the AP recap of today's game and Griffey called this team the "Little Red Wagon" (obviously in reference to the BRM). I think the team should adopt this as their moniker for the rest of the season because it fits 'em like a glove! Everyone expected the Big Red Machine to win, you can't say that about this team. But as long as they keep winning, maybe they can ride that little red wagon all the way to the top of the NL Central!

Go Reds!!

 
at 9:01 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

I would counter that statement about not expecting them to win. This is the best team in the NL right now. The Mets series will be the key to judge this team.

It was obivious the Reds were the dominant team this weekend, and this should continue through the Pirates. The games against the Mets will set the tone for September. Pretender or contender... for the those who have already switched over to the Bengals, that series would be the wake up call for Cincy.

I expect this team to win. The 3-4 good guys in the bullpen (Stormy, Bray, Burton and maybe Maj) finally can finish games. ne request, don't pitch Stanton again. He sucked the life out the crowd when walked on to the field. The crowd was jumping until they saw him... he killed home field advantage of the 10th man.

Adrian

 
at 9:17 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

John,

What is the last date to be on the active roster to be eligible for the post-season? Do you think the Reds will seriously consider getting Marcus Mcbeth on the active roster to be eligible for the post season? He has filthy stuff and would say he would make an outstanding addition to the Weathers, Burton, Bray, Magic Man rebuilt bullpen. Anyone rember what Fransico Rodriguez ment to the Angels in 2002?

My vote for off the Island would be Mike Stanton.

 
at 10:05 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

I find it truly amazing how many harsh critics there are in this crew. You'd think the Reds were having a year like the White Sox. Virtually all of you have declared this team dead and buried, and bitterly critized Castellini, Krivsky, Narron and Mackanin for this decision or that one. But the eye in the sky does not lie. This team is playing tremendous baseball now that everyone is finally healthy, and while the Reds may not win the division or the pennant they have a fighting chance, something that seemed virtually impossible less than 2 or 3 weeks ago. Stop drinking the Kool-Aid. Give credit where credit is due. I would love to see the Reds pull this off and watch how long it takes all of you naysayers to jump back on the bandwagon.

GO REDS!!!!!!!!

 
at 10:52 PM Blogger John Fay said...

I'm not sure on the roster question. I think September call-ups can be on the roster. But you can't trade for a player in September and put him on the roster. I'll check on it when I get a chance.

 
at 11:01 PM Blogger Cheviot Sports Authority said...

Hold your pants on kids! The Reds are hitting the hell out of the ball right now. Hope it continues, but they are still 10 games under 500. I would love to see them win the division but its very unlikely with one reliable starter. Everything is going right for them now. Keppinger looks great but I doubt he will keep up the 370 avg, always knew
Valentin could hit, but Narron was too stupid or Krivsky wouldn't allow him to catch (not sure which). Dunn is having a great year, but he and Griffey both usually are finished by Sept 1, lets hope it things are different this year, but can't we at least wait and see before we give Pete Mackanin a lifetime contract. Whats the hurry, he's not going any where either.

 
at 11:31 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

the last world series win for the reds had the theme "hunt for red october". maybe this one is "the perfect storm". the reds are gelling and the central has to play each other quite a bit the next month, so they can maybe have everything fall into place and come through at the end of september.

who knows what the playoffs were entail, but who cares? getting in would be sweet.

 
at 12:58 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello. With the Reds only 6.5 out now, I am starting to (insanely, I think) believe that they have a shot so I put together a new song for Pete MacKanin. I hope you like it.

A Guy Named Pete (Not Named Rose)

 
at 8:42 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

The game Shearn pitched shows that the ability to "PITCH" is far more important than the ability to throw a ball through a brick wall. Shearn should remind real fans of Matt Morris... not overwelming stuff but the ability to set hitters up.

 
at 9:15 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Reality check!!! The guys underachieved earlier in the year and are overachieving now. We're getting close to being, record wise, where a lot of us thought they would be at this point in the year...it's just taken an awesome month of August to get there. First of July we were staring at a franchise worst record, now people are talking playoffs. It's just a massive shift in the balance of the season. I'm happy for the guys to get back to where we thought they'd be.

I also find humor in all of the Krivsky bashers now talking up Bray and Majewski...funny stuff! Go Reds...it's definitely been a roller coaster season, but it's a lot of fun now!

 
at 9:22 AM Blogger ewad said...

The odds are still long. BUT they now are close enough that there is a chance. The biggest reason there is a shot.... 6 games vs. Milwaukee, 6 games vs. St. Louis and 6 games vs. Chicago. Including the final 3 of the year.
If they can make hay against those teams the improbable could be possible.

 
at 12:51 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

HOW CAN KRIVSKY SLEEP AT NIGHT, KNOWING WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN IF HE HAD FIRED NARRON A MONTH SOONER?

It time to remove the "Interim" from Pete Mac's job title.

 
at 1:04 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

n the stock market you try to buy low and sell high. For us Reds fans, now is the time to sell.

 
at 2:24 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Any chance the Reds go after Bob Wickman?

 
at 5:33 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bailey Line on Saturday:

Homer Bailey (0-1) surrendered six runs on eight hits and two walks with four strikeouts over three frames in his first rehab start for Sarasota. --Marissa Rega/MLB.com

Yuck - not looking so good for Homer for the remainder of this year I'm afraid. No idea about pitch count strike/ball ratio but I'd bet he had problem with control again. Any idea John?

 
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