The playoffs are here. And whether it lasts 1 game or 20 for the Reds, the outcome is on the players now. Sure there might come a spot where a crucial managerial decision by Dusty Baker will need to be made, but October is where the best shine on the baseball diamond.
Do the Reds have the best? I don't know. I felt more confident last year and looked what happened. A 97 victory, division winner blew a 2-0 lead to the Giants and lost 3 straight home games. October can turn on a pitch, a catch, a swing or an injury.
After making the postseason 3 of the last 4 years, the only thing I wonder about is this team's heart. Do they have the drive and the passion to hoist the World Series trophy? They rolled over for the Phillies in 2010 when they were over matched by a better team. They couldn't find a way to put a stake in the heart of the Giants when San Francisco teetered on the brink of elimination. So what do they do now that the perennial favorite to win the NL Central could do no better than capture the 2nd Wild Card spot and blew a chance to be the 1st Wild Card and host this winner take all affair over the weekend?
Team's usually take on the personality of their manager. And Dusty Baker is not thought of by most to be a fiery guy. That demeanor suits guiding a team through a long, grueling 162-game season. But underneath that calm facade of Baker's is a competitive individual who wants to win badly. It's time for Baker and his Reds to let that passion, that fire loose. Let the fans see just how much they want to win.
Last weekend, in an article by MLB.com Reds beat writer Mark Sheldon, pitcher Bronson Arroyo said the following, "To be honest with you, the identity of this team is yet to be established. It's basically the exact same road we took last year. If we fall short in the playoffs or not make it to the true postseason, then I think we're labeled as a good group of baseball players that can't achieve greatness. That's what's going to land on our heads this year."
Just yesterday, Brandon Phillips said this in another article by Mark Sheldon, "We haven't really been playing Reds baseball all year. It's been up and down. We have too much talent on our team to be in this situation. I feel like that, in my opinion, we let the city of Cincinnati down. I feel like we should have won our division."
And that's how all 25 guys in that dugout tonight have to feel. All spring training long, they talked about "unfinished business." And how losing the way they did to the Giants is what would drive them this season. Time to prove it.
We got a glimpse of that passion this team holds inside over a week ago in Pittsburgh, when trailing by 3 runs, Cincinnati took advantage of a throwing error that would have ended the game and rallied to tie it in the 9th and win it in the 10th. When Devin Mesoraco reached on an infield single that plated 2 runs in the 9th to knot the contest at 5 apiece, the television cameras flashed to the Reds dugout to show everybody pumping their fists, giving high-fives and shouting encouragement. That emotion is what October is all about. It's about a player stepping up in the moment to propel his team to victory. It needs to surface right now for Cincinnati when they play Pittsburgh tonight. They need to leave it all out on the field. Play the game as if it were their last because there is no tomorrow if they lose.
There are really plenty of reasons why this team finished third and are the second NL Wild Card. They were without its number one starter (Johnny Cueto), its left fielder and clean-up hitter (Ryan Ludwick) and two of its top 3 relievers (Jonathan Broxton and Sean Marshall) for most of the year. Still this team managed to win 90 games and make the postseason for the third time in four years. The likes of which hasn't been seen since the Big Red Machine of the 1970s. So for all the Dusty Baker bashing that goes on on Twitter and other social media, the man has done a heck of a job guiding this team to the playoffs.
Now, 3 of those 4 key cogs are back in the Reds fold for October. Cueto is taking the ball tonight with all the team's hopes and dreams resting on his right shoulder. If they lose tonight will it be a disappointing season. Sure. But baseball is a game where anything can happen. Especially when it's just one game. Which is why it's up to the players to take hold of the opportunity in front of them and achieve greatness.
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