Reds News

Baker refreshingly different
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October 2
Cincinnati Enquirer
 columnist Paul Daugherty
"The Renaissance manager of the Cincinnati Reds returns to northern California to tend his grapes (petit syrah) and his family. At some point, he will venture for two weeks to the Hawaiian Islands, as he has every year for at least a decade. Dusty Baker will go to the Lawai Valley on the south shore of Kauai, where he says he will "walk, think and pray.'' The prayer list is considerable: Right-handed hitting power hitter ... center fielder who can play 150 games ... the healthy return of shortstop Alex Gonzalez. And oh yeah, Lord: Good family, good friends and good health. Baker first went to Lawai six years ago. He'd just been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Surgery was scheduled for two ..."
Cardinals finish strong
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September 29
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
 
"The Cardinals concluded a season without an October but with few regrets Sunday afternoon. Between the curtain call for first baseman Albert Pujols, the successful emergency start by Brad Thompson and a fitting end point offered by breakout outfielder Ryan Ludwick, the Cardinals completed an 86-76 schedule by promising there is better to come. An 11-4 pounding capped a fourth-place finish and a three-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds before 43,300 at Busch Stadium. "If you look at the hits we took from May on, I think 10 over (.500) is a hellacious number," manager Tony La Russa said. "The reason we've got to this number is these guys had terrific heart and lots of guts. They never played ..."
Reds end season with 11-4 loss
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September 29
Cincinnati Enquirer
 
"Former Red Felipe Lopez drove in three runs and emergency starter Brad Thompson threw five effective innings, helping the St. Louis Cardinals end the year on a season-best six game winning streak with an 11-4 victory today over Cincinnati. Lopez had three of the Cardinals' 13 hits, including two doubles, in the first three innings and finished 4-for-5 with the three RBIs. Ryan Ludwick had his 37th home run of the season to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead after one and Troy Glaus added his 27th homer in a six-run third against Adam Pettyjohn (0-1), the first left-hander to start for the Reds this year. Thompson (6-3) gave up three runs - two on a homer by Edwin Encarnacion - on four hits. He ..."
Cincinnati puts lid on season with ugly loss
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September 29
Dayton Daily News
 
"The Cincinnati Reds didn't go away like a sly, slinking fox. They went away like a wounded fox with a fear factor complex. They couldn't have made a louder thud than if they had, as a team, leaped from the top of the Gateway Arch, losing their last five games of the 2008 season. And the finale Sunday against the St. Louis Cardinals was a microcosm of the way the Reds played when games counted. The Reds, playing defense as if the baseball was a round piece of dry ice, were obliterated by the Cardinals, 11-4. Adam Pettyjohn's first major-league start since he nearly died from colitis in 2001, was not pretty, but a lot of it was because of little help from his friends. Pettyjohn gave up eight ..."
Mike Mussina wins 20 games for first time as Yankees beat Red Sox, 6-2
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September 29
New York Daily News
 
"The monkey is finally off the Moose's back. After 18 years of being "Mr. Almost," Mike Mussina recorded the first 20-win season of his career with the Yankees' 6-2 decision over the Red Sox Sunday in the first game of a day-night doubleheader at Fenway Park. The Yankees dropped the nightcap, 4-3, in 10 innings to finish the season 89-73. Mussina also may have pitched the final game of his career, hinting that he might hang up his spikes to go home to his wife and three children in Pennsylvania. "As of right now, it's my last game in my last year, so I don't know what the future holds," Mussina said. "It could be my last year or it may not be my last year, but when you get to your 18th ..."
Baker's goals haven't changed
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September 28
Cincinnati Enquirer
 
"Despite the grind and despite being away from home, Reds manager Dusty Baker hates to see baseball season end. "The season ending is always sad to me," Baker said. "It's been a long road, and we've been through a lot together. You know that you're one year older and one year closer to the end of your career." Baker said he enjoyed his first season with the Reds. The club did not reach the goal of the postseason. The streak of losing seasons went to eight. "People talk about tough times," Baker said. "The town, the people made it a lot more enjoyable and a lot less tough. There's very little mean spiritedness. I went into this situation with my eyes open." The Reds entered Saturday's game ..."
Birds win fifth in a row
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September 28
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
 
"Todd Wellemeyer left Saturday's seventh inning with a three-run lead to a standing ovation. He acknowledged the applause and disappeared into an appreciative Cardinals dugout. One summer after the Cardinals claimed him off waivers from Kansas City, Wellemeyer (13-9) completed a transformation from what one NL scout once called pitching coach Dave Duncan's "Frankenstein" to a big part of his team's future. "He's had a heck of a year. Think how far he's come," manager Tony La Russa said. "He can really use this to build on for the rest of his career." Rather than shuffle to the end of a disappointing month, Wellemeyer and his fourth-place team continued to play with purpose in Saturday's 8-5 ..."
Losing streak reaches 4 games
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September 28
Cincinnati Enquirer
 
"The key to the Reds' September surge was good starting pitching. They haven't gotten those solid starts lately. The result is a four-game losing streak heading into today's season finale. Aaron Harang got beat around a bit in Saturday's 8-5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The benches emptied briefly after Jason LaRue went well outside the baseline to try to slide into second baseman Jerry Hairston and break up a double play in the eighth inning. Hairston said something, and LaRue replied and walked toward Hairston, but no contact was made. "That was uncalled for," Reds manager Dusty Baker said of LaRue's slide. "I was stunned," Hairston said. "Obviously, he's got a ..."
Baker's goals haven't changed
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