15 Years is a Long Time to Wait

I realize this is a Silver Hawks blog, and the Silver Hawks are affiliated with the Arizona Diamondbacks, but I have to take a minute to show some pride in my beloved Cincinnati Reds. The Reds clinched a playoff spot last night for the first time since 1995 when I was 13 years old. This is only the third time in my lifetime that the Reds have made the postseason (1990 and 1995 are the others).

Some pictures from last night (courtesy of whatever websites I stole them from)...


There are a whole bunch of former Midwest League stars in this picture (see list below).


Jay Bruce hit a walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth to win the game and clinch the playoff spot for Cincinnati.

And if you really are going to force me to make this relate to the overall theme of this blog somehow, how about the list of former Midwest Leaguers that are currently on the Reds 40-man roster:

Homer Bailey - Dayton (2005)
Jay Bruce - Dayton (2006)
Jared Burton - Kane County (2003)
Francisco Cordero - West Michigan (1997)
Johnny Cueto - Dayton (2006)
Jim Edmonds - Quad Cities (1989)
Carlos Fisher - Dayton (2006)
Juan Francisco - Dayton (2007)
Ryan Hanigan - Dayton (2002-2003)
Chris Heisey - Dayton (2007)
Ramon Hernandez - West Michigan (1996)
Paul Janish - Dayton (2005-2006)
Nick Masset - Clinton (2003)
Corky Miller - Rockford (1999)
Logan Ondrusek - Dayton (2006)
Jordan Smith - Dayton (2007)
Drew Stubbs - Dayton (2007)
Chris Valaika - Dayton (2007)
Edinson Volquez - Clinton (2004)
Joey Votto - Dayton (2003-2004)
Travis Wood - Dayton (2006)

Expanding on Last Night

Ugh...that was another tough one last night. The Silver Hawks allowed three runs in the bottom of the seventh to lose 4-3. In the process, the Hawks fall to 0-11 versus Great Lakes this season.

If you were still listening in the postgame show, I said something along these lines: "At 0-11 against them, you are probably starting to hate the Loons. And I'm right there with you. However, you still have to credit them for what they've done, and that is a 41-24 record and wrapping up a playoff spot."

When the final out was recorded last night, the Silver Hawks players watched from the dugout as the Loons piled out of the dugout and danced in celebration on the field. They soaked their manager with gatorade and gave him a shaving cream pie to the face.

At times, watching another team celebrate will drive you nuts. But knowing that the Silver Hawks are young, I think it was good that they saw that. They saw how much fun it was for the Loons. They saw how excited Great Lakes was to wrap up that playoff spot in the first half. And I'm sure they felt jealousy building inside them because they too want to be a playoff team.

So now, you have a picture to go along with the goal. You want to celebrate like that? Go do something about it. You want to soak your manager with gatorade? Go out and dominate the second half. Work as hard as you've ever worked to make sure that you get to experience the same joys that the Loons had last night.