It appears that the Reds have released what's left of the NLDS tickets to the general public, and they've done so, for whatever reason, without much fanfare.

Follow the link and scroll down past the "Postseason Ticket Opportunity" section, and click on the green box of the corresponding game for which you wish to buy a ticket. 

Yes, all of the seats for game 1 are single seats, but it gets your butt in the ballpark! Last time I checked, there were seats available together for games 2 and 3.

Go, go now. Buy tickets! I know a bunch of people around here said they didn't win the drawing when they initally registered... well, here you go! See your Redlegs in the postseason, live and in person!

The Reds make their first 2010 trip into Pittsburgh next weekend, and a group of us is making plans to go.

Some of you might remember that we had a RR contingent in Pittsburgh last season - 'than, snohio, xjjeep, and I went in April and had a pretty good time. ...ok, to be honest, we really haven't heard from xjjeep since - I swear he made it back alive, though! This is actually going to be the 4th season in a row I've been to Pittsburgh for a series, and it's something I highly recommend to everyone.

The question is: Would anyone like to join us?

(I apologize for the lack of notice - I'm a busy, lazy person and finding the time AND motivation to write this was hard! I also imagine that there won't be much interest given that we've previously frightened away xjjeep and since hitching a ride with us would involve being in the same car as 'than for a total of 8 hours, and who wants to do that!?)

In on the road-trip shenanigans for sure are 'than, Chandra, BK, and I. Red Menace is a maybe, and Brendanukkah might be joining us in Pittsburgh. Anyone is welcome to join us. There might be room in 'than's van, although he'll have to verify that one. Of course, you can always drive separately and meet us there - it's not a bad drive at all from the Cincinnati area.

The plan right now is to head out Saturday morning (17th), check into the hotel, then go to the 7:05 game where a copious amount of Yuengling will be enjoyed. We'll go to the 1:35 game on Sunday (18th), then head on back. We'll buy tickets at the games because, let's face it, they will not be hard to come by. Interestingly, the Pirates scalp their own tickets - last year we bought "special tickets" behind the Reds dugout at one of the ticket windows for a few dollars over face value. As far as lodging goes, I'll take care of that depending upon how many people are going. Of course, if you're going to Pitt on your own feel free to make your own reservations, or I can - just let me know what you want to do. Last year we were "fortunate" enough to end up in the same hotel as our very own Jim Day. He was leaving for the game as we were arriving, and he mistook our surprise as elation, I guess, and gave us a big 'ol goofy grin and flashed us the peace sign. I hate that guy.

All told, anyone who goes would probably end up spending ~$20 on a share of the room, ~$40 on two game tickets, and a share of a tank of gas, for which we only had to stop once last year, plus any food and adult beverages. All in all, it's a pretty good deal, and I'm sure it'll be a great time.

Feel free to ask questions either below or via e-mail - my address is available on the site.

Hey everyone, sukr and I are looking for anyone else in the Greater Cincinnati area insane enough to hit up Gameday Cafe earrrly tomorrow morning in honor of our Dustyfied 2008 Cincinnati Reds.

Jeremy, I'm looking at you. Anyone else?

Leave a comment here if you're interested, or shoot an e-mail to one of us. (I think those are on the new and improved RR somewhere...) As always, the invitation is extended to anyone who can make it. For those of you who don't know us, keep in mind, we aren't scary people. Strange, certainly, but not scary.

Skip work and drink beer at ungodly hours? Sounds like a plan to me.

I hate the Reds so damn much.

Also I'll have more thoughts on this, but for now I have to say that it is really gutless and pathetic that the Reds didn't give Pete Mackanin the interview they promised him. I am not even a fan of the guy, but there's a certain way to do business, and breaking promises like that really isn't the way to go about things. - JD

My joy at Ohio State becoming the #1 team in the land (barring something truly bizarre) has been severely tempered by the fact that ESPN is reporting that Dusty Baker is the new manager of the Reds.

I woke people in my neighborhood up with my bloodcurdling screaming, I'm sure.

Oh, crap.

A three year deal. Three years. THREE YEARS.

Seriously, we're almost done.

Again...
Brian B
Kyle
greg
Ash
tHan
Dibble
Snohio
sonant
sledridge
Zach
Menace
BK
Charlie
boobs

1 QB, 3 WR, 2 RB, 1 TE, 1 TE/WR, 1 K, 1 DEF, 6 Bench

Continue reading this post »

It's time. If you aren't here, Yahoo's best available will be selected for you unless you've contacted me with picks.

Remember there are 16 Rounds, and you'll need: 1 QB, 3 WR, 2 RB, 1 TE, 1 WR or TE, 1 K, 1 DEF, and 6 for the Bench

Tits McGee
Kyle's Killers
GoodNewzFederalPrizn
Blue Steel
Parrot Heads
Vegas Strippers
Snohio Storm
Hoosier Daddies
TN RiverRails
Killer Tuscans
Red Menace
BK Broilers
Silver Scrabbles
boobs

Continue reading this post »

We now have 14 teams (thanks boobs!), and we're doing head-to-head scoring.

Red Menace suggested that we go ahead and begin drafting and to make selections as we have time, so that at the very least if you can't make it Tuesday night, you can get who you want in the earliest rounds. I'm hoping that all of Monday and a majority of Tuesday will allow us to at least get through the first round. There were no objections in the previous thread, so here we go...

16 Rounds: 1 QB, 3 WR, 2 RB, 1 TE, 1 WR or TE, 1 K, 1 DEF, 6 Bench

end around/Tits McGee
Kyle's Killers
GoodNewzFederalPrizn
Blue Steel
Parrot Heads
Vegas Strippers
Snohio Storm
Hoosier Daddies
TN RiverRails
Killer Tuscans
Red Menace
BK Broilers
Silver Scrabbles
boobs

...this is a serpentine draft. I trust you all know what that means. Congrats, end around. I have no idea who you are, but enjoy the first pick!

Alright kiddies, I've established the league over on Yahoo...

League name: RedReporter (#655586)
Password: elpidio

Right now we're set up for an offline draft. I'm more than willing to do an online draft, but I'm not going to just set it to auto-draft for everyone - if you can't make it, you can set it to auto-draft for yourself. I'd really like to do this draft before the season starts next Thursday, so the latest we can draft is Wednesday night. I know it's a holiday weekend so people might not be around (I'll be out of town myself), so I'm thinking either Tuesday night or Wednesday night. If we do it Tuesday night, it'll be during the game. Wednesday's game is a day game, so that wouldn't interfere.

As for the league settings, go take a peek and let me know if there's anything that you'd like to be changed. I set it up with 1 QB (and other offensive positions) and only a defense, as opposed to individual defensive players. I also altered various other standard settings, so let me know what you all think. The scoring is head to head, and the league will allow up to 14 teams, so I think that'll cover everyone who expressed an interest in joining.

Good luck, bitches!

Also, unless your team name makes it obvious, let everyone know who you are. I'm Blue Steel (if you didn't already know) again because frankly, I can't be bothered to be creative enough to come up with a new name. That, and it's worked out well so far. And Magnum isn't ready yet.

I know we're enjoying the hell out of this recent resurgence by our beloved Reds, but we can't simply ignore the upcoming NFL season. It's almost here, and we might as well embrace it. I think we had a pretty successful and fun time with a league on Yahoo last year, so let's do it again. Who's in?

And who's for only 1 QB this time?

Unless someone else really, really wants to be commissioner, I'll create the league. Give me a couple of days, and I'll have something together.

I'll post the league info/password when we've got enough interested parties, then we can start talking about the draft.

Continue reading this post »

It's official, only one All-Star for 2007.

Starters:
Russell Martin C
Prince Fielder 1B
Chase Utley 2B
David Wright 3B
Jose Reyes SS
Carlos Beltran OF
George Kenneth Griffey, Jr. OF
Barry Bonds OF

*according to mlb.com, Junior got the most votes in the National League. Congratulations.

Pitchers:
P Francisco Cordero
P Brian Fuentes
P Cole Hamels
P Trevor Hoffman
P Jake Peavy
P Brad Penny
P Takashi Saito
P Ben Sheets
P John Smoltz
P Jose Valverde
P Billy Wagner

Reserves:
C Brian McCann
1B Derrek Lee
1B Albert Pujols
1B Dmitri Young
2B Orlando Hudson
2B Freddy Sanchez
SS J.J. Hardy
3B Miguel Cabrera
OF Matt Holliday
OF Carlos Lee
OF Aaron Rowand
OF Alfonso Soriano

The "Final Vote" guys:
Tom Gorzelanny, PIT
Roy Oswalt, HOU
Brandon Webb, ARI
Chris Young, SD
Carlos Zambrano, CHI

Hamels: 9-4, 3.87 ERA, 29 BB, 116 K, 1.22 WHIP
"Big Z": 9-6, 4.20 ERA, 47 BB, 97 K, 1.33 WHIP
Harang: 8-2, 3.80 ERA, 28 BB, 100 K, 1.18 WHIP

just sayin'...

Instead of making you look through today's game thread...

Starters:
Ivan Rodriguez C
David Ortiz 1B
Placido Polanco 2B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Derek Jeter SS
Vlad Guerrero OF
Magglio Ordonez OF
Ichior Suzuki OF

Pitchers:
P Josh Beckett
P Dan Haren
P Bobby Jenks
P John Lackey
P Gil Meche
P Jon Papelbon
P J.J. Putz
P Francisco Rodriguez
P C.C. Sabathia
P Johan Santana
P Justin Verlander

Reserves:
C Victor Martinez
C Jorge Posada
1B Justin Morneau
2B Brian Roberts
SS Carlos Guillen
SS Michael Young
3B Mike Lowell
OF Carl Crawford
OF Torii Hunter
OF Manny Ramirez
OF Alex Rios
OF Grady Sizemore

The "Final Vote" guys:
Jeremy Bonderman, DET
Kelvim Escobar, LAA
Roy Halladay, TOR
Pat Neshek, MIN
Hideki Okajima, BOS

For tHan...

Hattie 1B
BP 2B
Junior RF
Dunn LF
Edwin 3B
Hamilton CF
Sea Bass SS
Ross C
Arroyo P

Dear Bronson,

If you could avoid sucking tonight, that would be awesome. A win would be great, but I'll be happy with you giving us at least 5 innings and giving up fewer than say, 4 runs. Thanks.

Much love,
Ash

Kelvim Escobar: 14 Ks

For those of you who don't already know, I'll be in Colorado for the games on June 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Yes, I'm going to Colorado to see the Reds play, and damn, did I choose a bad time. Anyway, it's done; I have plane tickets, time off from work and hotel rooms. I'm going, and dammit, I'm going to have a good time.

I need some input. Anyone ever been to Denver? Tell me what I absolutely need to do while I'm there. I'll be getting into town Friday morning, so I'll have two afternoons in which to see the sights. Is there some building I should visit or somewhere I have to eat? I'm open to tourist attractions and off-the-beaten-path type places.

Also, for anyone who has ever been to Coors Field, where is the best place to sit?

Thanks in advance for any input.

I will be visiting a brewery, I know that much. MMMmmm... beer.

Top of the 12th, Reds up 2-1. Stanton warming up.

C'mon Redlegs!

.................................................................................................... .................................................................................................... ...............................

Although we talked about going to the series in Pittsburgh about a month ago, Daedalus and I finally made concrete plans Friday night to meet up on Saturday. I self-confidently announced after Friday's game that I am "good luck," and apparently I am. 5 games @ PNC Park, 5 wins. Just sayin'.

Random happenings, thoughts, and observations:

*West Virginia's state motto is "Open For Business" ... That seem weird to anyone else?

*I did not see a single cop anywhere in Ohio, either on the way there or back. Consequently, I made damn good time to and from the 'burgh.

*Freddy Sanchez bobblehead giveaway at the park Saturday night. I'm taking bids if anyone wants it.

*Daedalus got autographs from Coffey and Weathers. I stood there drinking beer. Weathers actually came to me after he signed for Daedalus and I just kinda stood there and smiled. And drank my beer. Move along, Stormy.

*After we got kicked out of the seats that weren't ours, some guy told me to "Go back to Ohio." clASSy.

*Matt Belisle looked awesome, but you guys already knew that. I remember realizing that we were in the 5th inning and it was 8:13 - that's a quick-moving game.

*After the game, we did some bar-hopping. There's a bar near the park called Finnegan's Wake - apparently they've decided that two jukeboxes are better than one. I disagree. We left after Barry Manilow came on - I think that was the final straw.

*Deadalus really likes Iron City Beer. She also managed to somehow run into the other DC resident/Reds fan in town. Small world.

*Who quits serving breakfast at 10 am on a Sunday? Our crappy hotel, that's who. My advice: Don't stay at the SpringHill Suites that's right next to PNC Park. There are several reasons. Just take my word for it.

*Daedalus and I watched batting practice from right-center field. There was a guy running around who we couldn't immediately identify, and the 10-year-old girl nearby who thinks "Hambone" is sooo dreamy told us that she thought it was Griffey. Yeah, I think it was Victor Santos, but hey, whatever.

*We sat right below Grande and Welsh and Marty and The Cowboy during Sunday's game. We waved like giggling little schoolgirls, and Welsh waved back. It's nice to see something familiar when you're out of town.

*Nice to see the offense pick Harang up like that, and nice to see Harang with the RBI. Edwin is definitely coming around, and Ross is hitting the ball hard.

*The Primanti Bros.' idea of a "Philadelphia Cheesesteak" involves a JTM-looking patty of meat (ew.) on texas toast-style bread with provolone cheese, french fries (yes, on the sammich) and cabbage. Cabbage! More cabbage than anything else. I've gotta say that I was really wishing for the Penn Station version after that.

*"Go Bucs" is not the same as "Go Bucks"

Two games, two wins, can't ask for much more than that. It was a very good weekend. I can't wait to go to Colorado in June!

Holy crap, this is long. If you're still reading, I'm impressed. ;)

I know this is incredibly short notice, but someone offered me four tickets to tonight's game, which leaves three available for anyone who wants one.

Section 141, row E if it makes a difference.

Let me know here, or send me an e-mail - I'll check back here after work, but I can check e-mail all day. I plan on being at the stadium around 6.

That's 300, right?

For those of you who are planning on attending tomorrow's game or following it in any way, be advised that because of the weather, the start time has been moved from 7:10 pm to 1:00 pm. It will be on FSN Ohio starting @ 12:30 with Reds Live.

300 characters? ...nope. Not yet. C'mon...

Well, I'll be there... look for me if anyone else is goofy enough to brave the cold.

Hi, hello, and welcome to an un-freaking-believable basketball game. For those of you who are unaware, Ohio State just beat Tennessee 85-84 after being down 17 at halftime, and as many as 20 in the first half. And Greg Oden spent a majority of the game in foul trouble.

Wow.

OSU looked like a completely different team after halftime - I don't know what Thad had to say in that locker room, but it sure as heck worked.

Congrats, Buckeyes... on to the Elite 8 against Memphis.

Oddly, I found this little article hidden away under the Studio Briefing section (?!) @ imdb.com, and can't find anything about it @ espn.com or mlb.com, of course.

Baseball fans may finally be able to hear what goes on between players and umpires when they're arguing on the field. Fox and ESPN said Tuesday that Major League Baseball and the umpires union had agreed to allow one umpire from each umpire crew to wear a microphone during each televised game. However, he may turn the microphone off at his discretion, and the TV networks have agreed not to air any disputes between the umps and players live. In an interview with Bloomberg News, Fox Sports President Ed Goren said, "We have put microphones on players, in the dugouts, on the foul poles, and this is just another way to bring fans closer to the game."

This could be interesting - not that any of this applies to Reds games, 'cause ESPN has never heard of the Cincinnati Reds...

We've already discussed an outing for "Ryan Freel Dirty Shirt Night" on Friday, April 20. I know this is earrrly, my goal is just to get an idea of who all is interested in attending and where everyone wants to sit. (Daedalus, I'll find a way to get you a shirt.) Originally Chandrathan had everyone e-mail him if they were interested, but then I took over ticket duties for some reason, and I just can't seem to get into his in-box. Let me know here, and I'll keep track. Also, I'll post something around the beginning of April with the specifics and we'll get an accurate count then.

(Again this is not final, I'm merely trying to see who is interested, and to get some input.)

Also, there was some discussion as to getting together sometime during the opening week. Wednesday, Friday? Not at all? Discuss.

If you didn't already hear the news near the end of last season, those of us in the FSN Ohio viewing area are going to be able to watch 145 Reds games this season, up from the 100 that have been shown in recent years. For those of you who are mathematically challenged, that's 45 more games! ;)

Here is a link to the press release which includes the complete schedule of televised games, which will include 33 games shown in hi-def. (This might be what finally gets me to upgrade my tv.)

Everyone ready for more bloops and rally killers and the coming of Brennaman Jr. and the Cowboy!?

Per Marc: Not that it really matters at this point, but it looks like the last week-and-a-half will be played without Ryan Freel, who apparently broke his left thumb diving for a ball on Tuesday night.
Boy, it's a good thing that he wasn't in the lineup on Wednesday where he might have made it worse... Wait, what? He was? Oh...

Here's to 10 games with a combination of Hopper, Wise, and Deno leading off!!

It's time for another Bronson Arroyo concert. This one will be on Wednesday, Sept. 6 at 8pm at The Carnegie in Covington. Tickets are $30 and $25.

Apparently this is an actual theatre with seating, as opposed to a big hall with an open floor and a bar as I had envisioned when I heard about the concert. (Does anyone out there know for sure?)

If you're interested post it here. Looks like there are three of us in so far, and if anyone else wants to go, we might as well get seats together. If there are seats.

And hey, since apparently I'm the RR Social Director, I'll throw out there again that some of us are getting together at Monday's 5:10 game @ GABP and that if you wish to join in the festivities, let us know!

This is possibly the most horrible time to bring this up, but since we talked about it in tonight's thread, I'll post the diary now before I forget.

There are some people planning on going to Monday's game against the Giants. Let it be known here where you'll be sitting if you're going and want to meet up with any other RR faithful. Of course, if that idea makes you uncomfortable, and it very well might, just pretend you aren't going and hide from Daedalus and I during the game.

A 5:10 start? Geez, that's rough, holiday or not.

...and started just pissing people off while taking shots at their misfortune.

I'm usually a fan of "The Onion" and often find myself laughing at the fake news stories, but this absolutely crosses the line of decency.

Just throwing it out there for all of you to see, I'm now going to go back to my previous state of happiness resulting from a 6-3 win over the Giants!

ESPNews is reporting that not only is Ken Griffey, Jr.'s mother about to have surgery to fight her Colon Cancer, Griffey Sr. is in the early stages of Prostate Cancer.
Best wishes to both of Griffey's parents, and Junior himself who has had to deal with some horrible news two times over this week.
Let's give the man a pass for a while - this is bigger than baseball, without question.

Since we seem to have at least ten people interested in some sort of shirt, now it's time to attempt to agree on what the shirt is going to say.

Choose your favorite below, or offer up something that I might have missed when constructing the poll, and I'll do another poll in a day or so. I left out the suggestions that included pictures - as great as some of them were - because it would just get too complicated, and probably very costly. Hopefully we can do that in the future.