Houston and Cincinnati Hook Up For the Final Time as Foes From the Same Division
Yep, that's right. There was a time in the late 90's and early 2000's that I would've welcomed the idea of not playing the Astros anymore. It wasn't always series wins and rainbows when the likes of Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte took the field for the Astros. And then there were the biggest 'Reds-Killers' of them all; Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman. Man oh man, did they own the Redlegs for a good stretch of time or what?
Fortunately, the last several years have been much more kind to the Redlegs when pairing up against the Astronomicals...and for the majority of the other teams who faced off against them. And it doesn't look too likely that a sudden improvement is near for the Houston franchise. But now, Bud Selig and company have decided to move the 'Stros to the under-teamed AL West. Now all six divisions in baseball will have the same number of teams fighting for its respective pennant. That means the NL Central will no longer be the lone division with six teams while all others had five teams, and the AL West was the smallest with four.
This also means that the full-season baseball schedule will see a drastic change in 2013. Because of the even amount of teams in both the AL and the NL, there will be at least one interleague series match-up every day. If you are a baseball purist, this angers you. If you're like me, it is intriguing and frustrating at the same time. It's exciting to know I can see my Reds take on teams and play on fields I've never seen them play on before. I'm excited to see David Price pitch at GABP and Joey Votto to smash an opposite-field double off the Green Monster at Fenway. And you know that Joey, a disciple of Ted Williams, will cherish just playing on the same field. I want opportunites to boo and heckle Yankee players in Cincinnati and to see Jay Bruce crush a ball into the short porch in right field at Yankee Stadium. However, I can't help but feel all that interleague play will take away from the mystique and wonder of the game. But I digress. This is a whole 'nother topic for another day indeed.
Back to the Series Preview:
Friday, 7:10pm
Homer Bailey (RHP) (10-9, 4.09 ERA, 129 SO, 1.35 WHIP)
vs.
Lucas Harrell (RHP) (10-9, 3.81 ERA, 116 SO, 1.32 WHIP)
Saturday, 7:10pm
Bronson Arroyo (RHP) (11-7, 3.76 ERA, 107 SO, 1.19 WHIP)
vs.
Bud Norris (RHP) (5-11, 4.80 ERA, 143 SO, 1.41 WHIP)
Sunday, 1:10pm
Johnny Cueto (RHP) (17-7, 2.58 ERA, 149 SO, 1.12 WHIP)
vs.
Edgar Gonzalez (RHP) (1-0, 1.69 ERA, 5 SO, 1.13 WHIP)
*Joey Votto is back for his first full series!
*Jay Bruce is on fire!
*Brandon Phillips will man the leadoff spot!
*We're playing the Astros! That's fun, right?!
No comments:
Post a Comment