Sunday, September 09, 2001
Fans-eye view of the Reds
Thumbs up: Jim Brower. He's been solid in 41 games, nine of them starts, with a 7-9 record and 3.81 ERA.
He got the victory Thursday in a game he entered with the Reds trailing 5-0, but frankly, how often will that happen?
With the Reds in desperate need for starters, can they really afford the luxury of an innings-eater after the matter has been decided?
To wit: The Reds are 12-29 in games in which Brower's appeared. Wonderful.
Earning his money: Has any major leaguer earned his money more over the past four seasons than reliever Scott Sullivan?
Sullivan entered the weekend only relief 11 1/3 innings shy of 100. If he reaches 100, it will be for the fourth straight season.
Having joined Hoyt Wilhelm (1952-54) as the only relievers to lead the bigs in relief innings three times, he's setting his sights on an unprecedented fourth in a row.
Sullivan leads the majors with 88 2/3 innings, followed by the Yankees Ramiro Mendoza with 86 innings, the Dodgers Matt Herges 85 1/3 and Arizona Byung-Hyun Kim with 84 1/3.
Sullivan's past four seasons:
• 1998: 5-5, 5.21 ERA, 67 G, 102 IP
• 1999: 5-4, 3.01 ERA, 79 G, 113 2/3 IP
• 2000: 3-3, 3.67 ERA, 89 G, 106 1/3 IP
• 2001: 5-1, 3.65 ERA, 68 G, 88 2/3 IP
Quiz time: What reliever pitched at least 100 innings for six straight seasons from 1972-77? (Answer below).
Nice run: Danny Graves last week became the first Reds reliever to save at least 25 games in three straight seasons since John Franco, who did it in four straight from 1986-1989.
Swing, batter: God bless Dmitri Young, but take a pitch already.
Young entered the weekend seeing 3.2 pitches per plate appearance, second-worst among qualified National Leaguers.
Young is second in the NL with 22 double plays. He's walked only 33 times. By comparison, Adam Dunn has walked 29 in about 300 fewer plate appearances.
The answer: Mr. Rubber Arm, Pedro Borbon, got plenty of work from skipper Sparky (Captain Hook) Anderson.
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By the numbers
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Sizing up this week's NFL games
UC 24, Army 21
Tressel's in harmony with OSU
Ohio St. 28, Akron 14
Iowa 44, Miami 19
Kentucky 28, Ball St. 20
Otterbein 56, Mount St. Joseph 14
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Fans-eye view of the Reds
