Major League Baseball

This is the first year that I really got into following baseball. My son played a lot of little league last summer and we started watching some of the Cincinnati Reds games at night. We went to see some minor league games last year including the South Bend Silver Hawks and the Louisville Bats. Louisville has a wonderful ballpark. We watched the game in South Bend while visiting some friends over the 4th of July last year. After the game we got to go into the outfield and watch fireworks. The grass out there, even in a single "A" park, is like carpet. In 2005 we went to watch the Indianapolis Indians play. It was a double header and the first game went 13 innings and the second game went close to 16 I think. We watched the first game and the first few innings of the second but with the hour and a half drive home we skipped out on the rest of the 16 innings.
I really got into watching the Reds play last year. Krivsky is doing some great things. The Reds had two pitchers in the MLB top 10 pitcher rating chart for strikeouts. Harang (216) finished out second. Arroyo (184) tied for ninth with Chris Carpenter from St. Louis. I think that the Reds have a good shot next year depending on what the rest of the winter does for them and other teams in the NL Central. I can't believe all the swapping and buying that is going on. Next year should be completely different from last year. Two players I hated to see go were Rich Aurilia and Austin Kearns. Kearns went to the Nationals during the season when he and Felipe Lopez were traded for some pitching. Kearns was one of the quickest Right Fielders in the game. I have saw him throw runners out at first on short hoppers that just clear the infield. He has a great arm and I'm glad to see him in the outfield instead of on the mound where he first started. What can't be said about Rich Aurilia. Not including a couple fill in guys that only played a few games, Aurilia was the only Reds player to reach the .300 batting average mark. Fifth in RBI's with 70 only missed tying for second with Brandon Phillips (75) by 5. The Reds 2006 Roster shows him at Third Base, but he played all the infield positions as well as any starter. The Reds have players to fill in for Kearns but they have not replaced Aurilia's bat this winter. Krivsky has made comment that he is trying to improve the Reds defence. Kearns and Lopez are both defencive starters for the Nationals and as I have said Aurilia not only held his own defensively but was also the one of the best bats. With the current pitching the Reds need to concentrate on the end of the game. They have decent starting pitchers but lack set up and closers. Working on Dunn to raise his hits with runners on base will be key to offense as well as keeping Ken Griffy Jr. healthy. I think Krivsky has a few tricks left up his sleeve. Hopefully one is batting average. I know that my fantasy team will look a little different this year than it did last year. Good luck Reds!