When Joe Posnanski’s “bonus” Substack essay hit my in-box this morning, I could have guessed the subject without even reading the headline. Joe (“writer of sports and other nonsense”) has been telegraphing this one for a few days.

The first two sentences capture my feelings perfectly.

I am so in on the Cincinnati Reds right now that I can barely function as a human being. It’s truly unhinged.

Candice will attest to this fact. I’ve made her watch Elly De La Cruz highlight videos. I’m considering getting one of those cool Elly t-shirts from the Reds. (Tell me which one you like best!) I’m so excited that Candice and I are going to see Elly, Joey Votto, and the Reds on July 5th when they come to Nats Park (that was a fortunate pre-season choice in games). And if I can’t wait, I may make the drive to Camden Yards for the Reds’ three-game set with a real major league team that begins on Monday. And there’s a very good chance I’m going to Cincinnati in September to see the Reds and check off another MLB ballpark from my bucket list.

I’ve only known two Cincinnati Reds fans in my life. My best friend growing up, Ben Jamison, had lived in Louisville prior to moving to Tennessee in the mid 1960s. All these years later, Ben still follows the Reds. And Robyn Ryle, a wonderful writer I follow on Substack, lives in nearby Madison, Indiana, and occasionally writes about the Reds. Robyn and I have had a couple of baseball-related chats in the comment section of various blogs.

But last evening I was watching baseball (two very forgettable nights for the Nats and the O’s) and I kept seeing that insane Braves-Reds score. Atlanta jumped out 5-0 in the top of the first. Then the Reds come back. The two teams go back-and-forth. By the time the late innings rolled around in Cincinnati I was tuned in to the MLB network and yelling at the screen. MLB had the Reds-Braves game side-by-side with a meaningless (to me) Yankees-Rangers game (of course), and the announcers wouldn’t shut up talking about the Yankees and Aaron Judge (who wasn’t even playing). All while the most exciting team in baseball was clubbing the ball all over the yard, racing around the bases, and having FUN!

You should go read all of Joe’s post (it is free), but here are a couple of money quotes. First this:

I am, for the most part, a sensible man. I don’t believe in UFOs, conspiracy theories or that there are magical clutch hitters, but I firmly believe that when Elly De La Cruz arrived in Cincinnati, everything changed … not unlike when that doofus Knights’ manager Pop Fisher finally decided to play Roy Hobbs*.

*Even if it took an actual outfielder death to make it happen.

Then this one:

With De La Cruz, there’s something even bigger happening, though. He’s such an energizing presence. When you’re around him, I believe, you can’t help but feel like anything, and everything is possible. It’s like this:

Yesterday the job of being a Cincinnati Red was good but kind of uninteresting, the crowds were slight and somewhat indifferent, the results were monotonous, win three in a row, lose four in a row, win, lose, win, lose a couple, etc.

And today, the whole thing bursts into color like the post-tornado scene in “The Wizard of Oz” because Elly’s here, and you have NO IDEA what miracle that guy’s going to pull off. And suddenly, being a Red is like the best thing going.

What miracle did Elly and the Reds do last evening?

Then, on Friday night, big matchup against the titanic Atlanta Braves, sellout crowd at Great American Ball Park, and what do we get? Elly De La Cruz became the youngest player in more than a half-century to hit for the cycle, which included a double hit so hard (117-mph exit velocity) that it sounded like Lexington and Concord as it crashed into the wall.

And Joey Votto hit two majestic bombs, each high and deep and worthy of having its own theme song.

And the Reds won 11-10 for their 12th victory in a row.

Here is the wrap to Joe’s essay:

Why do we love baseball? Two weeks ago, the Reds meant nothing to me. Now they’re my everything. What a game this is.

Play ball, indeed! . . . with an emphasis on the play!

More to come…

DJB

*Washington-area readers may have thought I was going in another direction with that headline, but long-time readers know that 1) I despise the former name of the Washington Football Club and stopped using it well before the team finally changed names, 2) I really despise Dan Snyder (just approve the sale already NFL and get him out of our lives), and 3) I don’t really watch pro football anymore. I was going to make the title Hail to the Red Stockings but I thought that would also be confusing.