by Kyle Bush
When the Reds faced the Texans over the weekend, it prompted me to reflect on the impact that facing the same club ended up having on the Reds’ 2023 season (and perhaps the modern history of the franchise, going forward?). That series turned everything around in a big way a year ago, when the Reds ended up surprising everyone by man-handling the team that a mere 6 months later would become the World Champion Texas Rangers – by sweeping them with 3 dramatic come-from-behind wins at Cincinnati’s own GABP. And 2 of those wins were shockingly glorious walk-off victories. Certainly none of that high-flying drama had been expected. But for me – and I suspect other long-time Reds fans – that series is what started to help rekindle the unique baseball-specific feeling fans of the game are susceptible to, at least in small doses between long stretches of lean years, that makes us believe we may be getting a turn at having one of those rare but precious things: a Team of Destiny. It certainly helps explain why we die-hard but sometimes tortured fans keep coming back for more.
Because of how significant last year’s Texas series ended up being, I found myself appreciating all over again how far this team has come. The Reds began the 2023 season a disappointing 7-15 going into the matchup with Texas and were just coming off a miserable and humiliating 4-game sweep by the Pirates in Pittsburgh. The pure joy the young Reds team showed when they pulled out of that losing tailspin in such grand fashion seemingly gave our beloved squad a rocket boost, and fed their desire to take things to another level of play that only continues to grow with these guys. Our boys.
Prior to this weekend’s series, I made a point to look up an article from the final game of that sweet sweep last year. It was worth reading. In fact, it was a little like looking back at a video of my child’s first steps; only in this case it was my adopted kids – the young-but-hungry 2023 Cincinnati Reds who ultimately endeared themselves to a national audience so much that, starting sometime in June, they had folks calling them “America’s Team.” And as it turned out, even though they ended up 2 victories shy of making the playoffs, they still ended up having a year to remember for fans who had slowly but surely noticed that The Boys were back, and they were prepared to show the world how fun baseball can be.
So yes – a hat-tip to (current Washington National) Nick Senzel for hitting that walk-off homerun in the series finale and helping our Reds pull off a season-changing series sweep last April. To me, it felt like the first domino in a happy chain reaction had not only been pushed, but hit with a bat, signaling that something new and interesting and delightful was being launched then and there. They seemed to be a different team after that. One that remains determined to play an exciting brand of baseball that, as fans, we should all fully embrace, appreciate, and not take for granted. Someday we will miss this team. I, for one, intend to enjoy the heck out of them while they’re young, inspired, hungry, together, and playing for us. Even the idea of them someday not being together makes me practically choke up. This team will get you hooked if you give them a chance.
Ironically (ironic-Elly?), about 5 weeks after feasting on the soon-to-be world champion Texans, an injury to Senzel led to (then 21-yr-old) Elly de la Cruz’s major league call-up to the Reds on June 6. Safe to say, right from the start it was clear no one had ever seen anyone quite like this guy. The very next day EDLC smacked his first major league homerun, a 458-foot rocket. They grow up so fast, these young future superstars. Two short weeks later, perennial Reds team captain Joey Votto had this all-time classic quote about Elly : “He’s the best runner I’ve ever seen, and he has the most power I’ve ever seen. And he has the strongest arm I’ve ever seen.” And three days after Quote-Machine Votto said that, on June 23, in the 15th major league game he played in, Elly hit for THE CYYYYCLLLLLE!!! against the Braves, which proved to be critical production in one of the most exciting and suspenseful regular season games I’ve ever seen. The Reds finished all their scoring in that game by the 6th inning, then they somehow held off the furious comeback attempt by a powerful Braves offense to squeak out an 11-10 victory over one of the top-tier teams in the National League. That win capped off a 12-game winning streak for the Reds in exhilarating fashion, and the city was fully abuzz as everyone whose love of Reds baseball had maybe been dormant the past few years was suddenly awakened to this team of energized young phenoms. And it just kept going from there. Case in point from our guy Elly – on July 8, a mere month into his major league career, he became the first Red in 104 years to steal 2nd, 3rd, and home in the same inning.
The. Same. Inning.
Great googly moogly can that guy fly. He is pure determination and joy on the basepaths, complete with lightning speed, flying hair, and his own pumped-up affirmations each step of the way. Honestly, if you don’t love the endless wonderful surprise of watching him play this game, then baseball probably isn’t for you.
Seeing Elly progress from last year to this season, and even his maturation just since the beginning of the 2024 season, it seems to me that it would be a crime against baseball – and a slight to the endless possibilities and wonder of the human spirit – to take this man for granted. So let us not take this man for granted, Reds fans! Elly is not only going to be somebody in this game; he already is somebody in this game. He’s got the whole league sitting up and paying attention with amazement, awe, and appreciation, as people marvel about what the ceiling is for a guy with his unique set of abilities and talent. There may even be a little fear beginning to show by some opposing teams, if I’m reading correctly what it meant when a very good pitcher for a very good Phillies team walked Elly 4 times in one game last week. They weren’t intentional walks, but they sure didn’t look like they wanted to give him anything he might hit. It looked like they were not expecting that he’d lay off so many tempting pitches just out of the strike zone, but astonishingly that’s becoming part of his game now as well. In that case, he can level up from being an unparalleled disruptive force once he’s on base to now being a disruptive force who gets into the minds of opposing pitchers from the moment he steps into the batter’s box with his newly discerning eye for strikes.
Obviously, I love watching this team play. So much so that I want everyone to love watching this team play. I would say, “See you at the ballpark,” but I probably won’t. I’ll be too busy watching the game. Still, if you want to see something you’ve never seen before, and things you may never forget once you witness them, you better get on board and catch Reds fever before you regret not doing so. This team is wild!
Kyle Bush was a principal in Loveland Schools for 20+ years, but has been a Reds fan since The Big Reds Machine won the World Series in 1975 & 1976, when he was 5 then 6 years old.
There are legitimate questions in 2024 about which Reds players get the majority of the playing time and which ones are asked to accept a smaller or a platoon role, or even spend time back in the minor leagues, at least to start the season. Having so many talented guys is not a bad problem to have at the end of the day. However, that is for the most part best expressed if the team is fully healthy.
Christopher Ball is a longtime Loveland resident and an attorney. He graduated from Loveland High School in 2003 and was a member of the football team before going on to become a coach’s assistant at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He has been following and rooting for the Reds and Bengals since the early 1990s and has been through the many ups and downs that fandom has wrought over the years.
