The Reds have started the second half of the season with a win, and here they sit at 41-41. Dead even, probably about what I was expecting. So why does it feel like the Reds are better than this? I have no idea. It seems like this season has been a bit of a success to this point. Maybe that's because we in Cincinnati have a habit of thinking the season is over by July, if not June. But a look at recent standings suggest the Reds have generally "hung in there" for the first 82 games of the season. Here's what it has looked like recently:
....................W........L......Games Behind
2009............41........41.......3 1/2
2008............36........45.......13 1/2... (that's bad)
2007............31........50.......16 1/2... (that's really bad)
2006............44........37........---...(tied for first? really?)
2005............31........50........20...(Oh My God!, Good thing the Bengals had a good year)
2004............44........37.........5...(Imagine being 7 games over .500 this season!)
2003............39........42..........3 1/2...(The division was a lot like 2009)
2002............44........37..........--- ...(Tied for first again)
Sorry for the annoying dots, but not all computer programs are perfect. In fact, some are really horrible.
Anyway, five of the past eight seasons the Reds have had a reason to believe. But all of those years there was a feeling that we were looking at fool's gold. That was because they had a lack of pitching, and what strikes me about this is the following:
I really feel the Reds are making progress, yet they have their fourth best record at this juncture of the season in the past eight years. That surprises me. I keep telling myself they have young players who can carry the team into the future, and young players who will improve, but I'm not as optimistic as I was a half hour ago.
It's not a bombshell to say there has been some serious wheel-spinning in the past several years, but this really hits home to me. The second half of the season started with a win. There better be several more to come before I call this a season of progress.
By the way, stats will drive you crazy. It's amazing how crappy the Reds run production has been ranked in MLB over the past several years WITH Dunn and Griffey:
2009 26th (boy, wish they still had.... oh, never mind, see below)
2008 23rd (I know, they weren't here the whole season)
2007 14th (not bad)
2006 22nd (ughh)
2005 4th (how the heck did they not make the playoffs?)
2004 20th (mercy)
2003 26th (how many times did I hear Jim Bowden say they were building for 2003?)
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