Today is the last day of All-Star Voting, and Major League Baseball has shocked the world by acknowledging that a Reds player exists:

I expected the sport to use this opportunity to send everyone a life-size poster of Albert Pujols to match the rest of the propaganda they’ve spread on his behalf this All-Star season, so I’m not sure what think. Does this inclusion of Scott Rolen in an MLB email signal the end is nigh?

Well, the end of All-Star voting definitely *is* nigh. Go now. Vote. Vote. Vote!

Remember, you get 25 votes per email address per day, so even if you’ve already voted, you can do it again to help put Rolen over the top. Yahoo!, Hotmail, and Gmail are your partners in making your voice heard.

The final All-Star vote tally before the one that decides the line-up is now available. Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips, Orlando Cabrera, and Jonny Gomes hang in there in their races, but Scott Rolen is actually within striking distance.

Ken Griffey, Jr. was on the All-Star line-up in 2007, and before that the last Red to appear was Barry Larkin in 2000. Two voted in the last 10 years? Don’t you think we ought to do something about that? Hell, Rolen himself has appeared in the line-up that many times in that many years. Let’s send him again.

Remember, you get 25 votes per email address. Yahoo!, Hotmail, and Gmail are your partners in making your voice heard.

It also appears you can vote 25 times per email address per day. At least I’ve been able to cast votes on different days with the same email address. Why not try it out for yourself?

Boxscore

Forget about the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva. The danger of particles creating a micro-black holes large enough to destroy the galaxy is nothing compared to the danger of B-Phil and J-Roll on the same field at the same time. What would happen should these two middle-infielding celestial bodies collide? The gravity well of awesomeness might consume the Milky Way in three-tenths of a second (or the amount it takes to flip a double-play ball, whichever is shorter).

Or worse, we might be sent back in time to the Dave Miley era. Argh! Someone moved Adam Dunn’s armchair!

On this night, though, we escaped the galactic destruction and just saw the B-Phil side of the equation win out. Probably it was the universe evening out his recent arrest somehow. 72 in a 35? Hasn’t he seen the commercial where the lady stops just in time to avoid hitting the dumb girl who runs out into the road in front of her, only to be rear-ended herself? Talk about a Pay It Forward ending.

Johnny Cueto was kickin’ it, giving up one earned run on six hits and two walks through eight innings. Bill Bray was somewhat less awesome, giving up a two-run homer in his single inning of work. Lucky for him, the 18 ERA he earned in his first appearance in the majors this season wasn’t so much of a problem, what with the offense coming through with the seven runs and all.

Orlando “Lando” Cabrera, Joey “Vote” Votto, Ramon “Filling in” Hernandez, and Chris “Why must the outfield be so full” Heisey each contributed an RBI to that total, with Scott “Keep this inning” Rolen came through with the other three.

He also smacked his 300th career home run tonight, with him family in attendance and everything. Boy, that was easy. I remember when Ken Griffey, Jr. used to approach those big round numbers and it would take a damn month for him to actually hit it.

Tomorrow the Reds send Mike Leake out against Joe Blanton at 7:10 p.m.

On an unrelated note:
The other day, MLB sent me an email inviting me to return to the All-Star voting page. Of course, I had long since voted 25 times, but when I went back, I was able to cast 25 more votes. I took a glance at the rules, but it wasn’t clear to me whether you could vote 25 times per day, but why not go and try it for yourself?

Awesomest. Thing. Ever. I wonder what kind of shape Hammer has kept himself in. Please Hammer, don’t hurt yourself.

CINCINNATI (June 24, 2010) – Legendary hip hop performer and Grammy Award winner MC Hammer will bring his high-energy show to Great American Ball Park on Friday, July 16 as part of the celebration of the 1990 World Series Champion Cincinnati Reds.

Included in the game ticket for Reds vs. Colorado Rockies (7:10pm) will be:

- Two shows by MC Hammer and his dancers
- A tribute to the 1990 World Series Champion Reds
- Members of the 1990 team appearing in person throughout the evening
- Postgame fireworks show presented by Klosterman Baking Company

MC Hammer’s pregame concert will run 6 to 6:40pm on the right field porch and a second show will be on the field starting approximately 20 minutes after the conclusion of the game. He will also do a meet and greet with fans in the FanZone.

Hammer is best known for a series of chart-topping hits in the late ‘80’s and early 90’s including “Too Legit to Quit” and “U Can’t Touch This,” which was Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop #1 single in June of 1990 and the unofficial anthem of the 1990 Reds.

Hammer is a huge baseball fan and served as the batboy for the Oakland A’s from 1972 to 1980.

Purchase Reds tickets at:
• reds.com
• 513-381-REDS
• Great American Ball Park box office

Today’s Human League “What I Love About” honoree is the NLC’s Hottest Baller of 2008, Brandon Phillips.

What I love about Brandon Phillips is his smile. Easy and infectious, his smile says, “hey, everything’s cool here.”

What I love about Brandon Phillips is his glove and his back-handed flip to second. It’s a beginning to a double-play so beautiful that it makes his move to 2B all worthwhile.

What I love about Brandon Phillips is his attitude. Kinda sassy, a little arrogant, but still willing to slow down enough to explain what “crunked” means to a Reds beat writer. I love that he’s not perfect and needs to have a kick to the seat of the pants sometimes. I love that he’s up and down with the team, feeling the energy of the city.

What I love about Brandon Phillips is that horrible commercial that he and Joey Votto were in at the beginning of the season–I think it was for Subway–where the director had to position the camera man ever-so-carefully so you couldn’t tell that there was no one in the stands as they got the out at first–presumably tagging out the high saturated fat you’d get at a burger joint.

What I love about Brandon Phillips is watching him turn it on when the Indians come to town. That’ll show ‘em.

What I would really love about Brandon Phillips would be seeing him starting in the All-Star Game, but he needs your help to make that happen. Vote, vote, vote!!

Continuing our series of Human League posts about the Reds All-Star vote-getters, tonight I ponder the wonder and glory that is Scott Rolen.

What I love about Scott Rolen is maturity as a genuine role-model for those who have lacked demonstration of how to comport themselves. I love that perspective and experience make him confident in his righteousness to bitch at umpires in just about every game.

What I love about Scott Rolen is the relief I feel when he steps into the box after Joey Votto. I love that, as potent as one infield corner is, there’s a mirror of it on the other side, protecting each other while at the same time challenging.

What I love about Scott Rolen is singing, “Rolen, Rolen, Rolen…Keep this inning Rollin’” when he’s at the plate. Since the Ryan Parker song, I now sometimes also sing, “Rolen on the River.”

What I love about Scott Rolen is how, through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, he has fought his way here to take back what injury had stolen. I love that the Cardinals gave up on him before he finished that quest and the Reds are the ones to see the return to greatness. It’s about time it worked that way for a change.

What I love about Scott Rolen is that my mom likes him. She’s not even a baseball fan. He’s just that lovable.

If you, too, love Scott Rolen, do your part to spread the word by voting. The All-Star game deserves his presence.

Boxscore

When the Cincinnati Reds were at the halfway point of their Interleague West Coast trip, things weren’t looking good. They’d just been swept at the hands of the Seattle Mariners, one of the worst teams in the league. They moved to Oakland, feeling down, with visions of previous years of West Coast collapses dancing in their heads.

And then Cincinnati showed something that us Reds fans aren’t really used to: resilience. Behind solid pitching and a re-awoken offense, they finished the sweep of Oakland today. It reminds me of another sweep 20 years ago.

The Reds took the early lead in the very first frame. With 2 outs, Joey Votto walked. A single by Brandon Phillips and a hit-by-pitch by Jonny Gomes later, and Jay Bruce stepped to the plate with the bases loaded. Bruce came through, singling to right and driving in 2, and the Reds never lost the lead.

Johnny Cueto started and shutout the A’s over his 7 innings of work. He allowed 7 hits and 2 walks, but managed to get out of his jams unscathed. He was more pitch-efficient, too, throwing only 102 pitches. All that was good enough for his 7th win and it got his ERA below 4 for the first time in a while.

Francisco Cordero came on in the 9th for his 19th save. And this time, he did it drama-free. I guess the third time was the charm.

For now, the West Coast crisis has been averted. The Reds return home feeling much more positive about themselves, having managed to go .500 during the long trip from home and return just 1 game back of the Cardinals.

At long last, I find myself again entangled in that romantic ardor of fandom that I haven’t known lo these five years of blogging. The kind of baseball love affair that makes you want to write sentences like that first one.

In honor of the five Reds in the top spots in All-Star voting, I’m going to share with you my poetic musings on these paladins of the plate in a new Human League segment called “What I Love About.”

What I love about Jonny Gomes is the eagerness he brings to the game and to life. The intensity in his gaze hints at a man uncontent to drift through life like common mortals, intent instead to live every moment to its fullest. It also hints at a man who might be capable of the kind of frenzy displayed by Danny Bateman in The Replacements. “Get me the base, Jonny!” “I GOT THE BASE.”

What I love about Jonny Gomes is his hair. Mr. T meets Kid N Play with just a touch of the true Hoosiers I used to live next door to in rural Indiana. Just a touch, mind you. He could have gone with the rat tail, but he didn’t. He knows when enough is enough.

What I love about Jonny Gomes is his twitchy helmet adjustments as he goes to the plate. One wonders if maybe the haircut has caused the helmet not to fit quite right.

What I love about Jonny Gomes is doing a Google image search on his name. Try it. It’s awesome.

But what I love most of all about Jonny Gomes are his team-leading 49 RBI. That’s about 15% of the team’s total runs for the season so far.

If you find yourself moved, tell the world with your vote.

Boxscore

The Cincinnati Reds ended a completely futile weekend yesterday, as the Seattle Mariners completed the sweep.

Apparently, the Mariners traveled back in time and signed Cy Young, Nolan Ryan, and Sandy Koufax in their prime because the Reds managed one measly run in 27 innings of baseball against one of the worst teams in the majors. It did not leave a good taste in the mouth of Reds fans.

Yesterday, the Reds needed an excellent outing from Aaron Harang to stop the losing, and he complied. Over 6 innings, he allowed 1 run, on 3 hits and 1 walk, while striking out 4. The bullpen even stepped in and put up 2 innings of scoreless baseball. Yay, bullpen! And hooray, Logan Ondrusek, who contributed 1 1/3 scoreless innings yesterday. He’s been a greatly improved pitcher since his time down with Louisville.

The offense, though, managed 3 hits against a guy who isn’t very good in Ryan Rowland-Smith. Rowland-Smith was winless coming into the game with an ERA above 6. Not so any longer.

The weekend sweep dropped the Reds from any share of first place. They are now in second place, 1.5 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals.