Chris Hammond is a left-handed relief pitcher who came to the Reds by way of free agency before the 2006 season. In his 16-year career, Hammond has played for Cincinnati (1990-1992), Florida (1993-1996), Boston (1997), Florida again (1998), no one (retired due to bone spurs in his elbow, family issues, etc 1999-2001), Atlanta (apparently the elbow felt better 2002), New York Yankees (2003), Oakland (2004), San Diego (2005), and Cincinnati again (2006). Hammond went 5-1 with a 3.84 ERA for the Padres last year.

Hammond qualifies as a “veteran presence.” When he appeared on the scene in Cincy in 1990, one of his teammates was Ken Griffey. Now he's playing with junior Griffey, who's starting to show his age.

The Reds brought in Hammond not as a role player in the bullpen, but as a role player in the clubhouse. And according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, he's already talking to the young'uns:

“I try to tell the other guys on the team, 'Don't expect to be the setup guy or the closer,' ” Hammond said. “After the fourth inning you should start stretching, and that's the role I want and expect to have.”

Hammond is hardly a flame-thrower: his fastball might touch the upper 80s. That's OK. According to ESPN.com, Hammond's real strength is pinpointing his change-up. They also point out that he fields his position well, so that ought to be a nice change of pace.

Today we continue recapping off-season stuff that you probably missed, or at least wouldn't mind seeing again. The off-season was a magical time of discovery for Red Hot Mama, after all.

We've already talked September/October and November/December. Let's hit January/February.

• Version 1 of the Georginator was unleashed on the world.
• Ryan Freel was arrested, again for getting a little rowdy at a sushi bar/pool hall. Yummy. The charges were later dropped.
• The Reds signed Aaron Harang, and my crack technical staff turned him into a goth to celebrate.
• I accidentally bestowed the nickname Heartthrob on Chris Denorfia at the Reds Caravan Stop in Indianapolis
• We just couldn't stop talking about Adam Dunn's hands.
• Remember Josh Hancock? He's with St. Louis now. He'd best not sit on Austin Kearns.
• We had so much fun with pretend captions that we just couldn't stop writing them!

Tomorrow, we finish up with March 2006. How time flies.

RE Game 2 against the Cubs:

• Aaron at The Big Red Mechanic has lots of nice things to say about Arroyo. He also answered some questions about himself for MLBlogs and said some nice things about RHM.
• Daedalus of Church of Baseball got mentioned by Marty on the radio. Damn; why didn't I think of that?
• Blade at The Cutting Edge is already using phrases like “reversion to the mean.” It's going to be a long season.
• JD at Red Reporter points out the Womack shouldn't get Freel's ABs. Sing it, brother!
• Shawn at Cincinnati Reds Blog thinks Arroyo was the star. He sure didn't hurt his esteem among the fans, I reckon.
• Jacci at We Heart the Reds loves her some pigpen. Don't we all.
• Death of Goat Riders of the Apocalypse is particularly disgusted that his Cubbies couldn't muster more runs against the lowly Reds. I guess they shouldn't have used them all up in game 1.
• Al of Bleed Cubbie Blue has some love for Ryan Freel. It's nice not to be the only one.
• Joe Aielo of The View from the Bleachers writes that Arroyo wasn't that good, Dunn is a slob, and Freel pisses him off. Ladies and gentlemen, we may have a new smack talker!

RE Game 3 against the Pirates:

• Joliet Jake at Bucco Blog prefers to watch the Indianapolis Indians rather than see what the Reds' line-up is going to do to Ian Snell. So nice to get a little respect for a change.

The Reds knocked the Cubs down a peg today with a 6-8 win at Great American Ball Park.

Bronson Arroyo got the start and the win by allowing five runs (three earned) on six hits through 6.2 innings. He had seven strike outs and no walks.

The Cubs struck first when Aramis Ramirez hit a 2-run job off Arroyo in the top of the first, but the Reds responded in the bottom when Ryan Freel doubled and Rich Aurilia plated him two batters later. Score: 2-1.

The Reds tied it up on the third when Arroyo helped himself out with a home run to left field in his first at-bat as a Red. I guess that time in the AL didn't leave his hitting skills too rusty. Either that, or Chambliss is just freaking amazing. They took the lead when Freel walked and Aurilia again scored him, plus himself, with a 2-run bomb to left-center. Score 2-4.

The Reds padded the lead in the fifth when Ken Griffey Jr. led off with a line-drive homer to left-center. David Ross came up with the bases loaded and knocked in Adam Dunn on a sac fly to right field. While Freel was batting, a passed ball allowed Edwin Encarnación to come home. Score: 2-7.

The Cubs grumbled back to life in the sixth, however, when, after Ross failed to hold onto a pop-up in foul territory, Derek Lee hit a 2-run home run on the very next pitch. Score: 4-7.

After two batters in the seventh, the Reds relieved Arroyo with Kent Mercker. Unfortunately, John Mabry promptly plated Ronny Cedeño and himself on a home run to center field. Score 6-7.

After one batter in the eighth, Todd Coffey got the call and held the Cubs hitless through the rest of the inning.

The Reds got a little breathing room in the eighth when Freel bunted and caused Scott Hatteberg to be forced out at second. While Felipe Lopez was batting, Freel stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error. Freel scored when Lopez grounded out to short. Score 6-8.

If Freel keeps this up, opponents will start letting the lead runner advance and choosing Freel in fielder's choice situations. I guarantee that Hatteberg wouldn't have scored on that play if he'd been the one on the basepaths.

David Weathers pitched the top of the ninth and held the Cubbies scoreless to get the save and make the bottom of the inning unnecessary.

The win brings the Reds' record to 1-1. The Reds host the Pittsburgh Pirates tomorrow at 7:10 p.m. Brandon Claussen takes on Ian Snell for the Pirates. The Reds faced Snell in spring training way back on March 11. You might recall that Snell blamed an Edwin Encarnación home run on the wind. The Reds came out of it with the 2-1 win, for what it's worth.