Opening Day-----A Dandy in Every Sense of the Word

Wow, what an amazing game to witness. At no point in that game did the Reds seem to have an inch of momentum, and then BOOM.

We saw 6 home runs today, three by Milwaukee (Weeks, Gomez, Braun) and three by Cincinnati (Votto, Stubbs, Hernandez). Five of them where solo shots, and the last one was a game winning 3 run bomb. How spectacular.

I am not going to give a recap of the game, you saw it, that is good enough for me. What I will do is touch upon some talking points that I saw throughout the game.

Volquez
Despite being saved from the first lost of the season, his performance today was under satisfactory. Five runs in six innings does not bold well for him, and gives credit to the concerns that people had coming into the year. I will look at the bright side today though: He gets to rest for a few days and get back in the rotation and cycle that is regular season baseball. I hope that this helps him settle down and get the job done as the Reds number 1 pitcher.

Drew Stubbs
How bout' this guy. Baker did start him leadoff (God I love that) and he produced. The guy looks like a different person from the few at bats he took today. But I am excited to see more to come from the second year man out of Texas.

Reds Bullpen
Nice job boys! Keeping it close, not letting what could have easily been a blowout occur. I love having a good bullpen, and the fact that neither Masset or Chapman was used and still seeing a good showing has me excited.

LOB
Leaving men on base became frustrating. often times the Reds had two men on but could not get that final puzzle piece to fit and score runs. Until the 9th that is. I hope that is not signs to come of course, because it was pretty disappointing.

Hernandez
The guy simply had a great game. Both Catching and at the plate, the man probably won the game for the Reds when it was all said and done. It is great having good catchers on the team, it just seems that good teams have good catcher(s)

Scott Rolen
Despite his bad stat line, I felt that he went to the plate like a professional and had some really good at bats. Just nothing to show for them, he'll get them next time.

Joey Votto
I love the Canadian, Simple as that.

This list can go on and on but I have to go to bed because I have a test in the morning

So yea, this is my take, probably will preview the Saturday's game tomorrow, so be on the look out for that. Until then enjoy the win and Go Reds!

We Are Now Just One Day Away

You feel those nerves in your chest? I do.

Baseball is now upon us! we are less then a day away from first pitch and all the waiting is behind us!

I don't have much to say really, just really excited about the start of the season, so I am going to end it here. Check back tomorrow after the game for a break down of what happened, and why it happened!

Gosh, I can not wait
Parker Perry

Leake Previews What is to Come

Mike Leake pitched against a very talented White Sox club looking to get ready to start the year off right. He went 5 2/3 or one run baseball as the reds pounced the White Sox 9-1 in the second to last game of the spring.

You see the title, I can not wait to see Leake out on the mound this coming season. The dude is a beast and can get the job done. Everyone is really upset at the injuries, and though I am not excited to see Lecure on the mound, I am ecstatic to see Leake.

Also yesterday, Drew Stubbs hammered a home run in the lead off position. A three run home run. You can score runs and with the pitcher bunting the runner over Stubbs will see a lot of RBI chances, and I think that will be perfect for him this year...just wait and see.

That is all.

Four Days

We are now just four days away from opening day, and with that in mind I want to take a look at the match up that we will witness when it finally does role around.

Yovani Gallardo will pitch the opener for the Brewers, he is a 6-2' righty out of Mexico. Reds fan last saw him pitch when he came to town August 31st. His stat line was 5 IP 9 hits, 8 runs, allowed a homer and received the lost in a 8-4 final.

Reds fans should be rejoicing as they do not have to see superstar and new comer to the national league Zach Greinke. He broke a few ribs playing basketball this off season and will be down for a month or two.

By the way, Gallardo last start was not his only start last season against the Reds. It was also not his only bad start. The Reds basically destroyed him in 2010. 0-2 with one no decision was his record, games getting progressively worse for him throughout the season. In May the Reds beat him 3-6, This was his no decision only giving up a run in 6 innings. In July he gave up 6 runs in 2.2 innings.

Now what does that mean for Thursday? probably not much. But it puts a smile on my face, and its my blog after all.

The Leadoff Situation: Part II

Scroll down a little bit and you will see how excited I was to see Drew Stubbs leading off for the Cincinnati Reds this season. I thought Stubbs was the lead off man of the future, and that the Reds had hit the jackpot with the prospect from Texas.

But after hearing the reaction of listeners of Dusty and Jocketty about opening day, it looks like Stubbs will not be in the one hole, rather you will probably find him back in the 7th racking like last year.

To be honest, when I first heard this news I was pretty T-off. I was the ring leader for the "Stubbs for Leadoff" renegade. I thought, and honestly still do, that if he can cut down on his strikeouts, he will almost be unstoppable.

But instead it looks like Brandon Phillips will once again take over the spot. And though I am slightly upset, I can understand why they decided to make the move. Stubbs destroyed the ball in the back of the line up last year, which was huge for the Reds down the stretch.

I guess we will just have to wait and watch this thing play out before we can criticize the defending NL Central Champions. But I would rather see number 6 in that spot right now.

Barry Bonds Trial

First non Reds article! Barry Bonds trial is now on its way (started on my birthday believe it or not) and after just three days of testimony the state has already brought out their star witness, Bond's childhood friend and business manager Steve Hopkins .

Hopkins has an alleged video recording of Bonds talking about steroids or something of that sort. He said that he saw Bonds and his trainer walk into bathrooms to shoot up, coming out with a needle. And that he was certain that Bonds KNOWINGLY took performance enhancing drugs.

You know it has got to be rough on a guy like Hopkins. After all Bonds was one of his best friends, and his testimony could easily have devastating consequence on his friends life. But of course he is the smart one in this whole ordeal. Unlike the two other players in this mess (Bonds and Greg Anderson) he is telling the truth (it has to be right?) and getting out of it as clean as possible.

Anderson is a whole nother story. The guy has now spent over a year in jail, because he does not was to talk about Bonds. That is crazy in my eyes, but maybe because I lack loyalty. If that is the case I am kind of glad I do, because taking the wrap for someone else and having to spend anytime in jail is just not for me.

But back to Bonds. When the trial first started I really could have cared less. I was with many people in thinking that this was 'sooooo last year'. but now that I am hearing all what is going on, I am struck with awe at the prospect of the home run king going to jail for steroids. Of course it won't be for using them, but regardless him using them has caused it. The asterisk talks have to pick up now I believe if he is convicted about lying about them. How can it not?

I, like any other right thinking person, thinks that he knew about steroids, and it is a shame that it has had to come to this. But at last it has. I do not think he should go to jail for it, but if they put him there, I would not be upset.

Johnny Cueto Hurt, Leake to Step In

This is kinda of a downer, but Johnny Cueto has shoulder inflammation and will sit out for the first couple weeks of the season. A lot of people are disappointed and I am too, but I am also excited to see if Mike Leake can repeat what he did last year, dominate the majors.

Don't listen to all the negativity surrounding Mike Leake now-a-days. It is undeserved and quit frankly confusing. Leake was arguably the Reds ace last year until he faced the Phillies in mid August. Leake was one of the surprises that helped the Reds stay in contention vs. St Louis, and went toe to toe vs Garcia as the NL Central Rookie of the Year. (There is no such award but you get the picture)

Cueto is obviously one of the guys the Reds hope will turn into a number 2 guy, and Leake may not have that potential when it is all said and done, but I am not crying over the prospect of seeing Leake on the mound. I hope to see Cueto back in the rotation soon, I really do. But until that time I will sit back and relax and watch probably my favorite pitcher for the Reds Mike Leake pitch 7-8 innings of one run baseball.

13 Days

We are now a little less than two weeks away from opening day. And with the excitement in the air, I figured I'd fill out the opening day line up card for Baker.

1. Drew Stubbs (CF)
2. Brandon Phillips (2B)
3. Joey Votto (1B)
4. Scott Rolen (3B)
5. Jay Bruce (RF)
6. Johnny Gomes (LF)
7. Paul Janish (SS)
8. Ramon Hernandez (Catcher)
9. Edison Volqueze (Pitcher)

This is not exactly how I would like to see it, but this is my guess what the line up card will look like. Baker is pretty predictable when it comes to these things.

Reds Hall of Fame and Museum

As ashamed as I am, I have never visited the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum (RHF&M) until today. It was one of those things that I planned on going, was excited about going, just never got there. Today though I did finally go, and I must say...I feel cheated.

If you ever watch a baseball game on Fox Sports Ohio then you know how great the RHF&M is. Because when it comes time to promote it at the beginning on the inning, not only will the announcers mention it, they brag about it for a good two minuets. They say how it is the best of its kind, how the displays on there are top of the line stuff. Well, from what I saw, it was rather boring and quite frankly disappointing.

After getting to to place, which was not easy as half of Pete Rose Way was closed today, we walked into the museum to find the first floor literary 3/4 empty. If you do not know, they had a full display of the 1990 season. 'HAD' being the optimal word.

Sure they had the 1990 world series trophy still out...but that is just about it. The room was empty, if you screamed I am sure you would find an echo. They had a horrible idea of setting two cases facing each other next to the wall. so basically you could see one side of one case, but the other behind it was blocked by another case that was next to the wall. History so close....yet so far. Really it was a 'piss poor' job. I was pretty upset.

Next you go down a hall and you find giant poster's of player who hold Reds records. I was impressed. Except for the fact it did not give the actual number the player had of the record. For instance, George Foster holds the single season home run record for any Reds player in the history of the franchise. For those of you that don't know how much that is...don't go to the RHF&M to find out. Instead what you will find is a giant poster of Foster, and below it saying something along the lines of "Most Home runs in a single season".

Now remember there are a ton of these, and I don't think it is that much to ask to actually put the record on the poster. By the way, Foster had 52 in 1977.

The second floor I guess was neat. It was a huge tribute to the 2010 Reds. I guess that sounds good, even through it is pretty recent history. I wish they would put something VERY historic in that spot. The Hall of Fame is mostly about the players that played in the 70's, especially Pete Rose. And though I understand why, I feel that they neglected some of the older times, after all Cincinnati was the first team to ever become pro.

The third floor was admittedly pretty cool. It is pretty sad on my part that it took some interactive games to get involved, but that was exactly the case. I did like the play by play booth. It allowed you to have fun and relive some great Reds moments. so I guess i would give a thumbs up for that.

Finally the plaques were poorly displayed. Stacking them one by one is pathetic. That place should be ligten up with players named bold. Give some history of the player and why they were great. Sure the plaque says a little but I think that they should give a more in depth view of the players, and why they deserve the honor.

Overall I would not recommend RHF&M. It was just average. Nothing spectacular, and I could have lived if I did not visit it. When I hear the announcers go on and on about it this season, I will shiver, but that is just my opinion.

The Leadoff Situation

First up to bat on this blog will be the first up to bat at the plate this season...the leadoff situation the Reds face in 2011.

Reds fans this year, like many previous years, are upset that the Reds did not go out and get a prototypical leadoff guy. Rumors swirled this off season as 'news sources' claimed to have inside information on a possible trade for Mets shortstop Jose Reyes. It almost made since that the Reds would want to grab a guy of his caliber, and with the position in question (I'll talk about Paul Janish later this week)to many it was a done deal. Of course a couple days later we found out that Jockety and co. had not even picked up a phone to talk to the Mets. Weepers ran rampant.

But I was not one of them. In fact, I was happy. The Reds would have had to given up too much for an aging player, and it just was not in the cards. I believe that the Reds have baked their cake, and now will eat it too with the young talent, who has experience in the majors.

Yes, I am talking about Drew Stubbs. One of the fastest players on the team and maybe the league, who has power and desire. I believe the Reds have an answer to their lead off problem. The only issue is his maturity at the plate and striking out.

Obviously a performance like last year won't cut it. I can not, and will not, argue that last year would have been a good year to see number 6 in the one spot. 168 strike outs (finished 7th in the league) can not be overlooked, and I am not asking you to do that. What I am going to ask you though is to keep an open mind.

Stubbs swiped 30 bases only hitting .255 last year. Which is pretty astonishing when you think about it. In his 514 at bats, only 21% percent of the time did he record an out because of a ground ball, mostly because he beats those out. In fact, he had more strikeouts then ground outs, the only position player on the team that can say that. Which is why I think Stubbs is so dangerous.

If the centerfielder can make contact with that ball he usually gets on base, which is exactly what you want out of a lead off hitter. Because of that, I hope that with the experience of last year and the natural growth that Stubbs will undergo I feel that he will be a great lead off hitter for the Reds... at least until this Dave Sapplet guy comes to flourish.

Welcome to First To Third Cincinnati

Sparky Anderson once said, "Ain't no English teacher from Indian Hill ever managed in the big leagues." And while that may hold true, they do have something to hang their hat on...they taught me everything I know about writing.

In 2010 I graduated from Indian Hill High School, a proud Brave, and traveled 3 and half hours north to start college at The University of Akron. I am currently pursuing a Mass Media (Radio/TV) degree there. While I love my Zips, who are currently in the NCAA tournament and going to be beat Notre Dame in the first round (a guy and dream right?) the Reds have always been my number one love. Though watching them has caused my heart to break over the years (I'm almost 19 so basically every year of my life) I have always loved the first week of April. Because that is baseball season, a brand new year.

This year we get a treat, the season starts in the last week of March. Although it is just a few days before usual it still means a lot when you are counting down the hours till first pitch. And this first pitch will mark the start of a year filled with hope.

Last year I saw my first form of good baseball pretty much ever in my life. Playing defense and running the bases was never a thought until I watched just how well the Reds played. Scott Rolen and crew helped many younger Reds fan realize how important hustle is, just like Pete Rose did for the older folks. Because of this, I have decided to name this blog first to third. The Reds I believe led the league in taking the extra base, and many feel that is why they had so much success last season.

In this blog I will take you through the entire 2011 campaign. I will stay up nightly pounding out thoughts and analysis, keeping track of major stories around the league and how they could impact the Cincinnati Reds. This should be fun.