Dusty Makes a Funny (I make whack headlines)

In Little League News, some team from Ohio named the Reds batted out of order in the ninth inning of a game Sunday afternoon. Little catcher David "Davey" Ross came to the plate to lead off the top of the ninth. Apparently, center-right fielder Corey Patterso.... wait, these are names of major leaguers. And the Reds? That's an MLB team in Cincinnati. No way. Noooo way. Haaaa. Haaaaahaha. Hahaha. The friggin' Cincinnati Reds batted out of order on Sunday! Oh. my. god. Seriously, guys? Way to go, Dusty Baker. Way. to. go. It cost the Reds an out. They were losing 8-3 at the time, so no biggie... but still. What's the deal? "The guys hit out of order, and it's my job to catch that," Baker said. "So I take full responsibility." No sh-t?

The Reds are 15-23, which is good enough for last place in the NL Central (BEHIND THE PIRATES). You probably could have assumed that though. I didn't need to tell you they suck -- they batted out of order.

NL Central: It's Heattttinnng Up!

I hope you caught the NBA Jam reference in the subject line. You wouldn't want to miss that. Anyway, things are getting hot in the once-docile NL Central and it seems like most of the tension revolves around the St. Louis Cardinals. They currently have a feud brewing with every team in the division, with the exception of the Pirates, because... they're the Pirates.

The most hostile current feud is with the Astros. The benches cleared twice in this weekend's series. In the first incident Saturday, Cardinals' ace Adam Wainwright threw behind Astros' catcher Brad Ausmus as retaliation for Jason LaRue getting grazed earlier in the same game. Ausmus walked slowly toward the mound, bat in hand, and the benches cleared. Nobody got violent. Yesterday, Astros' pitcher Brandon Backe threw at Yadier Molina's head. Both benches and bullpens cleared. Molina shoved Astros' catcher J.R. Towles multiple times, but that's as physical as it got. Much of this stems from a series earlier in the year when Albert Pujols and Brandon Backe began yelling at each other and had to be separated while discussing a collision at the plate from the night before. Ausmus and Cardinals manager Tony La Russa have exchanged words in all three incidents. This one's not over and might be the most compelling rivalry in baseball right now.

Brewers' manager Ned Yost and Tony La Russa reportedly despise each other as well. They sat next to each other at the winter meetings but exchanged nothing more than a "hello." Their beef began in a series last year when the teams exchanged retaliatory pitches. Yost was especially pissed that La Russa decided to bean Brewers slugger, Prince Fielder.

The Cubs... the Cardinals are always ready to go at it with the Cubs. There aren't many feelings of love between the franchises, and that goes back a couple decades.

Now, with the promotion of former Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty to the position of Reds GM, a new rivalry has started. Here's what Walt said last week at a press conference announcing his promotion: “Trust me, me and (manager Dusty Baker) are very motivated. We’re both guys who have a vendetta, a little chip on our shoulders.” Much has been made in St. Louis over Jocketty's use of the word vendetta. Props to Derek Goold of BirdLand for this one... here's the definition of that word:

ven-det-ta
1. A feud between two families or clans that arises out of a slaying and is perpetuated by retaliatory acts of revenge; a blood feud.
2. A bitter, destructive feud.

I've heard a few people claim that the elevating amount of feistiness in the division is a result of some new-found parity. The Cubs, Brewers, Cardinals, then Reds and Astros to a lesser degree all have aspirations of winning the NL Central. Whatever it is, here's to hoping punches get thrown. It'd be a tragedy if all this got settled in a civilized manner. Especially as UFC ratings continue to climb.