The big rivalry for the weekend... it isn't in the Bronx

Last year, I wrote about how the Cardinals and the Reds could become a dynamic new rivalry for the new decade.And after the first two games of this series, I am not backing down from those words. The Reds win on a walk off extra innings hit by Joey Votto last night and today the two battled back and forth until Cincy pulled ahead.The Reds have leap frogged over the Cardinals and probably put a

Mike Leake stole a win for the Reds!

OK, I am probably the 4,391,335th blogger to make that joke.But I wanted ME saying it on record.I hope the Reds kept track of the alternate uniforms. If one is missing, Leake had better have an alibi.

Justice for Chris Resop

Last week, I saluted Pirates reliever Chris Resop for his 3 shutout innings, all after the 9th. He didn't get a win nor a save nor a hold for that, yet he helped keep the mighty Rockies off of the board long enough for the Bucs to win.Well today the ledger evened out.The Pirates looked like they were going to blow a game where they had a 4-0 lead before the Reds even came to bat. I warned them

Don't lose this game, Pirates

The Pirates are up 4 runs before the Reds even come to bat. So listen to me Pirates and you listen good. If you have ANY hopes to go .500 (an Everest not scaled since 1992) then THESE are the games you can not blow.You are going to lose close games.You are going to lose some blow outs.But when you put a 4 spot on the board in the first, then you NEED to close out the game.I expect the Pirates to

A March game that could haunt Milwaukee in late September

Yeah I know it is early.It isn't even April. So with 161 games left to play, why is this game between Cincinnati and Milwaukee so important?It is true that there is a lot of time to make up this one game deficit. But these two teams could be two of biggest contenders for the National League Central crown. And guess what? If these two teams go down to the wire, every game in September will be

Not a bad opening act!

The season was less than 4 hours old and we already had a 3 run, 2 out walk off come from behind wiping away a 2 run deficit game winning homer.Hopefully this is a harbinger for things to come in a great baseball season.Hey Cincinnati... pay attention. You've got a great team.Hey baseball... pay attention. There is an exciting team that could become THE team in a very wide region. But I said that

Red State Strategy - My latest for The Hardball Times

In my latest for The Hardball Times, I take a look at the 2011 Cincinnati Reds' unique combination of talent, tradition and geography and wonder... could they create their own TV network and become a big market franchise?It's not as crazy an idea as you would think.Read the whole article HERE.

Sully Baseball Salutes... Jimmie Wilson

Jimmie Wilson was a two sport star who became a World Series hero because of bizarre and tragic circumstances.Chances are you never heard of Jimmie Wilson, the former Cardinals and Phillies catcher. I never heard of him until I stumbled across his story while compiling my latest 25 Man Roster. But he lived a unique albeit brief life that is worth a salute here at Sully Baseball.The player who was

Sully Baseball Honors... The 1978 Tony Perez Topps Card

Doesn't Tony look a little ticked off here? Maybe a little unhappy with his situation?He's not playing, has an expression of indifference and annoyance intertwined.Maybe that was apt. This picture was taken during the 1977 season.The year before he was clinching his second straight World Series title with the Big Red Machine. Sure his stats dipped a little bit in 1976, but they won the World

Rolando Roomes - Another random card found in my old closet

Going through the same box of baseball cards in my old closet, I pulled out this "Score" rookie card for Cincinnati Reds outfielder Rolando Roomes.Let's face it, he had one of the coolest names in baseball. Shouldn't someone whose name has an alliteration as well as a bad ass first name like Rolando be a star? The P.A. announcer should relish saying his name every time he comes to bat. "

Will by NL Central pick be once again a year early?

This September I pointed out that I am not very good at picking who will actually win the NL Central, but I AM good at figuring out that the consensus pick will probably fall short.In 2009 everyone and their cow was picking the Cubs to win.I picked the Reds. The Cardinals won (I picked the Cardinals for the Wild Card.)In 2010 everyone and their moose was picking the Cardinals to win.I picked the

Rest in Peace, Sparky Anderson

One of my favorite figures in all of baseball died today. Sparky Anderson was one of the great managers of all time and don't let any moron tell you differently.He turned the Cincinnati Reds into one of the great teams in history without a legit Cy Young contending ace.He turned around a Detroit Tigers team and put together one of the great all together ass whuppin' seasons of the past three

Teams that played only one home post season game

Reds fans have been waiting since 1995 to see a playoff game in their hometown.And guess what? If they don't win today, all they'll get is a single playoff home game.It seems almost unfair. A fan base gets pumped up and expects to have a ton of October memories... and then blink, it is over.So I wondered how many teams made it all the way to October baseball and then gave their teams only one

Were there four games played last night?

It really felt like there were more than 2 games played, didn’t there?The Reds and the Phillies played two games yesterday… in the first game the Reds showed some serious guts. They came right out swinging, homering in the first at bat.Bronson Arroyo was in control, Roy Oswalt was faltering, Chase Utley was a mess in the field and the mighty Phillies were vulnerable.Then they played ANOTHER game

A SULLY BASEBALL VIDEO - Rampaging Phillies

I'm calling this series over... Phillies have advanced to the NLCS

You know on election night, sometimes they call certain races with less than 1% of precincts reporting?On the surface it seems unfair. You can say "Hey! How do you know who won until you've read EVERY ballot."But there is the practicality. If a drag queen is running in Salt Lake City... or a Bible thumping "It's Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve" loon is running in the Castro district of San

A guide for Red Sox fans in picking a playoff team to root for

So the playoffs are starting and the Red Sox are on the golf course.Does that mean we Red Sox fans should just NOT watch the playoffs?Of course not... just because our team is dead doesn't mean our interest should be.Seeing that I was too young to remember 1975, I never saw the Red Sox play in October until 1986, when I was 14. Yet I never missed a post season... I would just temporarily adopt a

IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY... October 3, 2010

Here we are... the last day of the season... and not one single Division Series match up has been set.The Yankees played a combined 20 innings yesterday and very well might have lost the Division in the wee small hours of the morning. And the Twins may have lost homefield advantage in the Division Series and ALCS with a poorly timed losing streak.But that is NOTHING compared to the potential

IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY... October 2, 2010

The only change in the playoff match ups came from the weather. The Red Sox and Yankees were rained out and the Rays couldn't take advantage and lost ANOTHER to the Royals.And the Twins couldn't take advantage and lost again themselves.Am I the only one who has noticed that the American League pitching for the playoffs has been pretty lousy this week, save for Cliff Lee, David Price and CC

IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY... October 1, 2010

September is over after today... teams that are still alive tomorrow can officially say they were in it into October. But how far?It is now October and only 2 National League spots are locked up while all four playoff teams in the American League have clinched.However by the end of the day, the two Division Series could be set in the National League while nobody could know who is playing who in