RHM Retrospective: April
By
Amanda
Posted at 1:47 pm
In April, the real baseball was finally upon us. At last!
Opening Day! Here at RHM we made a little light of the persistent injuries to Cubs pitchers. On the field, the Cubs made a little light of the persistent sucky defense of the Reds in this 16-7 debacle.
Wayne Krivsky acquired Brandon Phillips from the Indians. It was a pretty confusing move at the time, given the abundance of second basemen on the team at the time. It was about a week before the Reds had only one second baseman.
Bronson Arroyo's first and second starts of the season came against the Cubs and pitted him against Glendon Rusch. After Arroyo hit a homer in the first game, I called for him to hit one in the second game. But I didn't think he'd actually do it.
Ken Griffey, Jr. went on the DL for the first time. He lasted 10 games!
The Crack Technical Staff and I took a field trip to the new stadium in St. Louis to meet up with Bellyscratcher and talk smack in person. Podcasts of the event can be found here, here, and here.
I got to interview Tom Browning on the podcast. That was pretty awesome.
The Reds DFA'd Tony Womack. It was a big deal at the time.
Finally, the first month of baseball was over. The Reds ended April with a 17-8 record. It was no secret that the bullpen was a ticking timebomb, but the wins kept coming.
Alas, poor [url=http://net.bible.org/verse.php?book=Rev&chapter=8&verse=13]Woe[/url]mack. He had the dubious distinction of being the worst player in MLB the year he was a Yankee. He didn’t last long with the Reds, did he?
I happened to be in the midwest early last summer, and saw a few games when he was playing for the Cubbies. He actually played pretty well. Not well enough to stick, I guess. I haven’t heard anything about him since then. He’s not even listed as a minor leaguer.
Ah, Tony Womack. Those were good times, before we knew about Krivsky’s fetish for catchers. Sure, there were signs. But it just felt like a trade was imminent, like it always did for Krivsky’s moves.
Now I realize that’s what everything he does feels like. It’s like I can understand a particular trade or acquisition if he….
Back in April, I wasn’t so cynical enough to think there wasn’t an “if.” Now I’m pretty sure Krivsky’s just a wee bit crazy.
“Harangutan”? LOL! Man, that’s harsh. Funny, but harsh.
Does Harang have a younger brother, by any chance? I seem to recall a pitcher named Harang who hit Bubba with a pitch when he was rehabbing with Class-A Tampa last June. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t “freaking enormous,” though, and he was a lefty, not a righty.
It was a pretty crazy inning. Bottom of the 9th, game tied 1-1, the Other Harang in to close the game. Bubba came up with a man on 3B, two outs. He got hit by a pitch, then non-enormous Harang threw a wild pitch that let the man on 3B score. Game over. So it was a very clutch HBP. 😉
I think “Harangutan” is intended to be affectionate. Aaron’s a big, quiet, shy guy and the best thing the Reds have to put on the mound. You’d be stretching to come up with something to really insult him about.
I assumed it was a reference to his size.
So does he have a brother? I looked up the game, and the guy who plunked Bubba was one [url=http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Harang%20%20P&pos=&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=444938]Daryl Harang[/url]:
[quote]Born: 11/19/1982
Birthplace: San Diego, CA
College: San Diego State
Height: 6′-2″
Weight: 225
Bats: L
Throws: L[/quote]
He’s in the Blue Jays organization.
[img]http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/sdsu/sports/m-basebl/auto_headshot/p-Haranguni.jpg[/img]
According to [url=http://goaztecs.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/harang_daryl00.html]this link[/url], he is Aaron’s brother. It gives his middle name as Andrew instead of Merritt, but there can’t be two left handed pitchers named Daryl Harang from San Diego State…