From the Dayton Daily News, Hal McCoy's blog, April 12, 2008:
On Friday night during an hour's rain delay in Pittsburgh, this came up.
Check out this Cincinnati Reds lineup and figure out what is probably unique about it. They don't keep records on these things, but it has nothing to do with baseball. Hint. It has to do with the last names.
Corey Patterson, CF. Jeff Keppinger, SS. Ken Griffey Jr., RF. Brandon Phillips, 2B. Adam Dunn, LF. Ryan Freel, 3B. Joey Votto, 1B (or Scott Hatteberg). David Ross, C. Bronson Arroyo, SP. Jeremy Affeldt, RP.
********
Now, about that Reds lineup. It could appear on the field sometime this season and it may be the first time it happens. Check the last names. At some point, every player's name has the same letter back-to-back. Patterson (tt), Keppinger (pp), Griffey (ff) - right down the line to Brennaman (nn) and McCoy (cC). Scott Hatterberg gets double credit for tt and tt.
Does he know we talked about it fairly frequently last year on Trent's blog? Or, um, at least I did, somewhat obsessively? And even if he's just using last names, he could toss in Fogg and Coffey.
From the Sarasota Herald Tribune, here's an interesting take on the stadium situation in Sarasota. Nice spin on it, making it sound like the Reds turned down the city's generous offer.
The city, state and county had $44million on the table this time last year, but the Reds insisted on a renovation costing $54 million. That idea has since been abandoned, and the team, city officials say, would settle for the more modest rehab.
Most of the pix in my gallery have roughly the same number of views. Except this one. Why do you think?? Scott Hatteberg taking a practice swing. I mean, I'm a big fan of Hatte, but 3761 views? That's pretty wild.
The 22-year old Dominican, who began last year in Single A, seemed to explode upon the major leagues as Athena did from the head of Zeus: fully formed, and from a very unexpected place.
Math may not be my strong suit, but it doesn't look like these numbers add up. From the Enquirer:
FIRST BASEMAN
Pete Rose, 1985
Performance: In his first Opening Day as player-manager, Rose broke a scoreless tie with a two-run double. He also scored in a three-run fifth inning, then singled in a run in the seventh as the Reds beat the Montreal Expos 4-1. UPDATE: Thanks to blogger Pay Attention who pointed out that the two-run double happened IN the three-run fifth. NOW it makes sense, and proves my opening statement about math and me.
And from reds.com, yet another sports reporter who doesn't know a Reds player's name:
Reds at the plate: Cincinnati broke through in the bottom of the fourth, when Edward Encarnacion's sacrifice fly scored Brandon Phillips.
