Douglas Adams Continuum (DAC)

It may be a bit early but when pitchers and catchers start showing
up you can feel the hope springing eternal and what not.

Let's start with a bit of total mind bending stupidity. Either this guy's
power rankings are a desperate attempt to Get Noticed through some
moronic controversy or he's in posession of a slug-level intelligence.
Either way, ESPN should be fucking embarrassed to employ him.

Because, yeah, the reigning champs, who return this year with almost
no changes to their core line-up, who dominated all of baseball last
year, have somwhow fallen all the way to the sixteenth best team
in baseball.

One spot ahead the Pittsburgh Pirates.



Four spots behind the Kansas City Royals.



Be ashamed, Eric Neel. Be very ashamed.

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Steal Compass. Drive North. Disappear.

twitter: @kensocrates

I'm scratching my head as to why the fella thinks Ryan Freel is such an important component of the Reds. He's a utility player at best and not exactly a monster at the bat. Sure, he's got hustle and we love that sort of thing here in Cincinnati but this guy is way off the mark. Freel isn't going to be a starter in the outfield in any way, shape or form unless 1) Jay Bruce doesn't pan out in Spring training and gets shipped to the minors or 2) Norris Hopper breaks a bone.

This ESPN tool has also completely ignored that the Reds made some improvements in their pitching. Harang and Arroyo are inked in for the starting rotation, Matt Belisle should be in there. Homer Bailey should finally get a permanent place there and the Reds today signed Josh Fogg from the Rockies. Throw in Francisco Cordero and David Weathers in the bullpen and this team should do a helluvalot better, maybe even a winning season.

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This has been another random act of nonsense.

So it begins. Or begins to begin. Technically the season
has already started but I feel like the Sox games in Japan
were glorified exhibition games, completely pointless. They
start for real tomorrow but meanwhile theres an assortment
of teams opening it up today, including a certain other team
with a rouge color scheme where, according to word on the
street, some lucky bastard is taking the day off to properly
honor Opening Day. Viva la baseball!

_________________
Steal Compass. Drive North. Disappear.

twitter: @kensocrates

As I mentioned you at that Kenosha Misanthropic Boozfest, it pisses me off no end that MLB has taken away the honor of the first game of the season from the Reds.

This is a bittersweet Opening Day. Joe Nuxhall, Chief Bender and Bob Howsam, all vital cogs to the Reds organization, passed away during the offseason.

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This has been another random act of nonsense.

Very cool and classy tribute by the Reds. The team is coming out for introductions. The entire team coming out wearing #41 and the name Nuxhall on the back on the back of their jerseys. And Harang has been given special permission to wear that jersey for today's game.

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This has been another random act of nonsense.

The Sox lose after being absolutely robbed on two back-to-back plays - one awful call at home after a magnificent slide and then an interference call at a slide into second where the runner hit the bag... Gah! Gah! It just enraged me. Oh well, I can't blame the loss on the umpires, especially not when Buehrle gave up seven runs in the second inning. This sport, I swear...

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Personally, I believe joblessness is one of the core prerequisites for creativity. - OZ

Cincinnati Reds color commentator Jeff Brantly says Edwin Encarnacion is not a clutch hitter.

Edwin disagrees.

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This has been another random act of nonsense.

Ken appears to be MIA so I guess it's up to me. Jon Lester, just off of beating cancer, threw a no hitter in the Red Sox's 7-0 victory over the Royals last night.

This story is really something special.

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This has been another random act of nonsense.

It really was a great moment. I didn't even realize it was happening
until about the 7th inning and then it was hold your breath time. Jon
Lester is a very unassuming young guy who's been through a lot and
handled it with real dignity. His reward has been to get the series
clinching win in last year's World Series and now a no hitter in front
of a rabid, adoring Fenway crowd. Good things do happen to good
people sometimes.

Terry Francona and he seem to have developed a sort of father/son
bond and the scene of the two embracing and exchanging words after
the no-no last night was some of the most genuine emotion I've ever
seen in a professional sports setting.

Footnote: Jason Varitek becomes the first catcher in history to catch
four no-hitters, having caught Hideo Nomo, Derek Lowe and, just last
September, Clay Buchholz. Not just dumb luck, there. Tek is as good
a man there is behind the plate when it comes to doing his homework,
handling a pitching staff and calling games.


Good stuff in Beantown once again.



And I'm not MIA. I just got a nasty knock on the melon and thought I was
Anson Williams for a few days. Again.

_________________
Steal Compass. Drive North. Disappear.

twitter: @kensocrates

File this under Why You Don't Want To Get Shitfaced And Run Onto
The Field Like An Ass At Fenway Park.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mke8NumjWo[/youtube]

_________________
Steal Compass. Drive North. Disappear.

twitter: @kensocrates

Nice blind side tackle.

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This has been another random act of nonsense.

Fight Night At Fenway.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikTlkRqPvuc[/youtube]


This was a fun, crazy game. Lotta history behind the Sox and
Rays bad feelings toward each other and the previous night
had some chippy play at second base with guys taking cheap
shots at each other on slides. Shields tries to make Coco pay
and all hell breaks loose.

Watch the amazing cheap shots thrown by Johnny Gomes and
Carl Crawford, throwing haymaker punches at Crisp while he's
being held down on the ground by Navarro. Chicken shit stuff.

Coco even said that there was some hair pulling going on at the
bottom of the pile. Cheap, cheap, gutless shit.

Suspensions to follow.

Of course, the Rays only achievement with those tactics was to
guarantee a sweep of the series by the Sox, retaking first place
in the division in the process.

Suck on that, ya buncha little girls.

_________________
Steal Compass. Drive North. Disappear.

twitter: @kensocrates

So when does the fight start?

Went to the Sox vs. Royals game on Wednesday night! Exciting in small bursts, downright painful for long stretches. It was the first game we'd gone to in a long time, sadly. This one went to 15 innings and got rainy, but ended with a glorious Paul Konerko homerun. Great experience as always! What a life.

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Personally, I believe joblessness is one of the core prerequisites for creativity. - OZ

Junior hit home run #600 last night. He becomes only the sixth player to reach that milestone. The Reds will honor him tonight. This is in addition to it already being Joe Nuxhall night. Those of us lucky enough to go to the game tonight (me! me! me!) will have to bring a bang home for all of the freebies they're giving away.

The Kid is a class act.

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This has been another random act of nonsense.

Odd day in Cincinnati today. The Reds trade Griffey to the White Sox (enjoy, Puff) for a couple grunts and some green.

It's rather sad that Griffey and Cincinnati never worked out. He was brought in by then owner (and known terrorist supporter) Carl Lindner to win World Series. Only thing is, Lindner never bothered to build a team around him. Griffey got frustrated early and when the injuries started racking up, the town turned on him. It's sad because it really should've been a beautiful homecoming. Now, it's all acrimony and losing seasons and lost opportunities.

Hopefully, this is the beginning of a new chapter for the Reds. They've got a good core of youth and I think, probably, they just took the first steps towards returning to glory.

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This has been another random act of nonsense.

End of an era of sorts in Boston, as well, as the Red Sox finally
complete the inevitable divorce proceedings with Manny Ramirez.

How bad had things gotten and how badly did the team need to
get this guy out of town? Enough that they traded him (a 500
home run guaranteed HOF'er and still one of the most dangerous
right handed bats in MLB), seven million dollars (the remainder
of his contract this season) and two very decent youngsters off
of the current major league roster to get it done. All at the last
second before the 4 pm deadline which makes me think they
knew damn well that they had no choice whatsoever but to get
rid of him, he'd become such a cancer on the team, and would
have done whatever it took to get it done.

It's a shame, really. Eight years here (well compensated at an
average over 20 million per), two World Series Championships,
countless home runs and great moments and loads of good fun
all obscured now by the bitter taste of how it all ended with him
whining relentlessly about his contract status, dogging it on the
field, bagging out of important games, getting into confrontations
with teammates and Red Sox staff (including pushing down and
berating respected a 64 year old travelling secratary) and just
acting like a spoiled, petulant child.

Now, instead of leaving behing a glowing legacy as he could
have, it's Good Riddance from fans, teammates, management
and ownership alike.

Jason Bay, welcome in.

We'll see how he does in LA. Bigger outfield which will lead to
some adventures I'm sure. He'll be playing for a contract for
the first time in almost a decade so don't be surprised if he
goes out there and absolutely rakes for a while.

Pesonally, I hope the pressure gets to him and he flops.

Adios, Manny.

_________________
Steal Compass. Drive North. Disappear.

twitter: @kensocrates