Mr. Carlson's outrage over the Cincinnati Reds stems from the 1981 baseball season. The Reds had the best record of 26 teams but missed the play-offs because the season was split in two due to a mid-season work stoppage. Despite having a league best .611 winning percentage, the Reds finished a close second in both halves of the season, thus unfairly missing the play-offs in the eyes of Mr. Carlson.