November 15, 2007 was a rainy, cool, miserable day. It was a Thursday. The Reds season was over with Pete Mackanin as their manager. The Reds finished a woeful 72-90, 13 games behind the Division winning Chicago Cubs. Adam Dunn was Adam Dunn — 41 home runs, 165 strikeouts. Aaron Harang was their best pitcher, winning 16 games. But Homer Bailey had made his major league debut against the Indians that summer and second baseman Brandon Phillips had smacked 30 home runs and stole 32 bases.
I staggered out of bed to face the day. I started the computer to catch up on the news.