The first 30,000 people through the gates this Saturday, July 31 to see the Reds take on the Atlanta Braves will take home this lovely Homer Bailey bobblehead, or, at least, will have the opportunity to sell it to some guy with a big bag who wanders around offering up $10 or something.

In case you haven’t been watching the television broadcast for the last two weeks to hear them say it 30,000 times, the game start time has been changed. Even if you have your tickets in hand and see a different time on them, know that this game starts at 4:10 p.m. If you want to be among the first 30,000, you’ll want to be heading over there shortly after lunch.

Here’s Homer Bailey in action during his start against the Chicago Cubs.

The first clip is Bailey attempting to pick off a Cub runner at first.

Now here’s Bailey’s delivery to the plate. It’s not quite as smooth and fluid as Aroldis Chapman’s, but it can still generate some heat.

Not sure what’s wrong with Bailey’s surname, but the outlook on his fantasy career doesn’t sound so hot.
Why Good Fantasy GMs Should Stay Away from Homer Bailey on Crooked Pitch.

FSN Ohio has a segment before some of the games called “Think Fast” in which they do some free association with one of the players: Jim Day give a bunch of rapid fire words and the player is supposed to say the first thing that comes to mind.

On the eve of his first start, FSNO featured Homer Bailey. Here are several of his answers for your psychological analysis enjoyment:

hero – “gladiator”
pop – “goes the weasel”
sushi – “tastes like hell”
steak – “my favorite food”
mornings – “too early’
mean – “mad dog…I don’t know”
Griffey – “hilarious”
Dunn – “big”
Weathers – “funny”
Arroyo – “long hair”
Freel – “energetic”
this segment – “Think Fast”

When you choose a jersey to wear, you’re honoring that player, but you’re also telling the world that you identify with his character. Here’s what you say about yourself by donning #34.

You know that good things come to those who wait. You keep hope, even though the tough times, always with the notion of something better around the corner. You’re an easy-going, well-liked optimist. Either that, or you’ve got a thing for long, dark hair.

Player Bio on Reds.com

Homer Bailey on Wikipedia

Homer Bailey Baseball Statistics on The Baseball Cube

Texas Righthander Ambles Into Draft on Baseball America

David “Homer” Dewitt Bailey Jr. was born May 3, 1986, in La Grange, Texas. Reds fans have been drooling over visages of Baily in the minors with his shoulder-length brown hair, but he cut it much shorter for his major league debut on June 8, 2007. He looks much better with his hair short.

Homer’s father, David, mother, and sisters, Jessica and Crystal, were in the stands for his debut against the Indians. They’re about as easy-going and quintessentially Texan as you can imagine. No wonder he handles pressure well.

Homer’s called “Homer” instead of David after his great-grandfather. His mother said that she liked for her husband and son to go by different names so that they couldn’t pretend that she was talking to the other one when she called.

Homer graduated from La Grange (TX) High School in 2004. As a freshman, he outdueled former Red Ryan Wagner in the championship game, which we hope is foreshadowing of his level of success compared to Wagner’s.

Since my rephrasing wouldn’t be better than what’s already here, I’ll just quote this bit:

The 6-foot-4, 205-pounder headed the USA Today 2004 All-USA High School baseball team — his high school stats were staggering. He was 15-0, 0.68 ERA, and 201 strikeouts in 92 2/3 innings as a senior, and 41-4, 0.98 ERA, & 536 strikeouts in 298 innings in his entire high school career. According to USA Today columnist Chris Hartzell, “Homer is clearly better than his boyhood idol Roger Clemens”.

Homer Bailey is the youngest and most anticipated starting pitcher to Reds fan since Ryan Wagner. He’s a strong one with a fast ball that hits the mid-90s and a wicked curveball. His off-speed stuff was slower in developing and was what kept him from being brought up before, along with his ability to handle baserunners.

And, really, there’s some debate about whether Homer’s readiness really had much to do with his call-up. He may well be ready for the big leagues and everyone hopes the very best for him, but there’s little question that he was brought up when he was to generate enthusiasm from a fanbase that was losing interest with a team that was 15 games under .500 and 10.5 games back.

Whatever the reason, here he is. He struck out the first batter he faced at the major league level.

Homer came to the Reds organization in 2004 when he was drafted in the first round as the seventh over-all pick. In his first professional season, he went 0-1, with a 4.38 ERA in 6 appearances for the Gulf Coast League Reds. Prior to going pro, Baily was named to the First team High School All-American and was named Baseball America High School Player of the Year.

He had some very favorable comparisons made about him:

Still, his delivery and stuff draw comparisons to other pitchers the state has produced. And in an era when high school righthanders are picked apart by scouts looking for a reason not to spend an early-round selection and millions of dollars, Bailey stands up to the scrutiny.

“There’s always going to be some risk involved with any pitcher you take,” a scouting director said. “But there’s going to be some people taking chances on this kind of arm. It’s one of those rare ones that doesn’t come along often.

“If you look at the state of Texas, two recent ones that have gone out of the state in the first five picks have had a little success: Beckett and (Kerry) Wood.”

In 2005, Bailey was ranked by Baseball America as the Reds’ top prospect. He pitched at Class-A Dayton and went 8-4, with a 4.43 ERA in 21 starts and 7 relief appearances for the Dragons.

In 2006, he received the Sheldon “Chief” Bender Award as its Minor League Player of the Year.
He split his time between Class A Sarasota and Class AA Chattanooga where he combined to go 10-6 with a 2.47 ERA in 26 starts.