"Speed Provides the One Genuinely Modern Pleasure."

It's that damn Hamilton! He's so hot right now!

The legend of Billy Hamilton is growing.  He is off to an insane start this season, swiping bags at a record pace for the Bakersfield Blaze.  Tales of his speed on the basepaths have been spoken about in hushed tones since the Reds drafted him in the 2nd round of the 2009 amateur draft.  Hamilton was a three-sport star athlete in high school, playing baseball, basketball and football.  He turned down a scholarship to play wide receiver at Mississippi State, deciding to give his attention to the better sport, with  a little help from a $600K signing bonus.  After getting his feet wet in the Gulf Coast League (low level rookie league) at age 18, he had a solid year in advanced rookie ball in Billings, Montana (.318/.383/.456 with 48 SB in 64 games).  But it was last year that Hamilton really began to turn heads when he stole 103 bases in 135 games at low A Dayton.  

The Braves are Really Good

One month of the season in the books, and some things are unfolding as expected.  And of course, most are not.  The Rangers are winning at a rate that far exceeds their capabilities.  The Angels are losing as a similar pace.  The AL East is backwards.  The pot stirrers on ESPN are already attempting to blow hot air against the sails that currently buoy the Orioles atop the standings.  My memory ain't so good, but I do have recollections of very bad teams starting out the season strong, only to have their lack of depth and consistency expose them for the cellar dwellers that they are by the end of May.  The Tigers are mediocre at the moment.  The Cardinals are playing great baseball sans Pujols and La Russa and Duncan.  The Dodgers are just plain silly.  The Cubs are providing the stability that enables us all to stay rooted at this early juncture of the season.  But what surprises me, despite how unsurprising it is, would have to be the success of the Atlanta Braves.  I thought they would be good,  but they may just be better than we all thought.  

Emo Joey Votto

Oriole'd

The weight of 189 losses in two seasons is heavy, man.

2012 Picks -- The Oracle Speaks True!

 

With the 2012 season set to officially underway (despite it making less than zero sense to force SEA and OAK to play regular season games a in the midst of Spring Training), about the time the most productive Americans are pouring their first cup of coffee, it is time for our contribution to the annual nobody-knows-what-the-hell-they're-doing-but-let-us-just-pretend-we-do-anyways preseason prediction extravaganza!  We've scoured the stats, examined our guts, and unearthed our local oracles to come up with our picks for each division, wild card, and playoff advancement.  All leading to the inevitable 2012 Champion.  Also, for good measure, we've taken the liberty of selecting each league's Cy Young and MVP.  Most likely we will be wrong, but it's oh-so-much-fun to be wrong.  Here we go!

This is a Picture of Rollie Fingers and Dizzy Valance

Hot mustache on mustache action.

Sleeper Picks 2012

"And this one belongs to the Reds."

The scene pictured above is one of the happiest moments of my Reds fandom, and also marks the first time since I played little league that I cried after a baseball game.  After toiling through the lost decade that was the aughts (thanks to Jim Bowden's utter ineptitude as a GM), the 2010 Reds surprised almost everyone* and clinched the NL Central on a walk-off home run by Jay Bruce.  This moment has been the high-water mark of the young right fielder's career thus far, but in my (slightly) biased opinion, the best is yet to come.

* Both Curley Bender and I picked the Reds to take the NL Central crown in 2010.