The big news today is that the Reds have reached the 8-game mark in their titanic losing streak. But did you know that the win that preceded this losing streak was the same win that broke their previous 6-game losing streak? In fact, the Reds haven’t had two wins in a row since July 1 and 2, which was broken up by the same loss that was their last one-loss-in-a-row on July 3.

All this gets to be a little difficult for me to visualize, and even the calendar on Reds.com doesn’t bring it to life, so I added a little color to make it easier to see the wins and losses over the last four and a half weeks:

This demonstrates not just how horribly ineffective the Reds have been in the last month, but also that they’ve only recently dug themselves into this hole. 5 for their last 27 and only 12.5 games back. It’s a long shot, but it’s not impossible for the team to come back, given a little shake-up. I recommend removing the guy who doesn’t realize that low OBP at the top of the line-up are the reason Joey Votto came to the plate facing empty bases all night last night.

The Reds lost (again) last night–this time to the Chicago Cubs–to stretch out their losing streak to 8. Yes, that’s 8 games in a row they’ve lost.

It would be more if not for a fluke of a win a while back that ended their then season-longest losing streak of 6 games. That makes the Reds 1-14 over their last 15 games.

As the losses pile up, I can’t help but wonder, where are all the “Dusty Baker on the hot seat in Cincinnati” stories? The Reds had optimistic hopes of finishing above .500 and competing this year. Clearly, that’s not happening. Not anytime soon. But no one is getting fired.

Could it be that owner Bob Castellini’s macho stance against losing is nothing more than a PR move? Or is it really a St. Louis Cardinals conspiracy?

Methinks Castellini doth protest too much. Until some heads start rolling, I’ll be thinking that losing suits him just fine.