Among my e-mail was a message from a Reds staffer with this beautiful sentence:

Got down here in Sarasota a couple days ago. Everyone looks great. Griffey is in very good shape. Just worked with Bubba - nice guy. Told Javy he's the Latin Love Machine on the web - he was quite embarrassed.

And to think just a year and a half later, our favorite little catcher would discover what we so affectionately call him.

2007 is the year, baby.

I wonder though: if he was embarrassed by being called “the Latin Love Machine,” how would he respond to seeing the bouncing Javy head?

The numbers back it up. The man has had 8 full big league seasons and only twice posted a losing record. We need to get off his back.. perhaps being an ace of a terrible staff was too much of a burden (2005) but as a #3 he is very solid and as long as he is healthy we are above-average at that slot. I am rooting for him big-time. In fact when I attended a game in 2005 I was shouting encouragement to him and he pitched a shutout for several innings. We need to get behind this guy and believe in him, he has the talent and the potential to be the difference maker this season.

This week on the podcast, Jon and I are pleased to welcome Pat Lackey of Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke?, which is my favorite Pirates blog, if only because I like to abbreviate it to WHYGAS? and then answer the question in parentheses. For example:This week on the podcast, we’re pleased to welcome Pat of WHYGAS? (‘cuz it’s more fun than the brake).

Pat seems to prefer to abbreviate it WHYGAVS?, though. To each his own, I guess.

Anyway, Pat gives us an overview of the Pirates’ moves this off-season and his expectations for the coming year.

Thanks to Pat for agreeing to be on the show.

Episode 46: Pirates Preview with Pat Lackey (13.1 MB, 19:07)

C. Trent said that there were a lot of people at the Josh Hamilton press conference:

Still, it was an interesting 41 minutes for Hamilton's press conference. Had writers from not only Cincinnati and the Tampa area, but also Toronto, Philadelphia, New York and elsewhere, I didn't recognize everyone. It's too good of a story not follow up.

But I didn't really understand the magnitude of the number of stories being written about Mr. Hamilton until I checked out my favorite sports aggregater Pro Sports Daily. There, I found links to all of these stories:

• Hamilton Set to Bury the Past in USA Today
• Hamilton's Past Haunting, Future Hopeful in the Orlando Sentinel
• Beating the Devil in the St Petersburg Times
• Hamilton: 'God Has Guided Me Through the Storm in the Tampa Tribune
• Hamilton is Trying to Come Back from the Abyss in the LA Times

And those are just the stories outside of Cincinnati. The Enquirer and Post had their pieces too. The DDN had two stories.

I guess it's nice to see the Reds getting so much media coverage, but this story isn't as sweet as they're making it out to be. I mean, yeah, he's overcoming adversity, but it's adversity he made for himself. It just strikes me as the schmaltzy crap they play constantly during the Olympics when all you really want is to watch some curling. Can't you just hear Stone Phillips doing the intro voice-over?

A second chance. For some, it is a wish. For a few, it's a gift. But for one young outfield hopeful, a second chance means not only a shot at redemption on the diamond, but an opportunity to reclaim his life.

Oh man, Dateline was there, weren't they? We're never going to hear the end of this story.

You may remember back on May 8 of last year when the city of Sarasota passed a bill to fund the creation of a new spring training complex for the Reds. Now, as three of the city council members are up for re-election, the unpopular bill is getting rehashed, according to a story on HeraldTribune.com:

Mere months after the Sarasota City Commission unanimously approved signing a new 30-year-lease with the Cincinnati Reds, three commissioners up for re-election are expressing doubts about the deal.

At a recent candidates' forum, Commissioner Mary Anne Servian told the audience that she was losing faith in the city's effort to find a developer to finalize a key piece to the deal for the stadium.

“I don't hold out a lot of hope that we'll be successful,” Servian said.

Trying to finalize the stadium deal while three city commissioners are seeking re-election this spring puts the Reds in a sticky situation.

Neighborhood groups have been cheering candidates who speak against using tax money to help build a new training complex.

At the forum where Servian made her remarks, the crowd applauded District 3 candidate Kelly Kirschner when he said he would not support the stadium deal if he were elected. Kirschner is running in the March 13 election against incumbent Danny Bilyeu.

The increasing political pressure comes as city workers try to line up a developer for a development project near the proposed stadium. The $54 million project is contingent on the city finding a private developer to help pay for $10 million of the project.

The deal has to be done by May in order to get $7 million in state funding for the project.

Of course, if you're the ownership group you're going to try to get the city to use tax dollars to pay for your stadium, but you can see where the people of Sarasota are coming from too. They don't need the tourism like some places do: they've got the most fantastic beaches around already. And that's a big reason that I personally hope they can work something out.

There had been discussion way, way back in the day of a combined spring training facility with the Pittsburgh Pirates who train just a few minutes away in Bradenton. If they can manage not to support the bill, I wonder whether we'll be hearing anything about that.

Thanks to RainDelay for the tip.

I met Bubba Crosby at Redsfest before the 2007 season and had the opportunity to ask him a few questions for a special edition of the Red Hot Broadcast. You can check it out here.

I met Bubba Crosby at Redsfest before the 2007 season and had the opportunity to ask him a few questions for a special edition of the Red Hot Broadcast. You can check it out here.