If you have been a Reds fan for any length of time, you know that West Coast road trips have been as kind to the Reds as Miss Hannigan* to Little Orphan Annie.** For some reason, MLB keeps making the Reds travel out to the left coast, so here we are again.
The season couldn’t have started any better, as Cincinnati is 5-1 and in a good mood as they travel to Arizona to play the Diamondbacks tonight. It’s the first game in a short six-game, two-series trip that will end with three games in San Diego. Arizona stands at 2-3 on the season, while the Padres are 3-2. Neither figure to be especially good this season, although San Diego certainly had an excellent season in 2010.
The strength of the opponent doesn’t usually matter when the Reds travel west, however. As excited as we all are right now, imagine how down we’ll be if the Reds fall flat on their collective faces over the next week. (Keep in mind that, no matter what happens, at least we aren’t Red Sox fans. Heh.)
I don’t see that happening, but I’m still crossing my fingers because, you know, that’s proven to bring good luck. My hope is that the Reds can come home with no worse than a 3-3 record on the trip. That puts the Reds at 8-4 on the year, and that’s just fine. If the Reds were able to win four games out west, the trip would be an unqualified success.
What do you think? What will Cincinnati’s record be when they return home?
*Not Ryan’s mother.
**Yes, I’m a little disappointed that I used an “Annie” reference.