Danny Graves: Double Agent?

Mrs. X and I went to see a baseball game last night. Roger Clemens of the Houston Astros was pitching against someone I had never heard of for the Cincinnati Reds but who has apparently started in 8 games this season. Shows how much I watch the starting pitching staff of the hometown team. Anyway, Mrs. X, myself and most of population of Cincinnati was down on the riverfront either watching the game, watching the Shania Twain concert going on next door, or racing speedboats down the Ohio River, presumably to escape the river patrol nestled in their Kentucky harbors. Did you know that Kentucky actually owns the Ohio River and the bridges going across it? Amazing the things you learn each day.

Before I go into the game, I need to chastise Great American Ballpark for not selling programs and scorecards on the 400 and 500 level. After walking around the entire ring and asking a souvenir vendor where they were, I had to walk down to the 300 level, which is about 4 flights of steps for those keeping count. At least I didn't have to buy a program to get the scorecard, which a lot of ballparks are making you do now. I know I need the exercise but would it be that inconvenient to sell scorecards on all levels? That and $4.50 for a large soda is blackmail.

So the game. It was quite good. Clemens stuck out 8 batters, including Griffey twice (apparently he only knows how to hit balls when he's gone down in defeat three or four times prior in the game). But Clemens also gave up 6 runs over 5 innings. Not his best performance. The Reds went up 4-0 at one point and then Houston battled back to tie it in the 5th. The Reds then went up 6-4 and chased Clemens from the game. In the 6th, the Reds bullpen tried to give it away again. Leadoff single, fortunate double play, pinch hit homerun (6-5), single, two walks loading the bases. At this point a new reliever was brought in and Jeff Kent got a little to eager for a grand slam and struck out. 7th inning starts with a leadoff double who gets home on a sac fly after the third Reds reliever is brought in. Its now 6-6. This third reliever, Todd Jones, actually seems to know how to pitch and goes the rest of the 7th and the 8th without giving up a hit or a walk. Meanwhile the Houston bullpen, which isn't that great, allows the Reds to go ahead in the 8th for an 8-6 lead.

I'm going to start a new paragraph here because I want to discuss my Danny Graves conspiracy theory. I've watched a few Reds games on TV and seen highlights of several more. Danny Graves currently is leading the league in saves. Not really saying much because that just means he comes in more often then people like Eric Gagne because the scores are closer. You don't need your closer if you're leading 10-2. In the games I have seen where Graves is pitching, I have never seen him fully protect a lead. He has always either given up at least the insurance run or blown the save. I imagine he's gone a couple of games where he hasn't given up a run but I haven't seen any. On the scoreboard when he came in, it showed he had an ERA of almost 3. Terrible for a closer, who should have an ERA of around 1 or 1.5 at worst. So my theory is that Danny Graves is secretly taking bribes from other teams to give them near meat pitches. Only incompetence on the other side and good defense has allowed him to escape with only 4 or 5 blown saves.

Now, last night. Graves comes in and he's starting with the number 4 hitter, Jeff Kent. Lead off single. Next batter, Lance Berkman, hits a double and Kent goes to third. Next batter, bloop single, Kent scores (8-7), Berkman goes to third. At this point we have a conversation on the mound and the fans are getting twitchy. Next batter is Richard Hildago. There was possibly a hit and run option on because Hildago hits a chopper to third and Berkman is already halfway home. He's cut off and the Reds catcher tags him out. So now Graves has runners on first and second with one out. The 8th man hits a pop fly to the shortstop. Two outs. Pinch hitter for the pitcher, Jose Vizcaino, who has been around for a while. The man takes the first pitch and rifles it down the line. Would have been an easy RBI double and maybe scored two if the third baseman had not made this brilliant dive and caught it in mid-air. Game over, Reds win 8-7. The fans clapped and cheered for at least a full minute after the game was over, no thanks to Danny Graves.

We managed to get ahead of the crowds coming out of the game and back to the car before traffic got too bad. Only took us about an hour after that to get home, which did include a detour around the primary downtown exit to I-75 to one a couple miles north. Mrs. X was a little nervous, as she had to pee and was not in the mood for adventure, but we made it back safely. We're going to another game in July against St. Louis and I'm hoping it will be as good a game.

Staying in the sports mood briefly, congrats to Tampa Bay and Calgary for making it to the Stanley Cup finals. My best man has an old friend who plays for Calgary so I'll be cheering for Canada this week to take the cup. That and it just seems wrong for a city that never drops below freezing to win the hockey championship, but that's just me talking out loud.