If you've gotten tired of reading the same posts from the same people on your the message boards that you visit right now, there's a new one trying to make a place on the scene. I registered for Reds Talk today and am user #5.

Might be a good opportunity to get in on the ground floor and dominate the conversation someplace new. Maybe you can copy all of your RHM comments there.

The Reds/Hoxworth Blood Drive presented by Entertainment Solutions

On Monday, June 4, 2007 from 1 to 7 p.m., the Cincinnati Reds and Hoxworth Blood Center will “hit a home run” for patients in local hospitals by hosting the inaugural Reds Community Blood Drive at Great American Ball Park, presented by Entertainment Solutions.

The first 100 donors will receive a free Reds ball cap and gift bag containing Reds promotional items and coupons. All donors will receive free parking in the Great American Ball Park garage. Look for the parking attendants near the Pete Rose Way garage entrance.

Donors reserve a donation time at: www.hoxworth.org/reds or by calling (513) 451-0910.

The summer months can be very stressful on the blood supply. Major accidents and traumas can increase blood usage at local hospitals, while blood donations drop off considerably. Your donation at the blood drive will go directly to patients in greater Cincinnati hospitals.

The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) will be at the drive to sign up donors to the national bone marrow registry for free! ($52 value)

The LifeCenter Organ Donor Network will have representatives at the drive to speak with donors about the importance of being an organ donor.

Forgive me if I'm days behind on this. I'm pretty much days behind on everything.

So, I found this message in my inbox from Ryan Parker announcing a new song with the struggles of the Reds as his inspiration. His other stuff is a little homer-ish, so this has a great edge. I laughed more than once.

Yippee! It's Internet connectivity!!

The connection wasn't supposed to be live until Saturday, in fact, we got an automated telephone call to that effect just as the Crack Technical Staff was establishing the link. Hey, I'm not complaining.

Nor can I complain about the game. Our boys are up 3-1 on the Astros in the top of the third, and Narron's been ejected.

I don't expect anyone to be around to comment, but I'll happily talk to myself for a while.

Happy Tuesday, everyone! I'm finally posting again after the long weekend of hauling boxes and getting couches stuck in patio doors thanks to a moment of break time at work and an understanding boss. We've been without a connection at the new homestead, but my Crack Technical Staff is working on it today.

Nevertheless, I'm cheerful today after my very short commute to work. I didn't even roll out of bed until 6:20 today and I was at the office by 7:30. I even curled my hair. Amazing.

So, how 'bout them Reds, huh? It took a head injury to Ryan Freel to even get them to win one against the Pirates after, what, a five-game losing streak? And, in a way, I was sort of disappointed to see them win. They've fallen so far already that I just want to see them keep dropping until the ownership has no choice but to make a change. On the other hand, it seems like they already have no choice but to do that and we see all that's gotten us, so there you go.

I also just have a little bit of a sick fascination with seeing what new way they're going to find to blow it this time. It's painful but sort of irresistable, like worrying a sore tooth.

Still, I hope that Freel is feeling better soon and that the rehab assignments of Eddie Guardado and Josh Hamilton go well. They're two players that have the potential to make a big difference. I just hope that the team management isn't planning for their return to be the only improvement to the Reds, or we're going to be in for a lot more pain.

Today is finally the day. I'm sitting by the phone, waiting for the call to say that we can start taking our stuff to our new house. It's been a nerve-fraying wait, and I'm looking forward to being a more patient, funny, and prolific Red Hot Mama when the boxes are unpacked.

In the meantime, you probably already know about the Reds' latest news: that the Reds optioned Todd Coffey to AAA Louisville yesterday to make room for Gary Majewski. Useful!

When I left to put the kid to bed tonight, the CTS was watching the game in the living room. After reading a bedtime story, I found him working on the computer in our bedroom with the t.v. off.

“Can't bear to watch, huh?” I asked.
“Nah,” he shrugged. “I've just seen this one before.”

Yeah.

Today Red-Hot-Mama.com was hit on a search for “Reds manager to be fired,” and my search hits are often prescient. I was getting hits on “Adam Dunn father” for months before that news came out.

C. Trent tells us that the Reds have DL'd Josh Hamilton (presumably with that persistent and mysterious tummy ache) and have recalled Edwin Encarnación from AAA Louisville.

EdE will even get the start tonight. Juan Castro gets a well-earned rest. Now if only we could get a similar rest for Ross.

Reds
Ryan Freel CF
Alex Gonzalez SS
Ken Griffey, Jr RF
Brandon Phillips 2B
Jeff Conine 1B
Adam Dunn LF
Edwin Encarnación 3B
David Ross C
Kirk Saarloos P

Nats
Felipe Lopez 2B
Guzman SS
Zimmerman 3B
Dmitri Young 1B
Austin Kearns RF
Schneider C
Logan CF
Langerhans LF
Chico P

On an unrelated note, check out the photo of Chico on Reds.com. Dude couldn't look more baked. Though I'm sure he's just naturally mellow.

I only caught the last couple innings of the game tonight, but they were the perfect ones to see. The CTS told me that when he tuned in with one out in the top of the first to find the Reds already down 4-0, he settled in to watch Bronson Arroyo get his comeuppance (remember, the CTS was kept up all night by that guy, too), entirely without any expectation of the team we love coming back.

But joy of joys! The Current Reds beat The Former Reds on the strength of a Javier Valentín two run homer in the eighth inning. It wasn't Javy's normal home run swing either. Usually he's all about that barrel chest of his, but this time, he uncoiled from head to toe, like he'd be winding up for that home run for a month.

Which is how long it feels like it's been since we've seen the Latin Love Machine really play. After the podcast last night, Jon and I were discussing how the Reds lack charisma this year. We don't have Felipe Lopez complaining about anything, the Adam Dunn/Austin Kearns interaction, or Rich Aurilia saying too much to the press. Griffey isn't talking and Javy isn't playing. Brandon Phillips is the awesome, but he's mostly a sweet kid who says the right things. Plus I bet people aren't anxious to talk to him lest they be blamed for breaking his hit streak.

Ryan Freel may be the only real character on the roster, and there's really only so long the average person can pay strict attention to Freel. It's like trying to track a fly buzzing around the room.

Long story short, it's good to see some of those old Reds characters again, but even nicer to see the smiling side of the scoreboard for a change.

Go Reds!

The Cincinnati Reds today announced that they have fired manager Jerry Narron and hired former Olympics star Tanya Harding as his replacement.

Reds’ owner Bob Castellini indicated that the inspiration for the move was supplied by Tony LaRussa, manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, a team with which Castellini was involved prior to purchasing the Reds. Castellini noted that in the aftermath of the death of Cardinals (and former Reds) pitcher Josh Hancock, LaRussa warned his players about members of the media looking for negative stories about Hancock’s death and said, “The first time I hear insincerity, I’m going to start swinging this fungo.”

In light of the Reds’ poor start this season, Castellini said, “We decided that we needed a leader cut from the same cloth as Tony LaRussa, someone who is not afraid to swing a fungo if that’s what it takes to get the job done.”

Harding is best known for an incident in January, 1994 when she was involved in a plot to injure rival figure skater Nancy Kerrigan. Reds GM Wayne Krivsky explained, “What happened there was that Tanya’s ex-husband hired a guy to clank Kerrigan’s knee with a police baton. This was roughly the same time Tanya gained managerial experience, appearing in USA Pro Wrestling as manager for wrestler Art Barr.” Krivsky noted Harding’s lifelong involvement in athletics, including her managerial experience and her exploits in celebrity boxing and women’s professional boxing earlier in this decade. “She’s got a 3-3 record as a pro boxer. She saved a woman’s life in 1996, using mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to revive an 81-year old woman who collapsed in a bar in Portland, Oregon. She’s shown that she plays the game the right way.”

Castellini was less subtle concerning the impact he hopes Harding’s hiring will have on the Reds. “We’re just tired of the same guys beating us all the time, it’s time we did some beating of our own. Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman best be looking over their shoulders, because Tanya and her fungo will be around. The same goes for Bill Hall - one good clank on the knee from Tanya and that’s one less Reds killer we have to worry about.”

Asked later if that also applied to Ted Lilly of the Cubs, Krivsky offered, “I’d say that it certainly might. We’ll have to wait and see. It’s early yet. Certainly, Lilly is a guy who has shown signs of being the type of player we would like to have Tanya address. But I’ll leave those decisions to the manager.”

The Reds also announced that Edwin Encarnación was being recalled from Louisville and would start at third base in the series opener against the Washington Nationals. “We won’t have any more problems with guys staying in the batter’s box after the ball is hit,” Castellini said, “Nobody is going to want to be a stationary target with Tanya around. We expect to see guys hustling from now on. This should show the fans we were serious when we said we would do whatever we had to do to bring championship baseball back to Cincinnati.”