Jay Bruce

Dusty Baker said, "We were hoping to celebrate here. It's better to do it at home, in front of the home people."

Jay Bruce tanked the rest of the NL Central with a solo-shot over Great America Ball Park's deep center field wall.  Quite fitting for a team that has rubber stamped this season on last at-bat heroics.

The home run came on the first pitch from tough lefty Tim Byrdek.

Have you ever looked at an actor and thought how much he looked like a baseball player, football player or boxer?

Some bear such striking resemblances to a sports star that it is almost freaky.

I know in the movie Billy Crystal did for HBO called "*61", I was overwhelmed with how much Barry Pepper looked like Roger Maris. It was just incredible.

That got me to thinking about which stars looked quite a bit like which actor.

Take a look with me and see if you agree about the resemblance.

All hail the Jay Bruce express! Hop on the bandwagon now, because it’s filling up quick.
 
Bruce has been up-and-down all season long for the Reds…shoot, for his whole career. Yet the offense had never gone through an extended lull this season until Bruce went down.
 
The Reds offense had become stale over the past two weeks. Having two-and-a-half healthy outfielders will do that to a team (Chris Heisey had been playing banged up).
 

"It's not something I'm going to push at this point," Jay Bruce said Friday about his strained oblique. "I've taken the process this far. I'm going to see it through. When I come back, I want to be 100 percent ready to come back—not 90 percent, not 80 percent."

Read that real carefully.

Look at the calender, too. It points to September, and it has been a very productive year for the team, but by this point, no one is 100 percent.

With the season winding down to a merciful end, the Reds are faced with a few hard questions.

The starting pitching has not been getting it done as of late, and that becomes a huge concern. In the three games thus far in the series with the Colorado Rockies, the starters are only giving an average of a little over four innings.  

That is entirely too much burden to place on any bullpen.

The Reds are in prime position for a division title and a playoff berth, but are sure making it hard to believe, and while going about daily chores in the ugliest of fashions. It has worked thus far and I firmly believe its there for the taking and that it will happen. Just try not to look at them or pay too much attention.

The Reds are doing their best to make fans want to wring some necks. Believe me—I am well aware of the how the ugliness can make you teeter on that mountain of faith.

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 the fantasy baseball trade deadline approaches, its getting closer and closer to the time when you need to lock-in your rosters. As always, benching the bad and starting the good can keep your team atop the standings for your stretch-run into the playoffs. Let’s take a look at some players you can acquire through trades or just through free agency.

Start ‘Em

Let’s take a look at some of the biggest stories from yesterday’s games:

American League:

When yesterday's Reds starting lineup was published, it stirred up quite a bit of controversy on Twitter. Several fans were questioning Dusty Baker's batting order, particularly at the top of the order. In fact, it has been a hot topic for most of the season.

I have no problem with fans second-guessing the manager. I have done it myself. There also is nothing wrong with countering that criticism by supporting Baker's decisions. Besides, we all have the same goal: to see the Reds win!