A week ago, the doorbell rang and I made it to the front door in time to see the UPS truck driving away. Under the welcome mat lay an envelope that I wasn’t expecting. I opened it to find a letter:

Congratulations! Your name has been selected as a Grand Prize Winner in the Kellogg’s/Marsh – Kirk Herbstreit Sweestakes!

At first I thought it might be a scam, since you always get those email scams that claim you won an international lottery you didn’t enter, and I didn’t enter this contest either. But upon reading the official contest rules (also included), I discovered that everyone who bought any Kellogg’s product from Marsh (a local grocery store chain here in Indiana) and used their rewards card at checkout was automatically entered. And we had, indeed, recently bought some Pop Tarts.

So, with just 2 days’ notice, I made plans to head to the Marsh headquarters during the middle of the workday on Wednesday for a lunch and meet-and-greet with a guy I had to Google to find out who he was (he’s a football analyst on ESPN, btw).

There had been 100 grand prize winners, and each was entitled to bring a guest, so they had seating and box lunches for up to 200 in Training Room B.

Trouble was:
1) they did only give the 2 days’ notice to the winners,
2) the event was during the time of day when most people are working, and
3) I probably wasn’t the only one who (a) thought it was a scam, or (b) didn’t know who Kirk Herbstreit was.

So my son and I sat with the 5 other people who showed up and stared at the uneaten 193 box lunches. At least there wasn’t a fight over the ham sandwiches.

They were running late, and we’d arrived a touch early, so we had plenty of time to get bored in Training Room B (probably like people usually are in training rooms). Plus, the a/c was acting up, so it was a real relief when they finally led us to an auditorium decked out in Cheez-Its and other fine products.

Herbstreit spoke a little on some rule change in college football and the whole Penn State thing, and then took questions. Finally we got to go up and get autographs. I used my autograph to get something for my brother, who requested this photo–it’s a reaction shot after the old dude in the middle said the F-word on live t.v.

While we were waiting in line, my son and I were bantering about how many boxes of Cheez-Its were on the stage (211), the guy doing “crowd” control gifted us a box to have autographed. I cannot tell you how much this made my son’s day. At the end of it all, despite the waiting, the sub-par cole slaw in the lunch, the Q&A about a sport he knows nothing about, he still says “that was awesome!” thanks to receiving a free box of cheese crackers.

After dropping off a couple matchbooks and inviting him to check out the blog (Herbstreit is a Reds fan, as it turns out), we rescued one more box lunch from the mountain and headed back home. I’d tell you to be on the lookout for my picture in Marsh or Kellogg’s promotional materials, except they didn’t take any pictures of us, and they didn’t ask for my publicity release forms.

Instead, just think of me the next time you see an autographed box of Cheez-Its. And if you’re Kirk Herbstreit, pulling out my matchbook and visiting the site for the first time: welcome! and don’t let your kids play with the matches.

Today is the day when the long-time shortstop of the Cincinnati Reds Barry Larkin is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Larkin was never my favorite player during my fandom. I always enjoyed the smaller guys who lacked the amazing talent and athletic ability that Larkin possessed. Yes, I enjoyed the Nick Esasky’s and Hal Morris’s more.

But I always knew Larkin was one of the best shortstops in the history of the game. And it was always a pleasure to watch him. I definitely took special notice of him anytime I caught a Reds game in person in his last few years. It was something special to see Larkin on the field with Ken Griffey Jr and know I was watching two future Hall of Famers.

And Larkin is a Hall of Famer. A no-doubt-about-it one for me. He was overlooked in the small-market of Cincinnati, but he was amazing, balancing excellent defense with excellent offense. He contributed mightily to the 1990 World Series win and the playoff appearance in 1995, when he won the National League MVP.

There’s been a lot written about Larkin, by many who knew him better and watched him play more than I did–I missed 1995, having given up on baseball after the horrendous strike–and it’s really cool to see the Reds get some positive attention.

I’ll raise a glass to Larkin for his induction into the Hall. And I’ll hope he can return to the Reds sometime in the future and pass on his knowledge.

The Hall of Fame induction ceremony that will see Barry Larkin honored is this weekend and it’s televised. From an MLB Network press release:

Secaucus, N.J., July 18, 2012 – Twelve-time Cincinnati Reds All-Star Barry Larkin and the late former Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox third baseman Ron Santo will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York this Sunday, July 22 in a ceremony telecast exclusively on MLB Network. A special Hall of Fame edition of MLB Tonight will air at 12:30 p.m. ET on Sunday with MLB Network’s Peter Gammons, winner of the 2004 J.G. Taylor Spink Award for baseball writing, Brian Kenny, Harold Reynolds and Tom Verducci providing live coverage from Cooperstown, including interviews with Larkin, Hall of Famers in attendance and special features on this year’s inductees.

MLB Network’s exclusive live telecast of the Induction Ceremony will begin at 1:30 p.m. ET, including the acceptance speeches by Larkin and Santo’s widow Vicki Santo, an appearance by Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig, and introductions of an expected 43 returning Hall of Famers, including Larkin’s fellow former Cincinnati Reds Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez and Frank Robinson, and Santo’s fellow former Chicago Cubs Ernie Banks, Ferguson Jenkins, Ryne Sandberg, Bruce Sutter and Billy Williams. MLB Network’s live coverage of the Induction Ceremony will be simulcast online on MLB.com and BaseballHall.org. MLB Network will make footage of the ceremony available live via satellite on July 22. Additional details on the satellite feed will be sent to media from MLB Network.

In more mundane televised baseball news, there is a conflict over the time slot on FS Ohio during the Reds game tomorrow. From FS Ohio:

This Saturday, July 21st, the Cincinnati Reds play at 7pm and the Columbus Crew play at 7:30pm. Both games are being made available to air on FOX Sports Ohio.

City	Reds v. Brewers at 7:00pm	Crew v. United at 7:30pm
Cincinnati Dayton Toledo Louisville Lexington Charleston Huntington Wheeling Steubenville Bowling Green, KY Evansville, IN Terre Haute Fort Wayne	The game will be on the main FSOhio cable channels and on FSCincinnati on satellite.	In Toledo and Fort Wayne, the game is being made available to providers to carry on alternate FSOhio channels. Alternate channel information can be found here: Channel Finder
Columbus & Lima areas	The game is being made available to providers to carry on alternate FSOhio channels. Alternate channel information can be found here: Cnalle Finder	The game will be on the main FSOhio cable channels and on FSOhio on satellite in the Columbus, Lima, Cleveland & Youngstown areas

The Reds game will replay on FOX Sports Ohio in all Reds viewing areas late Saturday night at approximately 12:30am, or directly following the Crew replay.

The Crew game will replay on FOX Sports Ohio in all Crew viewing areas Saturday night at the conclusion of Reds Live postgame show, approximately 10:30pm.

The Sports Business Journal featured the television ratings of several teams, including the Reds, in an article yesterday:

MLB’s other strong local media stories include the Cincinnati Reds, Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals, who have posted their highest ratings on record. In addition, the Pittsburgh Pirates are experiencing their highest local TV numbers since 1997.

In Cincinnati, the Reds have parlayed their strong start on the field into the league’s second-highest local TV rating. Reds games have averaged an 8.45 rating on FS Ohio, up 8 percent from last year.

“Detroit and Cincinnati are great baseball markets, and the Tigers and Reds have given their fans a reason to cheer — and to tune in,” said Jeff Krolik, executive vice president for Fox Sports Networks. “Local ratings are up in many of our markets, which speaks to the overall strength of the game.”

This was sent to me by someone from FS Ohio, so this probably isn’t what she had in mind, but what this makes me think is that the Reds should be renegotiating their television contract. Maybe they could even look into launching their own network, like the Yankees and other teams have. There’s no sense leaving money on the table, especially when there are contracts like Joey Votto’s to pay.

Entertainment Weekly reported today that TLC has ordered 17 episodes of a Pete Rose reality show.

All Cincinnati Reds–and most baseball–fans know of Rose as the one-time baseball star who bet on baseball and then was banned from baseball when he got caught. The banning, of course, kept him out of the Hall of Fame, despite his holding the all-time hits record.

So what will TLC be showing?

With a working title of Pete Rose and Kiana Kim Family Project, the show will follow the 71-year-old Rose and his thirtysomething model fiancée Kiana Kim (who has posed for Playboy) through their daily lives as they try to blend their families.

That title’s quite a mouthful. I’m betting that changes before it airs.

I remember seeing Rose with a picture of his Playboy model girlfriend a few years ago. I’m surprised they’re still together.

“We’re not a traditional family,” says Kim. “We are a total modern-day family, mixing the cultures, the ages, the different backgrounds together. I didn’t even know who Pete Rose was when I first met him. It’s kind of a crazy story, but at the core of every family is love and it’s what TLC wants to show.” Quips Rose: “We’re just a normal family with 4,200 hits.”

Technically, it’s 4,258, if you count Pete Rose, Jr.’s contribution.

There is one quote from Rose that strikes me as a little sad.

I’m not in the Hall of Fame because I screwed up. It’s not Bud’s fault. It’s not [former commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti’s] fault. It’s not Mike Schmidt’s fault or Johnny Bench’s fault. I’m the one who screwed up. And if I’m ever given a second chance, all I can tell you is: I won’t need a third.”

Granted, Rose has always had a streak of saying whatever he thinks has the best chance of getting him that second chance, but at 71, it’s starting to feel like he’s getting more desperate. I’m not sure that a reality show is part of the path to that second chance, but Rose still has to make a living.

And in case you were worried about the show being tasteless, like Hugh Hefner’s The Girls Next Door, let Rose calm your fears: “It’s not going to be classless — like it seems like a lot of reality shows aren’t really reality, but our reality show is going to be funny, entertaining, and real.” That’s what I think of when I hear Rose’s name: classy.