The word "fraud" is defined as: "deceit, trickery, sharp practice, or breach of confidence, perpetrated for profit or to gain some unfair or dishonest advantage."
ESPN Radio talk show host Colin Cowherd has called the Cincinnati Reds "frauds" several times over the past few weeks, including after they were swept by St. Louis in early August. He also called them frauds several weeks later, even though they were pulling away in the division. Today, he repeated his accusations. His reasons? Simply because they can't beat the good teams and their pitching isn't as good as it seems to be.
Fair enough. There is no ace on this staff, even I will admit that. Bronson Arroyo and Johnny Cueto are both 2 or 3 guys, and no one else is really better than a 3 or 4. Fine. But once you get into the playoffs, how much does that matter? How many championships did the Oakland A's win with aces Barry Zito, Mark Mulder, and Tim Hudson? None. Did Carpenter and Wainwright take St. Louis to the World Series last year? No. A pitcher can get hot, like Cole Hamels, and carry a team to a championship. Once you get to the playoffs, these so called trends that everyone likes to talk about tend to disappear. Remember in 2008 when the Cubs had the best offense and pitching in the league? They were swept in the playoffs. Even the Cardinals in 2006. They were one of the worst playoff teams in the history of baseball at 83-78. They won it all. Nobody cares how you got there. You just have to get to the playoffs, and a little bit of luck and a few hot streaks will take care of your team from there.
As for beating the good teams, anyone that doesn't have a clue about baseball could check out the numbers and see the Reds struggle against good teams. Thanks for the insight Colin! But a team that is in first place by 6 games after 140 games into the season is not a fraud. They are what they are: a team that beats up on the bad ones and struggles against good ones. They're good, not great. But a fraud? Come on.
Here's a real fraud. In 2007, the St. Louis Cardinals missed the playoffs at 78-84, where a 9 game losing streak in September killed their season. In 2008, they finished 86-76, and in 4th place, while missing the playoffs again because of a 7 game losing streak in September. In 2009, the Cardinals won the division at 91-71. They also lost 8 of 10 and 14 out of 21 to end the year, and got swept in the first round by the Dodgers. If you look further into their year, they surged after acquiring Matt Holliday, going 20-6 in August. Otherwise, they were a very mediocre 71-65 for the year. This year, St. Louis is 72-65, 6 games out in the division and 6 1/2 out in the wild card. They are 54-57 since the end of April. So, tell me, who's the real fraud? The Reds that have risen up and played well all year, or the Cardinals who are riding on the coattails of an 18-8 April? Why do people assume St. Louis dominates the division? This will be the 5th consecutive year they've slumped at the end of the season, and the 3rd time in 4 years they've missed the playoffs. Even the year they won the World Series in 2006, they won the division by just 1 1/2 games, and lost 8 of 11 to end the year, including a 7 game losing streak in there.
Gee, the Philadelphia Phillies are just 5-7 against the Braves, 4-4 against the Cardinals, 6-6 against the Mets, and 3-3 against the Giants. And they're a sad 2-4 against the Cubs, 2-4 against the Pirates, and 3-4 against the Astros. Are the Phillies frauds, Colin? Because they're just OK against some good teams and bad against some of the not so good ones? And those St. Louis Cardinals. They play the exact same schedule as Cincinnati. Yet the Reds are 6 games better than them. So obviously the fact that St. Louis is "a better team" is fraudulent.
So these frauds lost 2 of 3 in St. Louis. They were swept in Colorado. It's a tough road to the playoffs, and Cincinnati is figuring that out. They couldn't beat the good teams, again. But we already knew that they might struggle on this trip. Now they get Pittsburgh back at Great American, with a chance to bounce back, as they've done all year long. And 19 of their last 22 against sub .500 teams. An 11-11 record gets them to 90 wins. That would mean a division title.
Not bad for a bunch of frauds.
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