If you’re remotely a baseball fan, try and catch tonight’s game between the New York Yankees and Cincinatti Reds at 7 PM on MY9 (should be channel 9 for those of you in the tri-state area) or MLB.tv for those out of the region. This is the first time the Reds are visiting Yankee Stadium since swept the Yankees in the World Series a little over 30 years ago. That team had a lineup that featured Pete Rose, Ken Griffey Sr., Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan. What a lineup that must have been but let’s not forget that team went up against the likes of Mickey Rivers, Thurman Munson, Lou Pinella, Graig Nettles and even Willie Randolph.
That was in 1976, this is 2008. This time the Reds team which is a sub .500 team still packs plenty of talent. Rookie Jay Bruce who tore the cover off the ball once he got called up and before his 7 for 39 slump which now has him hitting .318 on the year in almost 100 at bats. This team also has the pitching in Edinson Volquez who has a 1.64 ERA in 14 starts with a 9-2 record (one of those losses came in relief in an 18 inning game). He has allowed more than 2 earned runs only once all year long and has 105 strikeouts while only issuing 44 bases on balls. His team is 11-4 in games that he has appeared in, just goes to show what kind of pitcher he is.
Finally, the Reds have Ken Griffey Jr. Here is a player who is on the tail end of his career, only hitting about .240 or so on the season but gets to visit Yankee Stadium once again. He is a career .296 hitter at Yankee Stadium with 18 HRs and 50 RBIs. Hopefully he can put on a show once last time at the Stadium. Heck, this might not even be his last visit since the Tampa Bay Rays are interested in acquiring which would be another great move by that franchise. He has his summer home in Orlando – an hour away from where the Rays play. He can certainly bring some more veteran leadership to a team that just swept the best team in the Majors and really is proving that they are the real deal this year.
One can only hope.
