It appears the New Orleans Saints are not. :-þ

No one else has made us a football thread today, so I'm making one. It looks like the Saints vs. 49ers is not going to be very exciting. Unless your idea of exciting is setting a postseason record for turnovers. Hopefully, the second game will be more interesting. Brady vs. Tebow - it can't possibly live up to the hype, but it's gotta be better than 17-0 in the first quarter.

Joke to fill up the word count:

God asks Peyton Manning first: "What do you believe?" Peyton thinks long and hard, looks God in the eye, and says, "I believe in hard work, and in staying true to family and friends. I believe in giving. I was lucky, but I always tried to do right by my fans." God can't help but see the essential goodness of Manning, and offers him a seat to his left.

Then God turns to Tony Romo and says, "What do you believe?" Tony says, "I believe passion, discipline, courage and honor are the fundamentals of life. I, too, have been lucky, but win or lose, I've always tried to be a true sportsman, both on and off the playing fields." God is greatly moved by Tony's sincere eloquence, and he offers him a seat to his right.

Finally, God turns to Brett Favre: "And you, Brett, what do you believe?" Brett replies, "I believe you're in my seat."

Teh Fay has run a couple of posts lately suggesting that the Reds might be done shopping after they re-sign Cordero. He says that Paul Janish might be the backup SS, and Chris Heisey the starting LFer.

Personally, I don't think Walt's going to do that, but if he did, would it be that bad?

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I usually buy a book of true ghost stories around Halloween every year.  This year, I got this one.  It's sort of a sequel to Haunted Baseball.  I ended up really busy at the end of October/beginning of November, so didn't get to read it before Halloween, but I'm reading it now. 

It has a section on Scranton, PA, and the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel.  That's the hotel where AAA teams stay when they come to play SWB Yankees.  It used to be the town's train station, and has a reputation for being haunted.  Many players who usually room alone arrange for roommates when they're playing in Scranton, and won't stay on the fifth floor, rumored to be the most haunted.

via carlsonhotels.com

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Shhh!  Joey says, "Don't tell the copyright police!"

On August 27, 2011, the Reds stadium giveaway was a deck of playing cards featuring caricatures of the players. I love caricatures. I used to do pen and ink caricatures a few years back, though nowadays I'm more into photography and digital art.  I really wanted to see these cards, so I bought a pack on eBay.

They are pretty cool. Each player on the 25-man roster (at the time the deck was designed) is on two cards.  With Dusty Baker, that makes 52 cards.  Gapper is on three cards - the jokers, I assume.

They tried to match up players' positions with their card numbers. I wondered why Janish wasn't a 7 - his jersey number - then realized he was a 6, because he's a shortstop. Hernanigans were the twos.  Arroyo and Coco were aces. Each player got either both red or both black suits for their number. (For example, Renteria is on the two red sixes, Janish on the two black.)

Some of the likenesses are better than others, but all in all, they did a good job. A lot of thought went into this project.

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MOOSIC, PA - (August 7, 2011)  Game 2 of the doubleheader was the game that was rained out Saturday night.  Game 1, Volquez vs. Banuelos, was clearly the marquee matchup, pitting the one-time major league ace against one of the Yankees' most prized pitching prospects.  Very few people stuck around for game 2. It was just brutally hot that day.  The temperature wasn't that bad - in the lower 80s - but the sun beat down on you (when you'd be in the shade for an evening game, even before the sun went down), it was extremely humid, and there was no breeze.  Everyone was soaked with sweat.

No, it didn't snow, though I was wishing it would by the end of the game.  It's an infrared photo of PNC Field.  Grass and foliage looks white due to the "Wood effect."

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MOOSIC, PA - (August 7, 2011)  Saturday's game was banged, due to torrential downpours.  (You haven't seen it rain until you've seen a downpour in a mountainous area like Scranton.  Their catch basins are, like 30' deep to handle the massive runoff, and they still turn into geysers in heavy rain.)

There was a doubleheader Sunday to make up for the rainout.  They decided to put the marquee matchup first, with Saturday's starters playing the second game.

Edinson Volquez's Gameday photo still shows him with long hair, so I'm always surprised to see that he now has almost no hair at all.

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MOOSIC, PA - (August 5, 2011)  I checked the Bats roster the morning of this game, to see if Dave Sappelt was being called up to replace the injured Chris Heisey.  Not yet, but I did notice that Mike Costanzo was no longer on the roster.  I'd seen him playing the day before, but now he was no longer a Bat.

It wasn't until I was at PNC Field, watching the warmups, that I realized what must have happened.  I saw a guy who looked awfully familiar.  He was wearing the wrong number - #28 instead of #25 - but it was him.

Hide the kids!  The prodigal child-eater is back.  Juan Francisco, who had been rehabbing his injured knee in Arizona, had rejoined the team, and Mike Costanzo was sent down to the Mudcats to make room.

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MOOSIC, PA - (August 4, 2011)  Zack Cozart foiled my nefarious plan to stalk see Paul Janish play when the Louisville Bats came up to Yankee land this week.  But I showed up at the game anyway, camera in tow.

On the mound was Justin's favorite, the pride of Sandusky, Ohio, Matt Maloney.

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Syracuse, NY (June 10, 2011) - The last game of the four-game series was Friday night.  Dave Sappelt was back in the lineup after spending over a month rehabbing his oblique in Arizona, and he played well (2 for 6 with a double), but the POTG was clearly Devin Mesoraco. He was a double short of the cycle: 3 for 5 with a triple and a home run.  Two runs scored, 3 RBIs.

And eyes that look right through you.

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Yonder Alonso blows!

...bubbles.  He's a man of many talents! And really good at baseball.

Syracuse, NY (June 9, 2011) - I missed the first inning of this game.  It was "Education Day" at Alliance Bank Stadium.  I've been to Education Days at Scranton, and they're pretty quiet affairs.  I expected it to be similar in Syracuse.  Boy, was I wrong.  There was a massive traffic jam - and not enough people directing traffic.  Crazy lines everywhere. And a sea of yellow school buses as far as the eye could see.  If you ever go to an Education Day game in Syracuse, plan to arrive at least an hour early.

One reason for the popularity was that it was "Dollar Day" at the ballpark.  Many seats were only one dollar, and you could also buy soda, hot dogs, peanuts, popcorn, ice cream, etc. for just one dollar an item.  I was going to get a soda, but the lines were so long I didn't bother.  The $1 parking was nice, though (regularly $5).

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Why does this man not want people to have free tacos?

Syracuse, NY (June 8, 2011) - The Syracuse Chiefs have a long-standing promotion in partnership with Taco Bell.  They choose one player on the opposing team: the K-Man of the Night (or Day, if it's a day game).  If that player strikes out during the game, everyone in the stands gets a free taco.  (There's a charming story here about a game in 2002 when Brandon Phillips was the K-Man.)

Yesterday, Jeremy Hermida was the K-Man.  That seemed grossly unfair.  The guy's batting .350 and OPSing .950.  Not surprisingly, he did not provide the good people of Syracuse with any tacos. 

They don't always pick players unlikely to strike out.  Drew Stubbs was the K-Man once a couple of years ago, and yes, the result was free tacos for all.  Today's K-Man was Juan Francisco.  He's been hitting almost as well as Hermida, but, being the free-swinger that he is, strikes out more.  The taco forecast was looking up.

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Zack Cozart puts the game away with a triple off Collin Balester.

Syracuse, NY (June 7, 2011) - The Bats brought the good wood (and no, I don't mean Travis) to Syracuse on Tuesday.  The game started out something of a pitchers' duel. A pitchers' duel with a lot of hitting.  When the dust settled, the Bats had 17 hits (including a triple and a home run), 9 runs, and a decisive victory.

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So, I'm back in New York, baking chocolate chip cookies in order to bribe thank my coworkers for covering for me while I was gone.  Sorry I can't share cookies with youse guys (and TFM's are probably better, anyway), but I thought I'd share a few virtual souvenirs from Arizona...random tidbits that didn't fit into my spring training photo essays.

I nicknamed this cactus "Jay Bruce" because it looked like it was flipping me off.

Here's what the Goodyear Ballpark spring training tickets looked like:

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GOODYEAR, AZ (MARCH 25, 2011) - For the second time in three days, the Reds faced the Padres.  This time, at home.

It was bring your kid to work day for Jonny Gomes.

(Actually, I'm not sure if that was his kid or not.  He works with a lot of children's charities, or it may have been a friend's child.  Kid kind of looked like him, though.)

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GOODYEAR, AZ (MARCH 24, 2011) - I finally got around to taking a photo of the front of Goodyear Ballpark.  On game days, the front entrance is reserved for season ticket holders and disabled fans.  I usually park in the lot by the center field gate, and it's not that convenient to get around to the front from there.  I'm glad I did, though.  The front entrance is very pretty.  There's the famous sculpture, of course, as well as a fountain, palm trees, and other landscaping.

I still hate the sight lines at Goodyear Ballpark.  Small, old Peoria has much better sight lines, as well as a steeper cant to the floor.  Other than that, though, Goodyear is a nice ballpark.  They still don't have a lot of vendors, but I'm sure that will change.  And they will stamp your hand so you can go in and out - to smoke, even. 

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PEORIA, AZ (MARCH 23, 2011) - Peoria Sports Complex, shared by the Mariners and Padres, was harder to find than most.  It's not that it's hard to get there or anything.  It's just that it's so close to their practice fields it's kind of hard to tell which one is the stadium.  You can't just look up and drive toward the stadium lights.  (On the bright side, it's easy to watch the minor league games being played before the main event, if you get there early.)

Yesterday, Dusty kept almost all the starters in for the entire game.  Except Brandon Phillips.  He was the only starting position player in today's game.

BP spent some time catching up with an old friend before the game.

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GOODYEAR, AZ (MARCH 22, 2011) - It was a perfect day for a ballgame.  The previous day was horrendous.  Phoenix only got rain, but more northerly parts of Arizona got snow.  A lot of snow.  So much that major interstates were shut down.  Guess who was on the wrong side of the closures?  But no matter, today was cool, clear and sunny. It was perhaps a bit too cold in the shaded seats, but just right in the sun.  It was actually warmer in Cincinnati than it was in Goodyear, which sort of took the fun out of the traditional temperature comparison done during spring training games.

I sat a little further out this time.  The view was still pretty horrendous, and a lot of people were complaining and trying to move.  There was a crotchety old lady in the front row who bluntly told people to sit back in their seats and not lean forward.  So I guess even the front row seats have obstructed views.  What a horribly designed ballpark.

Luckily, there was an empty seat in front of me, which allowed me to see at least a slice of the field.

Goodyear Ballpark reflects in Joey Votto's sunglasses.

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MESA, AZ (MARCH 18, 2011) - I really should have known better.  I did know better.  I told myself that I should buy a ticket ahead of time if I was going to a Cubs game, because they sell out.  But noooo, last minute Louie that I am, I didn't do it.

I had an inkling that I was in trouble when I saw the scalpers offering to buy and sell tickets blocks away from the ballpark.  At the freeway offramp, even.

Then I got to Hohokam Stadium, over an hour early, to be greeted by this sight:

It's taken from my position in line.  Yes, those are the ticket windows way up there, at the right edge of the photo.  No, I'm not the last in line.  There were lots of people behind me. 

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GOODYEAR, AZ (MARCH 17, 2011) - Fans seemed a bit puzzled at this game.  They didn't recognize any players, and it wasn't because they were all wearing green hats. It was a day game after a night game.  With the starters all having played the night before, the lineup was heavy on Louisville Bats.

Mr. LeCure signs autographs before the game.

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GOODYEAR, AZ (MARCH 16, 2011) - My first game at Goodyear Ballpark was a mixed experience.  The ballpark itself is beautiful.  Parking is plentiful, and at $5, about what you expect to pay.  The staff were all friendly and helpful, and the players engaged with the fans more than I remember in Sarasota. 

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Came across this video:

Baseball icon Griffey teaches young Pinoy players

"Pinoy" means "Filipino" (though be warned, some Filipinos consider it a derogatory term).  The video shows Junior coaching some kids in Manila.

Apparently, Hillary sent him to the Philippines on a diplomatic mission.

Sports diplomacy envoys build on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vision of "smart power diplomacy," which embraces the use of a full range of diplomatic tools – in this case baseball – to bring people together and foster greater understanding among people and cultures.

(Larkin was previously sent to South Korea under this program.)

There's a report on Griffey's visit from a Filipino newspaper here. Apparently, they were really struck by Griffey's height. The article says he could be mistaken for an NBA star.

...and about 700 other people.  :-)

He cleans up good. 

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2010 is gone, and the votes are in.  Ladies and gentlemen, your new Red Reporter idol!

I was expecting Joey Votto to run away with this, but instead, Votto and Bruce were tied throughout the early voting. Eventually, Bruce pulled away to a double-digit lead.  But there was a late surge for Votto, and in the end, Bruce won by only six votes.  His sponsorship banner will read: Red Reporter - Where we always knew Jay Bruce was "The Deal."

I suspect Bruce agreeing to a long-term contract with the Reds is a big part of his popularity.  Nothing makes someone more appealing than knowing they like you.

Travis Wood came in third, with Chapman and Heisey tied for fourth, and Stubbs one vote behind them.

The only player to get no votes at all was Francisco Cordero.  Wow. 

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Merry Christmas to all...and a present, of sorts.

I like The Baseball Cube and use it a lot.  I want to support them. Bubba Crosby’s page dropped from $35 to $15 this year, so I thought I’d sponsor another page or two. 

I decided to sponsor Paul Janish's page, with a link to Red Reporter and something like what Tim said: "We love Janish more than Mrs. Janish does. Because we don’t pick up after him or remind him to take out the darn trash."

I picked Janish because I figured his page would be sponsorless, but then I noticed that very few Reds players have sponsors at the Cube.  (Brandon Phillips is an exception...and he's sponsored by a Cleveland blog.)

So I'm going to sponsor a couple more players, and you get to pick which ones.

One player will be selected by voting in the poll below.  I've set it to close early New Year's Eve, so you have a week to decide.

Poll

Which Reds player most deserves a Red Reporter sponsorship?

1%

Yonder Alonso

5 votes

5%

Bronson Arroyo

21 votes

1%

Homer Bailey

6 votes

25%

Jay Bruce

104 votes

5%

Aroldis Chapman

24 votes

0%

Francisco Cordero

0 votes

1%

Johnny Cueto

7 votes

2%

Jonny Gomes

12 votes

0%

Yasmani Grandal

2 votes

5%

Chris Heisey

24 votes

4%

Mike Leake

18 votes

3%

Devin Mesoraco

13 votes

0%

Kris Negron

2 votes

0%

Logan Ondrusek

2 votes

1%

Scott Rolen

8 votes

5%

Drew Stubbs

23 votes

0%

Edinson Volquez

1 votes

24%

Joey Votto

98 votes

7%

Travis Wood

32 votes

0%

Other (please specify in the comments)

4 votes

406 votes | Poll has closed

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Rosters have to be set for the Rule 5 draft by November 20.  The Reds can make changes to the roster after that, but it doesn't count for the Rule 5 draft (which is going to be on Dec. 9 - I think).

So, who would you protect?

Some information to help you decide:

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Syracuse, NY (Friday, June 11, 2010) - This game was originally billed as Matt Klinker vs. Craig Stammen.  I hadn't seen either of those pitchers before, and was looking forward to it.  Stammen, the pride of Coldwater, Ohio, had just been sent down to make room for Stephen Strasburg.  He was listed as the probable pitcher on the Chiefs web site practically up until game time, but for some reason was switched to the next day.  Meanwhile, Klinker was send down to AA.  

Instead, the starting pitcher was the pride of Defiance, Ohio, Chad Reineke.

I was underwhelmed at this, since the last time I saw him, he gave up the walkoff homer to the weakest hitter in the lineup.

Instead of Stammen, the Chiefs sent honkballer Shairon Martis to the mound.

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Syracuse, NY (Thursday, June 10, 2010) - The Lousville Bats' Syracuse series came at a busy time of year for me, so I didn't make it to all the games like I did last year.  I did make it to a couple, though, including the Travis Wood vs. Jeff Mandel matchup.

Local author Bert Sugar was there.  He threw out the first pitch.

He bounced it the first time, and insisted on trying again.  He managed a strike the second time.

He is the author of Bert Sugar's Baseball Hall of Fame: A Living History of America's Greatest Game. He was selling copies of his book for $35 in the concourse, and autographing them.  Seems kinda steep, since you can get used copies at Amazon.com for 8 cents plus $4 shipping.

It was also "Throwback Thursday," meaning the Chiefs wore their old, politically incorrect uniforms. Chris Duncan, brother of Shelley, son of Dave, looked especially old school, with the baggy pants.

Kinda neat, actually.  I wouldn't mind seeing the Bats do something similar.

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Miss Pennsylvania throws out the first pitch.

Moosic, PA (Friday, April 30, 2010) -  The fourth game of this series had the best weather.  No snow, no bone-chilling wind.  It was a very pleasant evening - warm, but not too hot.  Since it was Friday night, it was also the most crowded, with a lot of families and students from the numerous colleges in the area.

Matt Maloney started for the Bats.

Starting for the SWB Yankees was former Louisville Bat Dustin Moseley.

Moseley was the Reds' first round draft pick in 2000.  He made it to Louisville by 2003, and was ranked the fourth best prospect in the Reds organization by Baseball America.  After the 2004 season, he was traded to the Angels for Ramon Ortiz.  He remained with them until this season, when he was cut loose and signed with the Yankees.

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Justin Lehr on the mound

Moosic, PA (Thursday, April 29, 2010) - This was an "education day" at PNC Field, meaning the game started at 11am.  Last year, kids filled the entire upper deck, while the lower deck was almost empty.  This year, they put the kids in the lower deck, in the outfield sections, closed off the upper deck, and forced everyone else to buy the more expensive lower deck infield tickets.  That made it seem more crowded in the lower deck, but a lot of retirees were cranky, because they had to pay more for the tickets.  (Most of the adults there were retirees, since it was a day game.)

The SWB Yankees are still having trouble selling tickets. A couple of years ago, you couldn't walk up and get seats in the lower deck.  Now, they routinely close the upper deck, except on weekends. 

It was a lovely day for a ballgame.  A good 20-30F warmer than the previous game, partly because it was daytime, partly because a warm front was moving through.  (It would be 90F by Saturday.)

The kids didn't seem very interested in the game.  They mostly hung out on the concourse and in the gift shop, buying food and souvenirs.  The concessions looked like hordes of locusts had attacked them.  People were complaining there was no food left by the third inning.  "Education day" must be pretty profitable, even if they give the tickets away.

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