The Cincinnati Reds stopped in Bloomington, Indiana last night, and we were there!

Unlike previous years when we hit the Muncie, Indiana stop, our schedule this year wasn’t allowing it. (There’s a little something called the Palladium opening in our town, and we wouldn’t miss it for the world.) So we decided to head down to Bloomington yesterday to let our son add to his 2011 Reds Heads shirt autographs.

The location was held inside a mall, and unlike in Muncie, there was no radio presence interviewing the Reds as fans walked through the autograph line. It was…quiet. I liked that.

Representing the Reds were Devin Mesoraco, Brandon Phillips, Marty Brenneman, Bob Miller, and Lee May. During Marty’s introductions of everybody, Mesoraco was introduced as “Snacks.” It was jarring. I hope that Devin has a better fate than the last player with that nickname.

The crowd was easily 600 strong, and probably closer to 800 by the time the event was over. We got our autographs about halfway through the event, and the line behind us was longer than when we started. Not being from Bloomington, I don’t know where their baseball allegiances tend to lie, but it was nice to see such support.

A few pictures I took of the event are below.

The whole 2011 Reds Caravan: May, Miller, Brennaman, Phillips, and Mesoraco.

Devin Mesoraco, the future catcher for the Reds, signs a kid's item.

Phillips wears his sunglasses at night and checks his twitter account constantly.

Apparently, Marty Brennaman is left-handed. I don't think I knew that.

The Caravan line stretched down the hallway for much longer than is visible here.

The autograph collection grows.

Despite the early season success of Mike Leake for the 2010 Cincinnati Reds, I’ve always had a good feeling about Travis Wood. John Fay comments about Wood’s workout partner, Cliff Lee, today.

Cliff Lee, in case you didn’t know, is very, very good.

“He’s a great guy to work out with,” Wood said. “He knows a lot about the game. He’s been around. He pushes you, gets you stronger.”

It could be a story that amounts to nothing. A lot of mediocre players have worked out with great stars. But there could be something to it. After all, Wood did almost pitch a perfect game against the Philadelphia Phillies. And he was one of the bright spots of the Reds sole postseason series.

It could be nothing, but at this time of year when the baseball air is thick with optimism, I’m going to sit back and think about the chances of the Reds having a Lee caliber starter.

The Cincinnati Reds have signed a handful of players to long-term contracts this off-season, placing a bet on the future of the franchise. Along with that bet comes the need for fans to buy tickets and come to the games.

Yesterday, during a press conference formally announcing Johnny Cueto’s long-term deal, general manager Walt Jocketty had this to say on the subject.

“At some point, when Johnny gets beyond this contract and (Joey) Votto and some of the other guys, we’re not sure we’ll be in position to sign these guys again,” Jocketty said. “It just depends on the revenues we’ll be able to generate in the coming years. If we continue to win, I think we will. Our attendance will improve, our revenues will improve and we’ll be in great shape to try and re-sign these guys.”

Then today at the Reds Caravan launch, owner Bob Castellini commented on the same ticket sales.

“They have to be up to sign these guys like we did,” he said. “We’ve got to sell more season tickets, all the way down to single tickets. Everyone understands that in our organization. They’re all trying to make that happen.”

Ticket sales are up. Just one year of winning and off-season ticket sales are up by 10 percent. That’s not enough, but it’s a good start. Apparently, the Reds are smart enough to know that one good year isn’t enough to get all the fans back. I would imagine a lot of them are understandably wary.

“It takes a year or two after you start winning,” Bob Castellini said. “Last year was our first year. We’re on target. We feel like we know what to expect. We’re going to have good season this year all around — with ticket sales and on the field.”

I hope it works. The expanded selection of season ticket packages certainly makes it affordable to more people. Taking a cue from the Indianapolis Indians, the Reds this year are offering a 20-game Flex pack. It’s great for those further away from Cincinnati who don’t always know in advance how many tickets or even which games they’ll attend. Take 2 people to one game, or 5 to another. It’s flexible and cheaper than per game tickets. I have a feeling the RHM household will be going with that this year.

Chris Jaffe of the Hardball Times has been running some numbers and realized that today marks the 10,000th day that young Joey Votto has been alive.

In honor of that, I think I’ll repost my favorite picture of Votto that I’ve taken.

While looking through all the photos I’d taken of the Cincinnati Reds over the last season, I discovered images I’d taken of Goodyear Ballpark with the intention of stitching them together to make a panorama, as I’ve done previously (Ed Smith Stadium, Great American Ballpark, Minute Maid Park 1, Minute Maid Park 2, Wrigley Field).

I never got around to making the panorama, but thanks to now having Photoshop, I was able to let the software do all the work for you. Click the image below to see a larger version of the Reds new Spring Training home. Hopefully, I’ll be able to visit again this year.