Brandon Phillips! Winner, Winner Cardinals Dinner! Reds Win! 7/15/11

What a way for the Reds to start their post All-Star break run to the National League Central Division Title! Brandon Phillips hits a two-run, walk-off home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to beat the St. Louis Cardinals!

Brandon Phillips Greeted at Home! (Associated Press)

My wife Tammy and I went to the game at Great American Ball Park tonight. We were both there for the brawl between the Cardinals and Reds last year. Tonight's game was an emotional roller-coaster for me, but boy was it nice to see Brandon Phillips stick it to the Cardinals tonight!

One game at a time. Let's go Reds!

Remember Reds' fans, keep those (Pete) Rose-colored glasses on!

Have Faith in the Cincinnati Reds, My View Through (Pete) Rose-Colored Glasses!

I know the Cincinnati Reds have entered the All-Star break at 45 wins and 47 losses. I have been disappointed in their results so far this season. Coming off of last year's National League Central Division Championship I thought the Reds would be a team that ended up with 90 plus wins this year and a second straight playoff appearance.

In my mind there were two primary questions that the Reds needed to deal with that remained unanswered to my satisfaction following Spring training. Would Jonny Gomes prove to be effective as an every day left fielder? And was Paul Janish ready to be the every day shortstop?

The answer to both questions was no. I addition, many of what looked like strengths of the Reds coming out of Spring training have proven to be troublesome in the first 92 games of the season. Drew Stubbs has struggled at lead-off and currently leads the National League in strikeouts. Injuries and an ineffective Edinson Volquez have hurt the Reds' starting pitching. Paul Janish and his back-up Edgar Renteria have played so poorly at shortstop that the Reds were forced to promote Zack Cozart from their AAA Louisville affiliate. And if that wasn't bad enough, Francisco Cordero blew three straight save opportunities going into the All-Star break.

But I choose to look at the Reds and their prospects for the second half of the season through (Pete) Rose-colored glasses!

Scott Rolen is getting back to full strength. Joey Votto, Jay Bruce and Brandon Phillips are having All-Star seasons. Catching has been a positive for the team. And the depth of starting pitching may finally pay off.

The best news? The Reds are only 4 games back of Milwaukee and St. Louis in the National League Central. And they open the second half of the season tomorrow at Great American Ball Park against the hated Cardinals. It's not going to take major improvements in their weak areas to make a big difference for the Reds!

So, as a fan and the ultimate optimist, I can still visualize a National League Central Division Championship and a second straight playoff appearance for the 2011 Cincinnati Reds!

All the 2011 Reds need to do is to adopt Pete Rose's philosophy. As he famously said, "Somebody's gotta win and somebody's gotta lose and I believe in letting the other guy lose."

This weekend is a good time to start!

Opening Day in Cincinnati-"And This One Belongs to the Reds!"

This year it was my youngest son Michael's turn to go to the Cincinnati Reds' Opening Day with me. Cincinnati's Opening Day traditions are unlike any other in baseball.

Michael and Me at Great American Ballpark Today

It begins with the Findlay Market Opening Day Parade in downtown Cincinnati. Cincinnati Reds' Hall of Famer Joe Morgan (one of my all-time favorites) was this year's Grand Marshall. Over 190 bands, dance groups, floats, politicians and businesses marched in the parade, which followed a route from Findlay Market in the Over The Rhine neighborhood past Fountain Square, a total of 2 miles.

Of course Great American Ballpark was sold out for the game between the Reds and the Brewers. The sun was out, which made the 45 degree temperature quite bearable.

(The Enquirer/Cara Owsley)

The Reds won the game 7-6 in the bottom of the 9th on a walk-off 3-run homer by catcher Ramon Hernandez! It was a great way to end an Opening Day Game. Maybe this will lead to a wire-to wire World Championship like the 1990 Cincinnati Reds. My son Michael posted this on his Facebook Page:

Michael Sell

Best Reds game of my life. Perfect way to end opening day. Walk off by Hernandez. Unbelievable.




He is right!

Ramon Hernandez Greeted at Home Plate in the Bottom of the 9th

You can read all about the game on the Reds website:
Hernandez's Heroics lift Reds on Opening Day

Pete Rose at Opening Day 2011

It wouldn't be Opening Day in Cincinnati without a Pete Rose sighting in the ballpark. The crowd got a glimpse of Pete Rose in the 3rd inning, and he of course drew a big cheer.

I love Pete Rose, but the jacket and hat...someone needs to dress that guy!

The best lines about Pete's outfit were from Scott Van Pelt's (ESPN anchor and radio host) Twitter posts:

notthefakeSVP Scott Van Pelt 

Pete Rose.....transcendent http://twitpic.com/4fer6m

notthefakeSVP Scott Van Pelt 

Worth one more look @ ole Chuck Hustle just murdering fools in his Lid lifter get up (no annoying channel id) http://twitpic.com/4fesbx

notthefakeSVP Scott Van Pelt 

What happens to a dude? You just wake up one day and go- where's my clown hat and my Joseph and the amazing techincolor dreamcoat jacket at?