Boxscore

The Reds won over the Rays on Sunday, 6-4, in St. Petersburg. Our trips to this stadium are invariably wonky. There was the year we thought it was a day game only to find we’d arrived four hours early. There’s been shivering under blankets in the stands. And this year, it was arriving at a tiny little sports complex around 80th street. The CTS thought something was off from the beginning, but we thought maybe they’d just moved where they had the spring training games. However, as we pulled into a half-full parking lot that accommodated 50 cars, max, we were sure something was up. The Rays might not pull in the crowds that some teams do, but they didn’t practice at the softball field.

We did make it back downtown and found the stadium from memory and were in our seats with time to spare before the first pitch.

Guest instructor Eric Davis was in attendance, showing off his swing before the game. Woo, he’s trim for an ex-player. I wonder if he’s ever considered pitching.

Dusty Baker hands the line-up card over to a throng of umps.

A spring training treat: seeing a real-live starter go three innings with one unearned run on two hits and three walks. Belisle’s a little wild yet, but not as wild as the first inning foul-ball…

…that went right through one of the panes of glass in the press room window. Stuff like that really makes you think about how fragile your skull would be.

Chris Dickerson was among those who didn’t get to skip the road trip. He was 0-1 with a walk.

Ah, the Cowbell Kid, his cow bell and foot-tall blue hair entertaining the masses wherever he went. I actually made my way over to interview him, only to find later that the iRiver had been set to “line-in” instead of “mic” causing nothing to be recorded. If there’s any stupider feeling than talking into your own hand as you walk around the stadium, it’s learning later that your hand had not been recording the conversation.

In any event, he told me that he’s just a fan and pays for tickets for the honor of providing the service he provides. He senses something different about the team this year, which undoubtedly has something to do with the team doubling the payroll. And he gave me an appreciative “I can see that,” when I told him the name of my blog, so he’s got my approval. Oh, and he’s got a grill.

You can read more about him at his mySpace page.

The game finally wrapped up, the final score showing a closer outcome than it really was. And after an important and hard-fought battle, the Reds congratulated each other.

Boxscore

The Reds outlasted the Braves on Saturday, winning 8-13 in Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Florida. Red Hot Mama, as an uncredentialed member of the online media, has the photos to prove it.

Before the game, Ken Griffey, Jr. was seen on the field with his son, undoubtedly showing him how easy it is to be a baseball superstar.

Here we have some Jeff Keppinger, Adam Dunn, and Griffey chatting up a few Braves. Only Keppinger is doing the Hokey-Pokey.

Continue Reading »

It’s hard to know exactly how to take things like this from Paul Daugherty. Daugherty always has a clear point that he’s making, unlike the mad ravings of the departed Post columnist Lonnie Wheeler. The problem is that Daugherty invariably starts from a false assertion, and it’s been worse since he’s ventured into the vast wasteland that is sports talk radio.

So how to take it? Is Daugherty attempting to gain popularity by spouting off the stupidest thing he can think of? It is a well-paved road to success. One only has to look at Jim Rome, Jay Mariotti, and countless other bags of air to see. If so, there’s no reason to send him any traffic.

But wouldn’t it be fun to take apart the article line by line and taunt the ever-living heck out of the article? Thankfully, Fire Joe Morgan has already done that.

The Crack Technical Staff took over 100 pictures today. Perhaps we’ll put up a gallery that will persist far longer than 72 hours. But not yet: right now I just want to get some sleep and get ready to do it all again tomorrow in St. Petersburg.

However, since we got a special request for some Andy Phillips photos, we’re staying up a little later to meet the needs of our reading public.

Here’s a video of his pre-batting routine.

“Of course we’re gonna win. Don’t you know I was the guy in the on-deck circle when Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s home run record?”