where jjudo was invented in 1882, with the Komatsu Judo Club

  CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Manager Dusty Baker has trouble even thinking about next year. . "I dont know, man," he said, after the Cincinnati Reds season ended with a collapse. "Im kinda numb in this situation." Pretty much summed up the season. A team that had been able to overcome so many setbacks couldnt get that one last comeback to make it something really special. A 6-4 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Thursday knocked the NL Central champions out of the playoffs far earlier than expected. The Reds won 97 games and their second division title in three years, but couldnt get that elusive home playoff victory to move on. Make it 17 years now since the Reds have won a post-season game at home. "It was disheartening to have my club go through this," the 63-year-old manager said. The Reds went through a lot, and handled all of it well until the final three home games in the playoffs. They became the first NL team to win the first two in a best-of-five division series and fail to move on. What next? The biggest question involves Baker, who was hospitalized in September for an irregular heartbeat and a mini-stroke. He rejoined the team for the final regular season series in St. Louis, feeling good and upbeat. His two-year contract ends after this season. Owner Bob Castellini is fond of Baker and talked last February about giving him an extension. Baker feels hes healthy enough to keep managing. The Reds have won 269 games under Baker in the last three seasons, their best such stretch in 30 years. Their two division titles in three years is the best such run since Sparky Anderson managed the Big Red Machine to World Series championships in 1975-76. The question is whether the front office is ready to make a commitment to Baker after Reds lost in the opening round of the playoffs again. "Im not sure where my career is going here in Cincinnati," Baker said. "Were going to talk about that in the next couple of days. But Im not through managing yet. I have more to do." General manager Walt Jocketty has a few important player decisions to make as well, starting with the closer. The Reds were prepared to have hard-throwing Aroldis Chapman move back into the rotation until closer Ryan Madson blew out his elbow in spring training. Chapman was eased into the closers spot and was one of baseballs best, converting 38 of 43 save opportunities and a club-record 27 straight. Do they simply entrust the job to Chapman? Or do they try to make him a starter again? Madson has a mutual option for 2013 at $11 million -- too pricey for someone coming off major elbow surgery -- with a $2.5 million buyout. Third baseman Scott Rolen had another injury-filled season in his final year under contract, slowed by a bad back and a chronic shoulder problem. Rolen turns 38 next April and has to decide whether he wants to keep playing. Todd Frazier could take over at third. Then theres left fielder Ryan Ludwick, who helped carry the team in the second half after Joey Votto hurt his left knee. Ludwick batted .313 in his last 80 games of the season with 18 homers. He led the Reds with three homers in their playoff series. Ludwick has a mutual option for next season at $5 million with a $500,000 buyout. Votto is the Reds best hitter, acknowledged by the 10-year, $225 million extension he got before opening day. The Reds went 36-12 when he was out in the second half of the season with torn knee cartilage. The leg wasnt at full strength when he returned, affecting his power. Votto didnt hit a homer after June 24. He had seven singles during the playoffs. The Reds expect their 2010 National League MVP to be back to normal next season. The rotation returns intact, including 19-game winner Johnny Cueto and Homer Bailey, who pitched the 15th no-hitter in franchise history. Bronson Arroyo and Mat Latos give the Reds one of the best foursomes in the majors. The Reds will be considered a favourite to win the division again next year and beyond. "I envisioned sustained success, and I think thats what people may tend to overlook -- ownerships commitment to being better not just for a year but for years," right fielder Jay Bruce said. "I think these days, the way that contracts and free agencies have gotten, you have to do it the right way or its tough to sustain success over a period of time. "I think that the Reds ownership has done that, and Im happy to be part of it." The pitching staff was the clubs strength in 2012. The bullpen led the majors with a 2.65 earned run average and 56 saves. For the first time in franchise history, none of the five starters missed a game because of injury -- until the playoffs. Only eight pitches into the opener in San Francisco, Cueto strained a muscle in his right side and was done. The Reds had to juggle their rotation and won the first two games, but missed Cueto when they had a chance to wrap it up back home. That left it up to an offence that had depended upon the big inning all season. It ended with Rolen striking out with two runners aboard. "We hadnt lost three games in a row at home all year," Ludwick said. "This team lived and died all year with the big hit." And came up one short. . Strasburg pitched six innings, but the Rockies rallied for a 4-2 victory over the Nationals that snapped the right-handers six-start winning streak. "I went out there and pounded the strike zone," Strasburg said. . -- The Los Angeles Angels put ace Jered Weaver on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday with a lower-back injury, likely forcing last seasons AL Cy Young runner-up to miss at least two starts. . surrendered in a courtroom Friday to begin a three-month jail sentence for attacking his ex-girlfriend in September 2010 while two of their children watched. . The move is retroactive to May 13. Inge, who has not played since May 12 against Detroit, has batted .227 with four homers and 17 runs batted in over 11 games since signing with Oakland as a free agent on April 30. . In a game against Metallurg Magnitogorsk, the league said that Carle appeared to make contract with a referee during the game. He received the match penalty for abuse of officials and unsportsmanlike conduct.Varennes, Que.s Alexandre émond was defeated by ippon by Great Britains Winston Gordon in his opening match in the mens -90kg judo event on Day 5 at London 2012. “I feel pretty bad, its not what I expected,” émond said. “I came here with hope.” Coming off a shoulder injury, the 28-year-old Canadian could not muster much offence before he was thrown on his back at 1:43 for a convincing win by the Brit on Wednesday. émond, who was ranked higher at No. 14, said the fact that Gordon was fighting at home was not a factor. “The crowd didnt affect me,” émond said. “I was in the zone.” He believes the injury, which kept him from training as much as he wanted, played more of a role than he had hoped. “I plan to have surgery on my shoulder next,” he added. “I thought I was ready for it, but I wasnt.” Later, Whitby, Ont.s Kelita Zupancic was also stopped by ippon in the womens-70kg division. Facing world No. 1 Lucie Decosse, Zupancic held the top-ranked Frenchwoman at bay for most of regulation as the talented 22-year-old did not appear completely out of her league in her Olympic Games debut. But the 2008 Beijing silver medallist at -63kg finally managed to put Zupancic on her back with a leg hook (ko-soto-gari) at 4:31 for the victory. Afterward, Zupancic did not seem overly disappointed with her effort. "I came here to fight the best and she is the best. Its the Olympics," she said. Zupancic had spent a year training in Japan, where jjudo was invented in 1882, with the Komatsu Judo Club in Tokyo. . She went on a special contract given to one non-Japanese judoka, an experience she considered an "honour." Upon return to Canada, she won a bronze medal in April at the Pan American Judo Championships in Montreal, which secured her berth at London 2012. "I was eight years old when I decided I wanted to go to the Olympic Games," Zupancic said after her loss. "This journey has been far from easy. It was extremely hard, the preparation is only physical, you cannot prepare mentally."  Decosse wasted no time at all in her second match, sweeping Colombias Yuris Alvear for another ippon at the 10-second mark. The 30-year-old Decosse, who is also the two-time defending world champion at 70 kilograms, was in form and is expected to advance to at least the final. Her task to win her first Olympic gold medal might have gotten easier as No. 2 Edith Bosch of the Netherlands, was knocked off in the quarter-finals by Germanys Kerstin Thiele after she surrendered an early waza-ari. There were a couple of big upsets on the mens side as the top two seeds Ilias Iliadis of Greece and Japans Masashi Nishiyama were upset in the quarter-finals. Iliadis, who won gold at -81kg at Athens 2004, was outworked by 12th-ranked Kirill Denisov of Russia and lost on two yuko throws. Nishiyama got behind early in his bout against 17th-ranked Song Dae-Nam of South Korea and a late waza-ari wasnt enough to overcome the deficit as Song won by a yuko. ' ' '