Public thanks

Baseball talk will soon be over and the football inundation began weeks ago, so I just want to give a public thank you to the Cincinnati Reds one last time. I can't remember the last time I was still paying attention to baseball in the last week of September. It was probably 1999, when they ended the season tied with the Mets for the Wild Card spot, and lost in a tie-breaker game.

Since then, each season has been an exercise in hopes being dashed by the All-Star break and last year, I deleted my bookmark of the team website before August.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again, it would be awesome for them to make the playoffs (and it is still mathematically possible), but really I'm just happy that they've put together a decent season. They may or may not make the .500 mark (if they don't, it will be close), but no matter what happens I will have hope for next year and I have enjoyed following them this year. Maybe their improved play might even cause me to invest in mlb.com broadcasting, so I can see them play more often and not just read about it.

Because of my show, it looks unlikely that I'll be able to make it to one of their games here in Pittsburgh this weekend, but I will certainly be listening on the radio and rooting them along! They will need it, as the Pirates have really turned around their season and become a more formidable opponent than before. (In a perfect world, the Reds win but Freddy Sanchez gets enough hits to win the batting title. The Pirates fans deserve something to be happy about for sticking with them for 14 losing seasons!)