While the National Basketball Association Playoffs continue to drag on, Major League Baseball's only six-team division, the NL Central, continues to showcase fabulous baseball.
And at its core, the excitement just happens to be the Cincinnati Reds.
Reds fans, let's be honest here. When Bob Castellini became the new owner in January and hired Wayne Krivsky as general manager, you were happy, but your expectations weren't high.
You had been there before when Carl Lindner replaced Marge Schott as the majority owner, but his broken promises and firm grip on his cash did nothing but disappoint. So what's another year of new faces in the front office?
Well, what's a new franchise record of 17 wins in April? As Cincinnati keeps holding its own against division rivals St. Louis and Houston, you have to be excited about a team that hasn't shown this kind of energy since 1999. On any given day, anyone from the lead-off hitter to the pitcher (yes, pitcher) could spark an offensive eruption.
But pitching has always been Cincinnati's x-factor. Some teams, like the Phillies, move the fences back in their ballpark to give their notably lackluster pitchers an advantage. Others, like the Reds, realized they need to just find solid pitchers. It seems that each man in the rotation tries to outdo the other.
Bronson Arroyo says, At first I didn't want to be traded from Boston
but now I could hit more home runs than Barry Bonds this year!
Aaron Harang says, I can throw a complete game shutout on three days rest!
Elizardo Ramirez says, I can get my first major-league win and hit in the same game fresh out of Triple-A!
Brandon Claussen says, I can out-duel Houston's finest Roy Oswalt!
And Dave Williams says, Well
I haven't done anything
but yeah! Go Reds!
You can't blame Williams for getting excited about playing on a 23-15 team in the tops of the NL Central even if he's made the fewest contributions of the staff.
Am I just bitter because his arrival from the Pittsburgh Pirates meant Sean Casey's departure? Well, yes. But is his 6.32 ERA cutting it? Not at all.
Yet whether or not the Reds do prove to be no such fluke, Williams has to be the happiest of them all because, well, any team is better than Pittsburgh.
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Archives
Sara Normand
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Cincinnati Reds hurler Eric Milton pitches in the first inning of the Baseball Hall of Fame game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday, May 15 in Cooperstown, NY. The game was canceled in the bottom of the third inning because of rain.
