Joey Votto

The Cincinnati Reds have taken just about everybody by surprise this year.  Going into the season, they were not a team that was expected to be involved in the playoff race at this time of the year, much less own the best record in the National League and be a lock to make the playoffs barring a 2007 New York Mets-style collapse in the final month of the season.

It's one of the most amazing stories of the 2010 baseball season. Omar Infante, a career utility player, has stepped in a starting role with the Atlanta Braves and is threatening to become one of the most unlikely batting title winners in baseball history.

On July 30th, the Braves All-Star second baseman, Martin Prado, broke his finger sliding into home plate.   Prado landed on the 15-day DL and Infante was inserted into the starting lineup at second base.

Another wacky week of baseball. The ever-annoying Nyjer Morgan decided to slam into the Marlins catcher one too many times.

After being thrown at, Morgan decided to charge the mound and MLB's second brawl of the season occurred.

More violent than Reds vs. Cardinals, Morgan got in a few head shots before getting knocked down by the entire Marlins team.

Aroldis Chapman of the Reds made his major league debut this week. He arrived in a blaze of glory, hitting 103 on the radar gun multiple times.

With news that Cardinals outfielder Colby Rasmus has requested a trade, a team with an already cloudy future did not get any clearer. 

Here are five reasons why Cardinal fans’ motto for the rest of the season should be “playoffs or bust.”

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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 final month of the 2010 baseball season gets under way, the imaginations of baseball fans everywhere are alive with the possibility of a triple crown winner in the National League.  With statistics and probability we can put hard projections to that amazing possibility. 

For someone with children eager to learn about the complexities of baseball, this Reds team is a dream come true.  My five-year-old son, who can rake by the way, constantly says, "Tell me more about baseball!" each time we watch a game whether it be on television or at Great American Ball Park.  Like most kids, he loves home runs, but is also interested in the intricacies of the game.

As I have gotten older, my views of the Reds have become more objective.  I can find fault with the team and logically investigate ways in which they can improve.  

The Reds' representation on blogs and social networking sites has really exploded over the last year.  Some people are fanatical, which is great.  Others, including myself, love and support the Reds as much as anyone, but also try to mix in an analytical approach to following the team.

By now the baseball world is well aware that the National League Most Valuable Player race has essentially come down to two NL Central first basemen currently chasing the Triple Crown.

Barring a huge slump on either of their parts or a huge surge by another candidate—crazier things have happened, and Adrian Gonzalez looms in the shadows—the NL MVP is going to go to one of these two players.

So how close is the race between them? Shockingly close.

They are in a statistical dead heat.

Currently Albert Pujols and Joey Votto are locked in a battle for the coveted "Triple Crown" of hitters in the National League, while Miguel Cabrerra is chasing it in the American League. The hitters Triple Crown, for those that don't know, refers to leading the league in home runs, RBI, and average in the same season. It has been 42 years since anyone has won it at all, (Carl Yastremski for Boston) and it's been 73 years since anyone has done it in the National League (Joe Medwick for the Cardinals).