Cincinnati Reds

I was nine years old in 1964 and just beginning to follow baseball.  It was the year of the Phillies' collapse.  However, the Phillies beat the Reds on the last day, crushing the Reds' hope of a one game playoff with the Cardinals, with the winner going to the World Series. 

The Cardinals beat the Yankees that year, ending a string of 29 of 46 pennants and twenty World Series wins.  No, Tim it was the Yankees, not the Stan the Man Cardinals.

This had the potential to be a much, much bigger series.

The fate of the entire universe was supposed to be decided this weekend, but given recent (shocking) events, the Reds find themselves eight games up, and the Cardinals are grasping at straws in the wild card chase.

The radar-gun indicated a wicked, nasty fastball, akin to a 100 mph car pursuit on the 5 Freeway to commute from Santa Monica to Orange County.

That is, only if you are a local resident and pay your property taxes here in Southern California.

But in another town, such as Cincinnati, the speed and heat is relevant to the Reds’ hitless reliever Aroldis Chapman, a flame throwing Cuban star on the rise when Cincinnati is contending for a postseason berth.

Cincinnati Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips complimented the Cardinals before our last series, saying they were a fun team, akin to playing with your female dog. He was wrong.

The St. Louis Cardinals are sissies.

Are the Cincinnati Reds the best team in baseball?

Valid arguments could be made against it, but they are the hottest. Since the All-Star break they are 29-14, going 21-8 through the month of August, the best record in MLB.

They never give up, winning 19 games in their last at-bat. Don't turn the TV off until the fat lady sings.

They are the youngest team with playoff aspirations, with an average age of younger than 28.

As a life long Cincinnati Reds fan, I've heard the stories; I know what this franchise has accomplished, what it stands for, and the deep impact it has left on the citizens of southern Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, and scattered points unknown.

However, here's the problem: as a 28-year old, many of those historical moments happened long before I was a gleam in my mother's eye.  

That, or I was simply too young to really remember them, such as the 1990 World Series champion Cincinnati Reds.

It's funny to see the number of moves a team makes to prepare for what they hope will be a postseason and then some.

It's been years, but Cincinnati is moving things like they have been playoff contenders for the last few years.

It is refreshing. You don't want to be a deer in headlights when the big time hits.

One phenom leaves, another appears.

Just days after Stephen Strasburg learned that he would be facing Tommy John surgery, Cincinnati Reds left-hander Aroldis Chapman hit the major leagues.

Just like Strasburg, Chapman made his debut with style.

In one inning of relief, the lefty worked a clean eighth inning in only eight pitches, striking out one.

Aroldis Chapman gets his shot

The Cincinnati Reds called up Cuban phenom Aroldis Chapman Tuesday night against the Milwaukee Brewers, trying to strengthen their bullpen for a postseason run.

By bringing up Chapman this late in the season, the Reds are able to pitch him in the playoffs and display his stuff against opposing hitters who have never seen him.

In a year of stunning rookie performances, Cuban defector and Reds uber-prospect Aroldis Chapman made his major-league debut on Tuesday, facing three batters in one inning of work. The 22-year-old was electric, hitting 103 mph on the radar gun.