Davey Johnson will never forgive his stepson

Davey Johnson, former Reds coach and current manager of Team USA baseball, will miss the team's WBC second round opener against Puerto Rico tomorrow because his stupid stepson, who he never asked for, is getting married. Of all the dates, Jeremy, really?

None other than bench coach Barry Larkin will take over the reigns for Johnson, who will rejoin the team on Sunday. This is Barry's chance to insert himself in the lineup. He could probably out-play Derosa.

The Best Offensive Seasons of the Past 15 Years

Hands down, the best offensive season of the past fifteen years came from a man named Kevin "I Don't Need No Stinkin' Glove" Mitchell in the strike-shortened 1994 season. The Reds finished 66-48 in 104 games and were not given a chance to win the World Series (figures). Mitchell was on pace for 47 Dongs, 121 RBIs, a .326 BA, .429 OBP and 681 SLG!!! But this season just wasn't meant to be. Mitchell finished the year with 310 ABs, 30 Dongs and 77 RBIs, with his averages staying the same. Not too shabby for two-thirds of a year.

Sidenote: Legend has it that during the Mets 1986 Championship run, Kevin Mitchell decapitated his girlfriend's cat. This is according to Doc Gooden's autobiography Heat. Gooden says he was held hostage during the situation.

Moving on, here are the next best individual offensive seasons since 1994...

	Player	Year	AB	BA	OBP	SLG	PROD	HR	RBI	SB
2	B. Larkin	1996	517	.298	.410	.567	.977	33	89	36
3	R. Sanders	1995	484	.306	.397	.579	.976	28	99	36
4	A. Dunn	2004	568	.266	.388	.569	.957	46	102	6
5	S. Casey	1999	594	.332	.399	.539	.938	25	99	0
6	B. Larkin	1995	496	.319	.394	.492	.886	15	66	51
7	S. Casey	2004	571	.324	.381	.534	.915	24	99	2
8	K. Griffey	2000	520	.271	.387	.556	.943	40	118	6
9	K. Griffey	2005	491	.301	.369	.576	.945	35	92	0
10	A. Dunn	2007	522	.264	.386	.554	.940	40	106	9
11	A. Dunn	2005	543	.247	.387	.540	.927	40	101	5
12	B. Larkin	1998	538	.309	.397	.504	.901	17	72	26
13	S. Casey	2000	480	.315	.385	.517	.902	20	85	1
14	E. Davis	1996	415	.287	.394	.523	.917	26	83	23

RBIs and Stolen Bases are cut off on this chart. Larkin had 36, 51 and 26 steals respectively. Sanders had 36. Davis had 23. The only +100 RBI seasons on the list came from Dunn (102, 106, 101) and Griffey (118). Casey had 99 RBIs twice. So close.

Some things that come to mind...
A.) Barry Larking was amazing (Brandon Phillips who?)
B.) Reggie Sanders and Eric Davis were my favorites growing up.
C.) Adam Dunn gets no respect.
D.) When healthy*, Griff was the best player on the team (*unlucky bastard).
E.) Sean Casey was a good hitter, and a huge dork.