What a difference a month makes! The Cincinnati Reds, seemingly the underdogs just a few short weeks ago, and falling by the wayside to the onslaught of the St. Louis Cardinals, now have woken up this morning to find themselves 8 games ahead in the National League Central Divison. Moreover, they are leading the National League in a number of critical stats, including best team batting average and best team fielding percentage, committing the fewest errors of any team in the major leagues. No better illustration of this overall team effort can there be, condensed and squeezed into a single player's effort, than that of "the man from Etobicoke (with a silent "k"), Joey Votto. It may be America's pasttime; but right now it is Canada which can proudly lay claim to introducing one of the game's greatest players.
It's hard to believe but the last time it's been done is 1967. That is the year Boston Red Sox Left-fielder Carl Yastrzemski captured Baseball's closest thing to athletic royalty, the coveted Triple Crown. Sure, it's been said many times - too often if you ask me - that the home run record is the most illustrative and awe-inspiring feat in American Sports; but dare I say this homage to an earlier, and much innocent day, when HGH and steroids didn't corrupt the recordbooks, is by far the lesser accomplishment to capturing a batting title in all three categories, that is, hitting for power, hitting for average and, most importantly, hitting in the clutch, when it counts, when your teammates are on base, and it's time to bring them home as your "run batted in" (RBI).
Cincinnati and St. Louis are both great baseball towns. Whatever the outcome of the 2010 baseball season, and whichever team, the Cardinals or the Reds, manages to capture the pennant, each game fought between these two has ushered in numerous points of reference for baseball fans to ponder and reflect upon for many years to come: The Triple Crown, the Civil Rights Game Showdown, the Brandon Phillips verbal takedown, and the subsquent melee that erupted in its aftermath, complete with Yadier Molina's taking his words, metaphorically tacking them to the ball, and sending them straightaway to no-man's land and out of reach at Great American Ballpark. If not for the fact that Reds proceeded to catch on fire once the Cardinals left town, Molina's mocking Phillips home-run trot as he strode around the bases would have been a fitting capstone to Cardinal's theretofore memorable season.
But this is Baseball; and there is not just 1 game to play, but rather 162 games, each which needs to be met head-on with the same type of motivation, work ethic and ferocity work that Joey Votto or Albert Pujols brings to every single at bat. This is what the Reds know; this is what the Cards know; and this is what every fan of the game knows.
Surely it must be "the fates" that have compelled them to meet for one last time before the series is over. This time it's in St. Louis and it should be all business. I don't sense an ensuing brawlgame in this matchup; but rather baseball at it's most primeval - pitching, fielding, hitting, and slugging with all the heart and muscle the two teams can muster. Should the Reds conquer the Cards, taking at least two of three, they will no doubt have set themselves up to finally seal the division. Should the Cards, on the other hand, slay the reds, then the Reds will have to regroup and do what they do best - play the best baseball this town has seen since the early 90's
The Reds will be back in Cincinnati on September 10th and their homestand will continue through September 16th. There is no better time to catch a game of baseball in Cincinnati, and there is no better time to see Joey Votto than in what may be his signature year. I hope to hear from you; and I hope that the namesake hotel, almost as old as the Cincinnati Reds themselves, can accomodate you on your baseball journey to Cincinnati.
