Monthly Archives: November 2011

November 28, 2011

Sean Casey Elected to Reds’ Hall of Fame

Casey at the batFormer Reds’ first baseman Sean Casey will be among the next three players inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.

No word on whether or not Casey will be driving his 1995 Honda Accord to the ceremony next June.

Take it away, press release.

Three-time All-Star Sean Casey, Big Red Machine infielder Dan Driessen and 19th century first baseman John Reilly will be the next three players inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.

Casey was selected by the fans through the Modern Player Ballot presented by Cincyfavorites.com. The Veterans Committee selected Driessen and Reilly to make up the Reds Hall of Fame Class of 2012.

The trio will be honored June 22-24 during Reds Hall of Fame Induction Weekend, which will include on-field ceremonies at Great American Ball Park, the star-studded Hall of Fame Induction Gala and a variety of festivities at the Hall, including meet and greets with Reds Hall of Famers and alumni.

One of the most popular players to ever wear a Reds uniform, Casey came to be known as “The Mayor” during his eight-year Reds career.

A versatile infielder of the Big Red Machine clubs of the 1970s, Dreissen played 12 seasons for the Reds from 1973 to 1984.

A Cincinnati-native and dominant first baseman in the 1880’s, Reilly wore a Reds uniform for his nine-season Major League career and held Reds records for most singles, double, triples, home runs, runs scored, RBI and games played.

Casey was the top vote-getter of the thousands of ballots cast online at RedsMuseum.org, at Great American Ball Park and at participating Skyline Chili and Montgomery Inn locations.

Driessen and Reilly were selected by the Reds Hall of Fame’s Veterans Committee, comprised of members of the media, Hall of Famers, historians and Hall of Fame executives.

“Since 1958, the fans have played an integral part in the Hall of Fame election process, and this year was no exception as record participation resulted,” said Reds Hall of Fame Executive Director Rick Walls. “I’d like to thank Cincyfavorites.com, the thousands of fans that voted, and the Veterans Committee for recognizing the contributions of these players.”

The addition of Casey, Driessen and Reilly will bring the Hall’s membership ranks to 75 players, three managers, and three executives.

November 27, 2011

Baseball’s Brightest Stars at Redsfest 2011

I dunno…the fact that the only bona fide baseball activity coming out the Reds world is Brandon Phillips tweeting about his lack of contract kinda has me down. But gosh, it’s a little early to be getting all negative already doesn’t it? So rather than go off on a rant, I clicked on another of the unnecessary navigation buttons in the Redsfest landing page on Reds.com and copied out the list of Cincinnati-land celebrities who will be in attendance:

Major League Roster

  • Yonder Alonso
  • Jose Arredondo
  • Bronson Arroyo
  • Bill Bray
  • Jay Bruce
  • Aroldis Chapman
  • Zack Cozart
  • Johnny Cueto
  • Todd Frazier
  • Ryan Hanigan
  • Chris Heisey
  • Jeremy Horst
  • Mike Leake
  • Sam LeCure
  • Devin Mesoraco
  • Logan Ondrusek
  • Scott Rolen (Friday only)
  • Drew Stubbs
  • Chris Valaika
  • Joey Votto (Friday only)
  • Travis Wood
Coaching Staff

  • Dusty Baker
  • Mark Berry
  • Billy Hatcher
  • Brook Jacoby
  • Juan Lopez
  • Bryan Price
  • Chris Speier
  • Mike Stefanski

Minor Leaguers

  • Tucker Barnhart
  • Brad Boxberger
  • Yasmani Grandal
  • Billy Hamilton
  • Drew Hayes
  • Ryan LaMarre
  • Denis Phipps
  • Josh Smith
Alumni

  • Todd Benzinger
  • Jack Billingham
  • Tom Browning
  • Leo Cardenas
  • Clay Carroll
  • Eric Davis
  • Doug Flynn
  • George Foster
  • Wayne Granger
  • Chuck Harmon
  • Tommy Helms
  • Tracy Jones (Saturday only)
  • Jim Maloney
  • Lee May
  • Ron Oester
  • Jim O’Toole
  • Ted Power
  • Chris Sabo
  • Mario Soto
Broadcasters

  • Jeff Brantley
  • Marty Brennaman
  • Thom Brennaman (Friday only)
  • Jim Day
  • Jim Kelch
  • Jeff Piecoro
  • Chris Welsh

Brandon Phillips is not on the list, but then, neither am I, and I’ll be there.

November 26, 2011

Getting Ready for Redsfest

Arroyo first performed at Redsfest in 2006With one week to go till Redsfest, the Red Hot Family has secured a hotel room and started planning our trip through the event. It’s a bit of a PITA because they’ve put every piece of information on a separate page on Reds.com, so there’s entirely more clicking than ought to be strictly necessary, but maybe they did that as intentional foreshadowing of all the line-standing.

I’ve grabbed the main stage schedule to save you one click at least. In case you were worried you wouldn’t be getting your RDA of shitty ’90s grunge music, worry not! Arroyo is closing out the event again this year.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2
4:00 p.m. — Redsfest Opening Act featuring Funky G & the Groove Machine presented by Coca-Cola
4:45 p.m. — Topps Pack Wars
5:25 p.m. — Reds Tribute to former owner Carl Lindner
5:30 p.m. — Introduction of Cincinnati Reds past & present
6:00 p.m. — Introduction of new mascot Mr. Red
6:25 p.m. — Kids Only Press Conference presented by GearUP
7:25 p.m. — 2011 Reds Team Awards Presentations
8:15 p.m. — Reds Hot Stove report featuring Walt Jocketty & Dusty Baker presented by FOX Sports Ohio
9:15 p.m. — Cincinnati Got Talent Semi-Finals presented by Toyota

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3
11:00 a.m. — Redsfest Opening Act featuring Tropicoso presented by Coca-Cola
12:00 p.m. — Introduction of new mascot Mr. Red
12:10 p.m. — Chiquita “Hero of the Game” 2011 Yearly Award Presentation
12:15 p.m. — Reds Hot Stove Report featuring Walt Jocketty & Dusty Baker presented by FOX Sports Ohio
1:45 p.m. — Topps Pack Wars
2:05 p.m. — Kids Only Press Conference presented by GearUP
3:05 p.m. — Reds Alumni “Bull Session” presented by Reds Fantasy Camp
4:00 p.m. — Cincinnati’s Got Talent Finals presented by Toyota
5:10 p.m. — Bronson Arroyo Concert presented by Best Buy

November 25, 2011

Ryan Braun Wins MVP; Votto Sixth

Earlier this week, MLB announced the winner of the National League’s Most Valuable Player award. We all knew that Joey Votto would not be repeating for the Cincinnati Reds, thanks to their craptastic year. But we all wondered where he would place and how many votes he’d get.

As expected, the Milwaukee Brewers’ Ryan Braun won the award. And Votto placed sixth.

  1. Ryan Braun, Milwaukee -388
  2. Matt Kemp, L.A. Dodgers -332
  3. Prince Fielder, Milwaukee -229
  4. Justin Upton, Arizona1-214
  5. Albert Pujols, St. Louis–166
  6. Joey Votto, Cincinnati–135
  7. Lance Berkman, St. Louis–118
  8. Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado—69
  9. Roy Halladay, Philadelphia–52
  10. Ryan Howard, Philadelphia—39
  11. Jose Reyes, N.Y. Mets—31
  12. Clayton Kershaw, L.A. Dodgers–29
  13. Shane Victorino, Philadelphia—18
  14. Ian Kennedy, Arizona—16
  15. Cliff Lee, Philadelphia—12
  16. Hunter Pence, Houston-Phi.—10
  17. Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco—7
  18. John Axford, Milwaukee—7
  19. Michael Morse, Washington—5
  20. Carlos Beltran, N.Y. Mets-S.F.—3
  21. Miguel Montero, Arizona—2
  22. Yadier Molina, St. Louis—2
  23. Starlin Castro, Chicago—1
  24. Craig Kimbrel, Atlanta—1
  25. Carlos Ruiz, Philadelphia—1
  26. Mike Stanton, Florida—1

Votto was on a majority of the ballots, and I might quibble with him finishing lower than Prince Fielder–who is grossly overrated, in my opinion–but it’s still nice to see him getting some love. He’s very, very good, and I’m going to enjoy his time as a Red as long as it lasts. In fact, I’m sure I’ll be wearing my Votto jersey this weekend at RedsFest.

November 22, 2011

Why He’s Called “The Riot”

This was posted on Red Reporter a few days ago, and it’s rather hilarious. Witness the awesome fielding of St. Louis Cardinals’ erstwhile shortstop Ryan Theriot.

Hmm. I guess that makes it obvious why he was moved to second base in the middle of the 2011 season.