best-laid plans

Cincinnati trailed by two, with a runner on first base, one out in the bottom of the eighth. Reds pinch-hitter Fred Lewis yanked a pitch down the right-field line. But instead of a possible run-scoring double into the corner, the ball landed foul by a few inches. Lewis then struck out looking. The Reds lost to Philadelphia 3-2 on Monday night. It’s been that kind of year for Lewis, the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College product from Wiggins, and the Reds. Frustrating. Lewis is hitting just .232, despite a 10-for-30 ledger as a pinch hitter. The Reds, National League Central champs in 2010, are a .500 club that isn’t going to make the playoffs. After a good year with Toronto in 2010, Lewis signed with Cincy as a free agent. The Reds already were four-deep in the outfield, but Lewis, a lefty hitter with plus speed, probably figured it’d be nice to play a utility role for a contending team. Then he got hurt in spring training, delaying his debut. And the Reds have sputtered all year. The highlight of Lewis’ season might have come in June when he received a World Series ring from the San Francisco Giants. Lewis didn’t play a single game for the Giants in 2010; he went through spring training, got hurt before Opening Day and was traded to the Blue Jays in mid-April. But the Giants, Lewis’ original organization, voted to give him a ring. One supposes there is some small consolation in that.

P.S. The Mississippi Braves play their last home game tonight at 7:05 at Trustmark Park. Can’t see ’em again at the TeePee until April 2012.