Seventy-two days have passed since the Cincinnati Reds last played a Major League Baseball game. The above picture of Jake Fraley trying impossibly hard to not get pelted by the fastball pursuing him has been the lead photo in the Getty files when you search for “Cincinnati Reds” for every single one of those seventy-two days, seeing as it’s the last time the Reds actively participated in anything baseball related - be it on the field, or on the business side.
I’ve seen Jake try to dodge that pitch every single day for over two months, and it has prompted me to throw a bit of love towards the guy who, more often than not, served as the Reds cleanup hitter down the stretch last season.