To start off, let me just tell you what I will NOT be talking about in this post.

I will not be second-guessing the decision to start Johnny Cueto in the NL Wild Card Game against the Pirates last night. Sure, it was a risky choice. It was just his third start coming off an injury that had nagged him all season. He only started 11 games all year, far less than the 30 you expect to get out of one of your starting pitchers. Cueto did look good in his two starts coming off the disabled list, but he was also facing the Astros and the Mets, two of the worst teams in baseball. So yeah, it was risky to run Cueto out in a win-or-go-home game when he was by no means 100% healthy.

But Dusty Baker wasn’t left with many other alternatives. The previously scheduled Wild Card starter, Mat Latos, came up with an elbow injury just a few days before the game and just wasn’t going to be ready to pitch. To be honest with you, even if Latos was healthy, I still would have been completely fine with giving the ball to Cueto in our biggest game of the year, good health or bad health. Cueto is, quite simply, a warrior. My brother put it beautifully on the phone prior to the game: “Johnny [Cueto] just doesn’t give a shit. He’s going to be locked in no matter what.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.

The fact of the matter is that Cueto, unfortunately, just didn’t have it last night. He was leaving the ball up in the zone all night and the Pirates hitters made him pay. That’s just the way it is. That’s baseball. It’s not Cueto’s fault that he didn’t pitch well. It’s not Dusty Baker’s fault either. You know what? If I were in Baker’s shoes and I could go back in time, I would still give the ball to Cueto. No matter what, I trust in Johnny. He’s our ace, and there is no doubt in my mind that he’s going to learn from this and be awesome next year.

I’m also not going to complain about the new Wild Card Playoff format. A lot of baseball fans are concerned that, under the new rules put in place last year, an entire 162 game season can come down to just one game.  There might come a time when the better team loses the Wild Card game and gets knocked out of the postseason just because the other team catches some lucky breaks, or the opposing starting pitcher simply pitches better than his counterpart. These are fair gripes, but it’s the rules, and we must live by them. Honestly, this new playoff format puts more pressure on teams to win their divisions, and I think this is a great thing.

I’m also not going to put all the blame on Dusty Baker and call for him to be fired, like a lot of Reds fans are doing as I write this. Does Dusty Baker frustrate me? Sure. Sometimes his lineup construction leaves me scratching my head and his resistance to accept on base percentage as a legitimate statistic is pretty dumbfounding. But Dusty has the players’ trust, and in the end, that’s all that really matters. The players love playing for him. That’s gotta be a good thing, right? It’s not Dusty’s fault that the Reds got beat by the Pirates. The blame should fall on the entire team. They came up short, and the better team won. The Pirates are going to St. Louis to face the Cardinals in the NLDS, and the Reds are going home. It sucks to write that, but that’s life. That’s baseball.

Here’s what I am going to write about. I just watched a Fox Sports video that truly touched my heart. I recommend you watch it too, because my words probably won’t do it justice.  It tells the story of a man named Jeff Crews, a lifelong Cincinnati Reds fan. Crews lived and breathed Reds baseball. He was in attendance for Homer Bailey’s first no-hitter in Pittsburg in 2012, and it was one of the best moments of his life. Earlier this year, Crews was diagnosed with one of the most lethal brain tumors in existence. The doctor told him that it was incurable. He could either go home and have 4-6 weeks to live, or start chemotherapy, which would have optimistically extended his life to just a year. Crews was shocked. His family was shocked. They gave him full support when he decided to go home and live his last weeks of life to the fullest.

One thing was certain – Crews simply had to go to one more Reds game before he died. Reds superstar Joey Votto arranged for Crews and his family to attend a game on July 2, 2013. The Reds were playing the San Francisco Giants, and Homer Bailey was on the mound. You may remember me writing my first Paint It Red post about this game. If not, let me refresh your memory.

Bailey threw his second career no-hitter that night. Crews saw both of them in person, and the second came just two days before he died. There are simply no words for this, so I will not try to write them.

If he were still alive, would Jeff Crews have been disappointed in last night’s game? Probably. Unfortunately, I never got to meet the man. But I can still guarantee just from watching that video that Crews would have shook it off, put a smile on his face, and start looking forward to next season. You know what? I’m going to do the same. Jeff Crews and I will see you on Opening Day 2014, Cincinnati Reds.