Thanks for a Great Season Reds


  



It was a sad end to the Reds season Sunday night and it's always hard to see your team finish the season on a losing note, but the Reds had a great season. Back in April, when the season began, I thought they had a decent shot of making the playoffs, but never winning the division. I saw them maybe winning the wild card, but never overtaking the Cardinals in the division. The Reds went on to prove me and just about everyone else wrong. This has been the best year of baseball I have ever witnessed and the best Reds team I have ever seen.

Their hasn't been much to get excited about in the last 15 years when it comes to Cincinnati Reds baseball, but 2010 was different. This was a team that was in the hunt the entire summer, something Cincinnati fans aren't use to. Usually by July or August, the Reds are out of it and everyone is talking about the Bengals and the upcoming football season. For the first time in 15 years, the city wasn't talking about the Bengals, they were talking about the Reds deep into September and early October.

Even though the Reds were no-hit and swept by the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS, this season has been full of ups and downs, but so many exciting moments and memories. After a 7-11 start to the year, I thought the Reds were done, but they ended up going on a tear that led to a NL Central Division Championship. There are so many highlights too numerous to mention, but are some of the ones that stand out in my mind.

• The debut of Mike Leake and his 5-0 start to the season.

• Travis Wood taking a perfect game into the 9th inning against the Phillies.
• Aroldis Chapman's much anticipated debut and his continuous throws of 100+mph, including a 105 mph pitch, which is the fastest pitch ever recorded.

The Cuban Missile

• Johnny Cueto and Homer Bailey throwing back-to-back complete game shutouts against the Pirates in early May.
• Jay Bruce's home run off Roy Halladay to beat the Phillies.
• Games at Wrigley against the Cubs where the Reds won 12-0 and scored 14 runs twice, including Drew Stubbs three home run game.
• Jonny Gomes hitting two three-run homers against the Royals.
• Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips, Scott Rolen and Arthur Rhodes being named to the All-Star team.
• Tons of great defensive plays from the best defensive team in the NL with a .988 fielding percentage. For example, Chris Heisey's throw home in the 9th inning against the Cardinals, Jay Bruce robbing a home run to end the game against Arizona and Drew Stubbs robbing a home run the night the Reds won the division.
• The fight against the Cardinals in August, that was the turning point in the season.
• Joey Votto's at bat against closer Jonathan Broxton in L.A. against the Dodgers.
• Votto's walk-off homer on the same night that Hit King Pete Rose was honored on the field.
• Numerous come from behind wins and walkoffs, with the best moment coming September 28, 2010 against the Houston Astros, when Jay Bruce hit the first pitch he saw out of the ballpark to clinch the NL Central for the Reds. One of the greatest moments in Reds history and the best moment for me as a Reds fan.

Vote Votto T-Shirts in support of Joey
Votto's All-Star bid.

So many great memories, I'm sure I missed some, but some of the best moments of my life as a Reds fan. Moments that I will remember for a long time and ones that Reds fans will be talking about for years to come.                             

I can't tell you how enjoyable and thrilling it was for me to watch the Reds this year. My summers usually consist of watching television, sleeping and working. Well, this summer I had Reds Fever. From
staying up to one in the morning when they were on the West Coast, to having my brother text me the score of the games while I was at work. No matter what was going on in my life, I always had to know what the Reds were doing if I couldn't watch or listen to the game myself. School, work and life can be very stressful and so many times you just want to just quit, but after a hard day, hearing Marty Brennaman say, "And this one belongs to the Reds," just makes everything right again.

So, thank you Reds for a great season. I will admit I had many doubts throughout the season and sometimes I wanted to give up on you guys, but I never did and neither did the Reds themselves. Thanks for giving, not just me, but the city of Cincinnati something to cheer about and be proud of. It's no secret the sports in this town have not been great the past 20 years, but the Reds got everyone excited about Cincinnati sports again.

The 2010 Cincinnati Reds are the best Reds team I have ever seen and they will only get better. The Reds return a lot of young talent and now those young guys have some playoff experience. I mean Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, Brandon Phillips, Drew Stubbs, Scott Rolen, Mike Leake, Travis Wood, Johnny Cueto, Edinson Volquez, Homer Bailey, Aroldis Chapman, the list goes on and on. 2011 is going to be the Reds year, I can feel it. 2010 is going to be hard to top, but I really think this Reds team is the new version of the Big Red Machine and I have a feeling we ain't seen nothing yet.

Link to Jay Bruce's walk-off home run, I still get chills when I hear Marty or Thom Brennaman's calls. Just copy and paste to watch. And Go REDS.

http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=12550307&topic_id=players&query=type%3Djson%26player_id%3D457803%26start%3D0%26src%3Dvpp%26sort%3Ddesc%26sort_type%3Dcustom%26hitsPerPage%3D60&c_id=cin&playerName=Jay Bruce