@lince_Mareado@LordsBaron@nut_history Yep - a few more millimeters of padding for that finger, and after a while it just feels right. Later that finger gets claustrophobic it’s not out like that.
@LordsBaron@nut_history It's protection for that finger. Take a lot of balls off the index finger. Once you get used to that there is no turning back. The glove just feels different.
@Dexpectations12@South_Sider2k5@OleTimeHardball AFTER he got 4,256 across a couple of decades; ie no link between the offense and on-field performance.
Bonds was an incredible player, but obtained artificial, unfair advantage on the field.
This is a no-brainer.
@South_Sider2k5@OleTimeHardball He bet on Reds games while he was the manager. The assumption is that it had implications for how he used the pitching staff and so on.
Some dad somewhere:
“These guys just don’t hit .365 anymore. In my day, Jimmy Johnson Cooternickel was a true hitter.”
This is why they don’t hit .365, Ron.
For whatever reason, too many fans seem to focus on what Elly De La Cruz isn’t, and miss what he is becoming.
They focus on his future, more than his present.
He’s 24-years old. He’s in his 3rd full MLB season. He’s played fewer than 450 MLB games.
Right now, he’s hitting .281-.361-.563-.924 with an OPS+ of 152. He’s on pace for 30 doubles, 51 homers, 132 runs, 101 RBI, 50 stolen bases, 81 walks. That would produce the second 50/50 season in MLB history, joining Shohei Ohtani.
He’s scored a run in 12 of their 16 games, collected a hit in 13 of those games, and been on base in 13 straight games.
For as much as fans complain about injuries, and players not playing with injuries, Elly's played 234 consecutive games for the Reds. That's the 5th longest streak by a Red since 1970.
He’s improving as a right-handed hitter, facing left-handed pitching.
2023 .184 w/ 2 HR in 122 PA
2024 .224 w/ 6 HR in 217 PA
2025 .236 w/ 5 HR in 210 PA
2026 .318 w/ 4 HR in 33 PA
He’s yet to commit an error this season. I get it, official scoring isn’t what it once was. But then turn to the metrics. He’s T-3rd in Outs Above Average at +2. Last season he was T-26th (-3). He’s T-6th in defensive runs saved (+1) , after -5 in 2025.
He’s getting better. He answers the bell to play every day. He’s impacting the game at the plate, in the field and on the bases.
Stop worrying about his strike outs. He’s going to strike out. Everyone strikes out.
Stop worrying about moving him to center field. He’s a shortstop. I offer this to every ‘move Elly' conversation: Perspective.
Dave Concepcion: 30 errors age 26, 27 errors age 28 and 31.
Barry Larkin: 29 errors age 24
Derek Jeter: 56 errors age 19 and 29 errors age 21
Robin Yount: 44 errors age 19, 30 errors age 22
Omar Vizquel: 25 errors age 20 and age 21
Ozzie Smith: 25 errors age 23, 22 errors age 33
Alan Trammell: 26 errors age 21
Cal Ripken: 25-25-26 errors, age 22-23-24
Young shortstops take time to learn, develop and settle into the shortstop position.
And finally, stop worrying about him being a Dodger or a Yankee. He won’t even reach free agency until 2030. It’s 2026, for goodness sakes.
Enjoy him. Appreciate him. He’s the best player on the #Reds. He’s one of the best players in the game.
@RedsDaily4 Most disappointing is Hunter Greene. Not his fault that he’s injured… but how the hell did we get all the way to the beginning of the season before anyone knew he needed surgery?
Before that happened though I was wondering if he should be traded, due to lack of reliability.
Interested to hear everyone’s thoughts.
Who have you been most encouraged by so far this year?
Who has been the most disappointing?
Obviously Reds players only. GO!
Holy moly, I didn’t even recognize him. Don’t get me wrong, he looks great, but if he wasn’t singing, I wouldn’t know who he was.
Would you recognize him without hearing the song?
My new song “Signs Of Life” has quite a few views already. Hear the track everyone is talking about over on YT.
I am aware that I have my own style. But the new track was inspired by Sublime, Allman Bros, Billie Eilish, Slayer, Pantera, Ambrosia, the list goes on.
Thank you 👊🏼
Today let’s give the 3rd base position some love , and build a list and recognize some of the gents that played 3rd and unfortunately get forgotten about . I’ll start out with a few of my favorites 🫡
Travis Fryman
Dean Palmer
Roy Howell
@biogradbooth@xstanbx@DaveHawkinsX@davidsenra@tobi@elonmusk Exactly. People & organizations trying hard for some pie cause more pie to be made.
Sanders (etc.) act as if there’s a ginormous warehouse containing all the assets of the world, and they just haven’t been allotted their share. It’s an absurdly ignorant view.
Ok, how about a BIGGER. pie dipshit? The point is MORE pie. People like Bernie thinks we all have to divide up the same size pie and share it. People like @elonmusk make bigger pies. Bake them faster, with less waste, better ingredients, more efficiently, better tasting. They invent whole new ways to make pies. They invent whole new pies. Then everyone gets more pie.
"Capitalism created the possibility of the win win win. It used to be a zero sum game where somebody won, somebody else lost.
The biggest mistake people make, intellectuals in particular, they still think we're in a zero sum world. They're obsessed with some billionaires because Bernie Sanders thinks that Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk somehow stole the money from the people.
They don't understand that it's this prosperity machine that's creating more, not just for those billionaires, but for everything that they're touching. They're creating value for their customers, they're creating value for their employees. Their suppliers are flourishing, their investors are seeing their capital go up. It can be reinvested and compound.
All philanthropy ultimately comes from business. That's where the profits are.
Where does all the taxes come from? It ultimately comes from business as well.
This is the engine that's lifting humanity out. The entrepreneurs are the drivers of that engine. Somebody like Elon Musk, he gets a very, very, very tiny sliver of the value that he creates for the whole world."
— @iamjohnmackey