In life, enormous amounts of money can buy you many things – Luxury vehicles, land, mansions, boats…However there is one thing that comes to mind that it can’t buy (And no I am not talking about happiness). It can’t buy you a playoff baseball team. The small market Reds are headed to the playoffs while the New York Mets who spent a whopping $1.04 billion will be watching from home. This is the exact reason why baseball is the best sport ever created. Sportsbooks continuously never have a clue and are proven wrong year after year. I am so thrilled to not be listing every game that we should’ve won, the Opening Day loss, or the record in extra innings and one score games today. The Reds are playoff bound and they are 0-0, as a new season begins on Tuesday.

Anything can happen and the Reds have a rotation good enough to create some magic. October baseball will not be happening for the Mets (Sorry to Mark Carpenter and Jim Walls), however there will be plenty of years for you to return the favor. Let’s enjoy this one, Reds fans!

Reds-Dodgers Preview

· Dodgers are nearly official in claiming their starters as Snell, Yamamoto, and Ohtani (If necessary). This is more than beneficial for the Reds to face Snell in game one, as I would much rather watch this roster take on a left-handed pitcher that has struggled mightily at times.

· For game one, if Snell starts, my ideal lineup would be the following (Tito won’t do this): 1.Friedl CF, 2. Marte RF, 3. Steer LF, 4. Andujar DH, 5. De La Cruz SS, 6. Stewart 1B, 7. Stephenson C, 8. Hayes 3B, 9. Espinal 2B – Yes, I said Espinal over McLain against left handed pitching. If Austin Hays is healthy enough to play, this would change my thoughts. While this isn’t the best defensive roster to put on the field, this team has to be able to put runs on the board. I can’t watch Trevino, McLain and Hayes in order in a playoff race.

· Ideal Reds rotation: Greene, Abbott, Lodolo (If he can go). Unfortunately, Singer just pitched, but it should be “all hands on deck” for him in game two if he is needed out of the pen. Burns, Santillan, Pagan, Phillips, Ashcraft, Barlow, and the rest of the guys need to be ready to enter the game and give an inning. I think our pitching staff is better than Los Angeles’.

· Let’s compare team stats:

• Reds BA – .245, Dodgers BA – .253

• Reds Hits – 1,333, Dodgers Hits – 1,384

• Reds ERA – 3.86, Dodgers ERA – 3.95

• Reds Strikeouts – 1,380, Dodgers Strikeouts 1,505

• Reds Opponent BA – .233, Dodgers Opponent BA .232

On September 16, the Reds had just a 3.1% chance of making the playoffs. Take that, stat nerds (I am one of them).

· This is the first postseason clinch for the Reds since the COVID year (goesn’t count). Before that, this goes all the way back to my time in high school, as sad as that is. They haven’t advanced in the playoffs since 1995, where they beat (drumroll please)….The Dodgers. Run it back, shall we?

Somewhere in the world, I hope Joey Votto is smiling

With the amount of bad times that Cincinnati put together over the years, I hope that Joey Votto is smiling and rooting this Reds team on. An appearance at Dodger Stadium would be an awesome look from the former icon and soon to be Hall of Famer. As the Reds clinched yesterday, I couldn’t help but think of some of my favorite Reds and all the times I wished for them to have postseason success. As a reminder, I am 30 years old, so the names that come to my mind are Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips, Johnny Cueto, Bronson Arroyo, Billy Hamilton, Todd Frazier, Ken Griffey Jr., Adam Dunn, Danny Graves, and Sean Casey. However, I know for a fact Pete is smiling down, Bench will be fully focused on the game, and the rest of the Big Red Machine will be rooting on the Reds. Votto’s quote of “I think being comfortable with uncomfortable situations is a big part of success” came to my mind as well. While many on this roster have never played October baseball, I think they are up for the challenge and can take advantage of the uncomfortableness. Having my Reds friends over to the garage with my son there cheering on the Reds will be a memory that I plan to cherish forever.

Enough with the emotions, go win the series, Go Reds Go!