They actually made it

It honestly has taken me a few days to soak all of it in.

Merry and I are only a handful of days away from welcoming the new addition to our household, which is a blessing.

But on Tuesday, the Cincinnati Reds made me so proud.

I have been a Reds fan for as long as I can remember. I'm old enough to remember the "Big Red Machine" from the 1970s. Sort of.

I remember Pete Rose in a Reds' uniform (pre-1980s). I remember Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, George Foster, David Concepcion, and the like.

However, I remember Eric Davis and company from 1990 a little better.

But Tuesday evening, Jay Bruce hit a home run to lift the Reds over Houston, 3-2, ensuring Cincinnati a trip to the playoffs.

This is the first time the Reds have advanced to the postseason since 1995.

When I got to work Thursday morning, I took a few minutes in the morning to look up some of the team leaders from the 1995 season.

During that year, Davey Johnson coached the Reds.

There were some very interesting names on that 1995 roster.

The team still had Barry Larkin (who should be in the Hall of Fame, in my opinion).

Also on the squad that year included Ron Gant, Reggie Sanders, Deion Sanders, Bret Boone, Benito Santiago, Mark Portugal, Frank Viola, David Wells, Jose Rijo and more.

That season, Pete Schourek led the Reds in pitching, sporting an 18-7 record to go along with a 3.22 earned run average and 160 strikeouts.

John Smiley was also 12-5, while Jeff Brantley recorded 28 saves.

Sanders electrified the lineup, hitting .306, with 28 home runs, 99 runs batted in and 36 stolen bases.

In addition, Gant hit 29 homers to lead the team while Larkin hit .319 and stole 51 bases.

The statistics are different this year heading into the 2010 playoffs, but the lineup seems similar.

First baseman Joey Votto leads the Cincinnati offense with 37 home runs, 111 RBI, a .325 batting average and 104 runs scored.

Scott Rolen -- a Jasper native -- has hit 20 homers while driving in 84, while Brandon Phillips has 17 homers and 98 runs scored.

Drew Stubbs has also hit 21 homers and stole 27 bases, while Bruce has 22 home runs.

From a pitching point of view, Bronson Arroyo is 16-10 to lead the staff. He also has a 3.97 ERA this season.

Johnny Cueto is 12-6 and is the only other pitcher with double-digit victories on the Reds' staff.

Francisco Cordero also has 38 saves this year and the Reds recently brought up fireballer Aroldis Chapman for the playoff push.

This year, Dusty Baker coaches Cincinnati.

It's been 15 seasons since the Reds have even earned a ticket to the playoffs.

While I don't have lofty expectations for the squad in the postseason, it will be nice to actually be watching baseball in October.