The Cincinnati Redlegs {Sigh}

Issue: Is it your fault the Reds suffered the worst collapse in playoff history?

Short Answer: It could be, but...

Reasoning: I had the honor (?) of attending all three of the Reds home playoff games against the Giants, and I have been getting a lot of crap from people about being the bad luck charm for my beloved Redlegs.  I do take some of the blame, but, it's like my brother said as we were walking out of game 4: [spoken in a tone that one would speak to a 2 year old] "Really?  Do you really think you had something to do with them losing?  Really?"  Good point.  So, I give you a few things we can blame the Reds collapse on...besides me:

1. Dusty Baker.  There are a lot of reasons I can't stand Dusty Baker (he never bunts when he should, he manages his pitchers awfully, he gets lucky all the time, he's loyal to a fault, etc.) and there are a lot of reasons I like Dusty Baker (2 Central Championships in 3 years, players love him....OK, that's all I've got).  However, there were a few moves made in games 3-5 that made absolutely no sense.  The first one happened in game 3.  Aroldis Chapman had just set down the Giants in the top of the 9th on 15 pitches.  The Reds were also retired in the bottom of the 9th.  So what does Dusty do?  He brings in Jonathan Broxton in the 10th.  Alright, I get it, Chapman doesn't normally throw more than one inning.  BUT THIS IS THE PLAYOFFS!!  Who cares?!  Aroldis Chapman is not only your best reliever, he is arguably your best pitcher.  Let him throw another inning.  Wouldn't you rather get beat with your best on the hill?  Instead, Dusty put in Broxton - single, single, K, K, passed ball, error - Reds lose and have to send Mike Leake to the hill the next day.  Uh oh.  The other move Dusty made that didn't make sense was his decision to start Scott Rolen in game 5.  I love Scott Rolen.  I love how he plays the game.  I love having him on our side.  However, his time is up.  Rolen started in game 3 and made the error that scored the game-winning run (he did not lose the game for the Reds, but unfortunately for him, that is the play everyone remembers).  Dusty made a good move in game 4 by starting Rookie-of-the-Year candidate Todd Frazier at 3rd.  Frazier went 0-for-3 with a walk and an RBI in game 4.  Not great, but in an 8-3 loss, not at all terrible (especially when being used exclusively as a pinch-hitter...for reasons only Dusty knows).  So, what does Dusty do for perhaps the most important game in his history managing the Reds?  He starts Scott Rolen.  In Rolen's defense, he was 2 for 5.  In my defense, his 2 hits meant nothing, he stranded 3 runners, and made the last out of the game with the tying runs on base.  Again, I love Scott Rolen, but Todd Frazier was the right start in game 5, if for no other reason than to help energize the crowd, which didn't have much to cheer about.  P.S. For those of you whining about the Reds resigning Dusty, stop it.  He's won 2 division titles in 3 years.  You CAN'T let a guy like that go...even if he may not know what he's doing.
2. Johnny Cueto.  He's the Reds best starter, by far.  He's a Cy Young candidate.  He threw 8 pitches in the series.  I realize we actually ended up winning the game he started, but the ramifications of him getting hurt in game 1 were far-reaching.  Game 2 starter Mat Latos has to come in and finish game 1.  Game 3 starter Bronson Arroyo has to start game 2.  He threw a gem and won.  Game 4 starter Homer Bailey has to start game 3.  He threw a gem and the offense falls asleep.  Now we reach game 4.  Do you start Mat Latos on 3 days rest?  If you do, and he loses game 4, who do you start game 5?  Do you start shoplifting-champ Mike Leake?  What are your chances of winning with him on the hill?  Tough call, but I think Dusty made the right one in starting Leake.  Even though, in the end, you are giving the game away.  If Leake starts, and wins game 4, it would have been a monstrous upset.  Leake had a terrible year, and there was a reason he wasn't on the playoff roster to begin with.  Sending Leake out in game 4 was Dusty essentially telling the Giants "see you in game 5."  Stinks that it had to be that way, but I blame Johnny Cueto.
3. The Reds offense.  Or complete lack thereof.  Let me clarify: it wasn't necessarily the Reds offense, it was the Reds complete lack of clutch hitting.  I say this because the lowest batting average of any every day Red was Ryan Hanigan at .200.  Hell, Drew Stubbs even hit .211!  Zach Cozart (.238), Rolen (.250), and Jay Bruce (.263) all had a respectable series.  Ryan Ludwick (.333), Brandon Phillips (.375), and Joey Votto (.389) all had a fantastic series.  Compare that with some of the Giants numbers: Angel Pagan (.150), Marco Scutaro (.150), Buster Posey (.211), Hunter Pence (.200), Brandon Belt (.077), Brandon Crawford (.182).  And the Reds lost.  Doesn't seem possible.  In the end, the Reds stranded 28 runners over the last three games (a stat that has been repeated ad nauseum in Cincinnati over the last few days) and were 3-for-24 (.125) with runners in scoring position.  Oh, let's not forget the fact that after they recorded three hits in the 1st inning of game 1, they recorded just one more hit the rest of the game, one which they lost in 10 innings.  Yes, this was the same game Homer Bailey took a no-hitter into the 6th...and ended up with a no-decision (he did give up a run however, when he plunked the lead off batter, walked the next, sac bunt, sac fly = 1 run, zero hits).
4. Brandon Phillips.  Say what?!?!  Didn't he have a phenomenal series, offensively and defensively?  Yes, he did.  However, he made one play that may have turned the tide of the entire series, and it happened early in game 3.  The Reds had just finished taking 2 games, rather convincingly, in San Francisco.  They headed home to Cincinnati needing just one win to move on to the NLCS.  They had not lost three games in a row at home all year.  After Homer Bailey retired the Giants in order in the 1st, Brandon Phillips led off the bottom of the 1st with a single to center.  Business as usual.  With Zack Cozart at the plate, Phillips took off for second and the ball got away from Giants catcher Buster Posey.  As Phillips took a hard turn around 2nd base, I realized it was all for show because even a 7 year old kid knows you do not make the first or third out at 3rd base.  Hey Brandon, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!  NO ONE MAKES THE FIRST OR THIRD...and he did it.  He went.  And he got thrown out.  Since I was there, I know why he went: it was the crowd.  45,000+ people screaming at the same moment has a tendency to make someone do something they might not normally do.  And what the crowd made Brandon do was make a HUGE base running blunder.  Cozart walked.  Votto flew out.  Ludwick singled.  Bruce singled, scoring Cozart.  Rolen struck out.  That's 1 run on 3 hits.  Unacceptable.  The Giants came out of that inning feeling like they had won something.  They had to be thinking "did we really get out of that only giving up one run?"  That also seemed like the moment the Reds' offense stopped.  They would only record one more hit the entire game.  The Giants would record 3 hits in the game, all after there were 2 outs in the 6th inning, and would win.  Talk about a momentum shift.  All because Brandon Phillips got caught up in the crowd in the first inning.  If the Reds go up 2-0 in the 1st, they win that series in 3 games.  Since they didn't, they didn't.  Hey, Brandon, just in case you forgot, never make the first or third out at third base.  Thanks.

The worst part about the Reds' collapse in the playoffs is people will remember 2012 for just that reason.  They won't remember the energy the Reds injected into the people of Cincinnati FOR THE ENTIRE SUMMER.  In the past, the Reds have competed, but there always came a time when you knew they would be out of it and going to the ballpark didn't really mean much.  Even in 2010, when they won the Central, you had a feeling the Phillies were just too good.  After Roy Halladay no-hit the Reds in game 1, every one knew they were.  But this year was different.  The Reds had the team.  They had the offense.  They had the pitching.  They had the defense.  They had the bullpen.  They very well could have been the best team in the Majors, on paper.  The only thing the Reds lacked was the moxie to win one game at home, when they had three chances to do so.  Something tells me this winter is going to be a long one.  Can't wait until pitchers and catchers report in February.